page_title: National Roman Museum
section_title: History of the building
hierarchical_section_title: National Roman Museum / Palazzo Altemps / History of the building
caption_attribution_description: English: Drunken Dionysos and satyr. Marble, Roman copy from the 2nd century CE after an Hellenistic original. Marble; original elements: heads, torsos and thighs of Dionysos and satyr, right arm of Dionysos; restored elements: legs of Dionysos and satyr, arms of the satyr. Français&#160;: Dionysos ivre s'appuyant sur un satyre. Marbre, copie romaine du IIe siècle ap. J.-C. d'après un original hellénistique. Marbre, éléments originaux&#160;: têtes, torses et cuisses des deux personnages, bras droit de Dionysos&#160;; éléments restaurés&#160;: jambes des deux personnages, bras du satyre.
context_page_description: The National Roman Museum is a museum, with several branches in separate buildings throughout the city of Rome, Italy. It shows exhibits from the pre- and early history of Rome, with a focus on archaeological findings from the period of Ancient Rome.
context_section_description: The building was designed in the 15th century by Melozzo da Forlì for Girolamo Riario, a relation of Pope Sixtus IV. There is still a fresco on one wall of the rooms in the palazzo that celebrates the wedding of Girolamo to Caterina Sforza in 1477, showing the silver plates and other wedding gifts given to the couple. When the Riario family began to decline after the death of Pope Sixtus IV, the palazzo was sold to Cardinal Francesco Soderini of Volterra, who commissioned further refinements from the architects Sangallo the Elder and Baldassarre Peruzzi.
  When the Soderini family fell on hard times, he in turn sold it in 1568 to the Austrian-born cardinal Mark Sittich von Hohenems Altemps, the son of the sister of Pope Pius IV. Cardinal Altemps commissioned the architect Martino Longhi to expand and improve the palazzo; it was Longhi who built the belvedere. Cardinal Altemps accumulated a large collection of books and ancient sculpture. Though his position as the second son in his family meant Marco Sittico Altemps became a cleric, he was not inclined to priesthood. His mistress bore him a son, Roberto, made Duke of Gallese. Roberto Altemps was executed for adultery in 1586 by Pope Sixtus V.
  The Altemps family continued to mix in the circles of Italian nobility throughout the 17th century. Roberto's granddaughter Maria Cristina d'Altemps married Ippolito Lante Montefeltro della Rovere, Duke of Bomarzo.
  The Palazzo Altemps became the property of the Holy See in the 19th century, and the building was used as a seminary for a short time. It was granted to the Italian state in 1982 and after 15 years of restoration, inaugurated as a museum in 1997.
caption: Dionysus with a panther and satyr, from the Palazzo Altemps.
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