National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art

The Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea was founded in 1883 to collect the art of the new Italian state. Its later home in Valle Giulia, designed by Cesare Bazzani, gave that national project a monumental architectural setting near the northern edge of Villa Borghese.

The collection spans nineteenth-century art and the experiments of later generations. Works by artists such as Giovanni Fattori, Giovanni Segantini, and Auguste Rodin allow comparisons between history painting, the observation of labor and landscape, and new approaches to the sculpted body. Modern and contemporary holdings extend that conversation into other materials and forms.

This is a separate institution from the Galleria Borghese. A visit offers a useful change in historical focus: the Borghese collection grew from aristocratic patronage, while the national gallery reflects public collecting, acquisitions, donations, and changing definitions of contemporary art.

Check the museum's current displays and visitor information before you go, since collection works can be lent or rotated. Its entrance is on Viale delle Belle Arti; allow additional time for the walk and for the museum itself.