Torlonia Museum

The collection of 620 marble and alabaster statues and sarcophagi dating to the Roman Empire period[2] has been described as the "most important private museum of sculpture in the world" by Italian art critic Federico Zeri and, according to The Daily Telegraph, has been "said to rival [the ancient sculptures] of the Vatican.

"[3] The Encyclopædia Britannica considers the most significant of the works a relief of Heracles freeing Theseus and Peirithoos (4th century BC, attributed to the school of Phidias) and a sculpture of "Hestia Giustiniani" (5th century BC, attributed to Kalamis).

[2] (According to earlier information by the same newspaper, however, Prince Giovanni Torlonia himself was the founder of the collection when, in 1810, "he bought some works and unearthed others on his land in Portus".

[3]) Alessandro Torlonia, heir to Giovanni, opened the collection to visitors in their family palace on Via della Lungara, close to the Tiber River, in 1893.

After an agreement was reached with the government in 2016, the site of the museum became a restoration and conservation center for the still private collection, but which the family now allows to tour nationally and internationally.