Polo Hotel

"Life is short, the art long."

Hippocrates

Rome provides a veritable feast of art! Renaissance masterpieces are accessible for viewing all year round. Do not leave before you have visited:

The Galleria Borghese – This villa was a private property until 1903. It was built to display the acquisitions of the nephew of Pope Paul IV.

Musei Capitolini – housed within the twin palaces of Palazzo Nuovo and Palazzo dei Conservatori

The Vatican Museum – The Popes have done such a good job of collecting art that it is probably advisable to visit these daunting halls with a guide! A truly staggering number of people visit the Sistine Chapel every moment! It is advisable to bring binoculars and forget your camera as this is not allowed.

MAXXI, the National Museum of XXI Century Arts, is the first Italian national institution devoted to contemporary creativity and conceived as a broad cultral campus. MAXXI is managed by a Foundation constituted in July 2009 by the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and houses two museums: MAXXI Art and MAXXI Architecture.

The programming of the activities - exhibitions, workshops, conferences, shows, projections, educational projects - reflects MAXXII's vocation as a place for the conservation and exhibition of its collections but also, and above all, a laboratory for cultural experimentation and inovation, for the study, research and production of the aesthetic contents of out time.

The MAXXI building is a major architectural work designed by Zaha Hadid, located in Rome's Flaminio area, featuring innovative and spectacular forms.

Palazzo delle Esposizioni is the largest interdisciplinary exhibition area in the centre of Rome: more than 10.000 square meters of space on three floors, Level 0, 1 and 2 host cultural events and offers several services to visitors.

The Palazzo also has a Cinema, an Auditorium and a Forum as well as a café, a restaurant and a large bookshop.

There are a number of hidden gems in Rome:

Centrale Montemartini – the remains of the statuary from the Museilia Capitolini
Galleria Doria Pamphili – One of the great Roman aristocratic families have their very personal collection on display.
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme – The spectacular collection of ancient art owned by the Italian state.

The following art venues have free entrance:

Galleria Alessandra Bonomo – showing a mix of established Italian and emerging foreign artists.
Galleria Lorcan O’Neill – Rome’s most fashionable private gallery.
Galleria Sala 1 – An ex-basilica lying directly under the Scala Santa (Romes holiest relic)
Galleria Sales – Exhibiting international artists.
Il Gabbiano – A classic gallery showing well known artists.
Il Ponte Contemporanea – Focused on photography and installation art.
La Nuova Pesa – Upcoming Roman and big international art.
Lipanje Puntin Arte Contemporanea – A branch of the Trieste gallery dedicated to the pop genre and photography.
Magazzino d’Arte Moderna – Installations, videos and photography.
Monitor – Video art
Museo Hendrik Christian Andersen – An offshoot of the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna occupying an art nouveau villa between the Tiber  river and viale Flaminia.
NextDoor – A tiny space featuring site-specific installations.
Romberg Arte Contemporanea – Exhibiting some interesting mid-career Italian painters.
Stefania Miscetti – Unusual sculptures and installations
Studio Trisorio Roma – A branch of a Naples gallery showing artists such as Rebecca Horn
Valentina Bonomo Arte Contemporanea – Established international artists as well as promising young artists
Valentina Moncada Arte Contemporanea – Situated on the picturesque street where Federico Fellini used to live!
VM21 Arte Contemporanea – A large gallery featuring Italian and foreign artists working in a representative selection of media

Finally we have to mention the extraordinary Church of Santa Maria della Concezione which contains the skeletal remains of 4000 Capuchin monks – artistically displayed.