Centrale Montemartini is an ancient sculpture museum in Rome, located on the Via Ostiense, just outside the Aurelian walls. Set in a former power plant, Centrale Montemartini displays Greek and Roman statues, busts and friezes. It is an annexe of the Capitoline Museums.

Centrale Montemartini was Rome’s first electrical power station when it opened in 1912 and was later converted into a museum of ancient art in the late 1990s. Like the Tate Modern in London, Centrale Montemartini places art in an industrial setting but, unlike the Tate, the imposing machinery has not been moved out. The engines’ grey mass provides a stark contrast to the white marble and offers a unique backdrop for classical art.

Centrale Montemartini has a collection of about four hundred sculptures, reliefs and mosaics dating from the Republican to the late Imperial era. The works of art, exhibited in chronological order, are part of an outstanding collection of classical sculptures from the excavations carried out in Rome between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. The masterpieces were moved here during the reorganisation of the Capitoline Museums in 1997 to create space in the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the Museo Nuovo. The Montemartini power plant’s outstanding space made it possible to display monumental sculptures and reconstructions of architectural structures, such as the pediment of the Temple of Apollo Sosianus and the huge mosaic of hunting scenes from Santa Bibiana.

Centrale Montemartini is one of Rome’s most striking exhibition spaces and offers a unique museum experience.

selected masterpieces

The Column Room: displays a rich collection from the Republican era. Exhibited in this room are architectural decorations, a group of sculptures in Peperino tufa (a grey volcanic stone from the Albani Hills), beautiful mosaics with seascape and a series of portraits dating to the 1st century BC.

Mosaic with maritime scenes, from the Via Panisperna in Rome, late 2nd – early Ist century BC, it once decorated the pool of a Roman bath. Mosaic with maritime scenes, from the Via Panisperna in Rome, late 2nd – early Ist century BC, it once decorated the pool of a Roman bath.

Portrait of Marcus Vispanius Agrippa. Portrait of Augustus, 27-20 BC. Portrait of a political personality, this portrait can be indenfied as Mark Antony.

The Engine Room: the largest and most impressive room displaying a series of exquisite marble statues and rare Greek originals, arranged around two huge diesel engines and a steam turbine. Occupying the other end of the room is a reconstruction of the pediment of the Temple of Apollo Sosiano, a temple dedicated to Apollo in the Campus Martius.

Statue of the so-called Athena of Castro Pretorio, Hellenistic statue (mid 3rd century BC) based on 6th century BC models. Statue of bearded Dionysus, copy after Greek original of the 2nd half of 4th century BC.

Discophoros (disk-bearer), Roman copy of a Greek original of the late Classical period attributed to Naukydes of Argos. Statuette of Asklepios, small-scale copy after a 5th century BC original attributed to Phidias or Alkamenes.

Portrait of Septimius Severus. Portrait of Claudius, probably refashioned during the age of Claudius on the basis of a portrait of Caligula. Portrait of Caracalla, 212 – 217 AD.

Head of Silvanus crowned with pine. Head of Apollo crowned with a laurel wreath, Roman copy after a Hellenistic work. Head of Apollo, Roman copy of a Greek bronze original (460-455 BC).

Basanite statue of Agrippina the Younger depicted as a priestess, 54-59 AD. Statue made in dark grey marble (bigio antico) known as the Victory of the Symmachi, probably representing a dancing woman.

The Boiler Room: named after the huge steam boiler dominating the room, this room is home to a number of beautiful statues and decorative sculptures that once adorned the gardens of sumptuous imperial residences (Horti Sallustiani, Horti Liciniani, Horti Lamiani, Horti Caesaris). Funerary monuments from the Ostiense Necropolis are also on display in this room.

Head of Priapus, refined Augustan version of archaic models dating back to the late 6th century BC, from the Horti Lamiani. Group with Satyr and a Nymph, Roman copy after work of the Pergamene school dating back to the mid-2nd century BC. Seated girl, Roman copy of the Hadrianic period after a Greek original of the school of Lysippos or a Roman creation, from the Horti Liciniani.

Statue of Pothos, copy of the original created by Skopas for the town of Megara, from a Domus dating back to the 2nd century AD. Acephalous statue of Pothos.

Statue of a Muse (Polyhymnia?), Found in via Terni inside an ancient underground passage in the area of the Horti Variani, 2nd century BC. 2nd c. AD statue in red marble of Marsyas, a satyr who dared challenge Apollo to a music contest , found at the Villa Vignacce in southeastern Rome during 2009 excavations carried by the American Institute for Roman Culture.

Opening hours:

Tuesday-Sunday: 9.00 – 19.00;

24 and 31 December: 9.00 – 14.00;

Last admission 1/2 hour before closing time.

Regular Fees:

Adults € 7,50

Concessions € 6,50

Roman Citizens only (by showing a valid ID):

Adults € 6,50

Concessions € 5,50

Capitolini Card (Capitoline Museums + Centrale Montemartini – valid 7 days):

Adults € 16,00

Concessions € 14,00

Roman Citizens only (by showing a valid ID):

Adults € 15,00

Concessions € 13,00

Website: http://en.centralemontemartini.org/