Torlonia Collection

[4] In 1816, 269 statues from the collection assembled by the 17th-century art collector and aristocrat Vincenzo Giustiniani (1564–1637), were transferred to Giovannia Torlonia as collateral on a loan.

[8] One of the outstanding pieces belonging to the Villa Albani collection is the Torlonia Vase, a marble krater resting on carved lions' feet with a relief around its sides depicting a Bacchic symposium.

[9] The Albani collection also included a relief with Antinous taken from Hadrian's Villa, and a Roman bronze statuette of the Apollo Sauroctonos, after an original by the Greek sculptor Praxiteles.

[13] Between 1827 and 1828 excavations were carried out around Anzio, and additional work was undertaken on the Torlonia estates of Caffarella, Quadraro, and at Portus, the site of imperial Rome's most important port.

Alessandro Torlonia acquired further property in Rome and its vicinity, including the Vigna dei Gesuiti on the Aventine Hill, which rested above the remains of the Baths of Decius.

Prince Alessandro arranged for this catalogue to be donated to private individuals and to the libraries of archaeological institutes, to "bring it [the collection] in a splendid manner...to the notice of archaeologists, scholars, and all those who lack the opportunity to have it often before them.

[1] Restoration work sponsored by the Italian luxury house Bulgari, primarily to remove thick accumulations of dust, also began in 2016.