The Mattei Collection
The Mattei Collection is made up of certain ancient sculptures that were collected from the 16th century onwards to decorate the Mattei villa on the Caelian Hill (Villa Celimontana). Given to the Italian Government after the First World War, a group of 25 sculptures was transferred in 1923 to the National Roman Museum at the Baths of Diocletian, while another 14, which had remained in the gardens of the villa, were brought to the Palazzo Altemps in 1996, where they were reunited with the core collection from the Museum of the Baths. The porticos of the courtyard display the celebrated Dacian in ancient yellow marble along with some altars and funerary sculptures, reliefs and inscriptions, while a room on the first floor is home to a series of portraits, a composite figured capital and the sarcophagus depicting the rape of the Sabine Women.
