Museo Nazionale Romano

High on our list of priorities, something we had not visited before, was the National Roman Museum. Indeed we have seen plenty of Roman history and art, and not just in Italy. But the National Roman Museum has some of the best specimens, some truly unique holdings, all beautifully displayed (and in English too, mostly).

Augustus as Pontifex Maximus (chief priest)

Bronze copy of a Greek boxer

Venus

Vicki and Rick Steves; we probably have

owned and used most of his books, and do own

all the DVDs, and have used his stuff almost

daily since coming to Europe in April of

2009; so it was a special thrill to run into him;

he and his photographer and videographer

were shooting in the MNR, "freshening up"

some of his previous PBS shows on Italy;

later on he asked us to pose for some incidental

shots, which, as Vicki says, will probably end

up on the cutting-room floor; but maybe not;

and no, I did not call him Rickie Stevie...

The discus-thrower, very famous

Bronze Dionysus

In addition to the hundreds of statues and busts, then

there were entire rooms of frescoes and mosaics, the

frescoes particularly intact and vibrant

A gorgeous Nile scene

Fresco dining scene

Throughout Rome's glory days, there were four and four

only major chariot-racing teams (Nero tried a league-

expansion but it didn't take): the Green, the Red, the White,

and the Blue (the Romans were definitely into the whole

brevity thing); anyhow, this mini mosaic is one of the few

representations of chariot-racing, their most popular mass

entertainment

The basement of the museum is mostly the coin collection--

something we generally don't get much into--but this one, and

the various apparati for examining the coins close-up, was

extensive, special, and well worth the time; after the "fall" of

Rome in 476, the Goths ruled, under the auspices of the

Eastern Emperor in Constantinople (the Empire didn't really

fall until 1453, but that's another story) and were authorized

to mint their own money; this is an example with Alaric

pictured

Incredibly fine gold work, with an illustration from Pompei that

we saw at the Naples Archaeological Museum

It's an incredible museum, but for us the most impressive

sight was this room, four walls of which were from a large

garden fresco scene in a villa, no doubt, the palette suggestive

of Monet, the subjects and perspectives nearly east Asian... 

Thus

And thus