PALAZZO BRANCACCIO
Begun in
the years 1879/83 by Gaetano Koch (1849/1910)
for Mary Elisabeth Field Princess Brancaccio renovating existing structures
consisting of church, convent, orchard and garden of the Franciscan Sisters of
St. Clare Mary of the Purification in the Monti neighborhood
1886/90
last and most impressive work by Luca Carimini (1830/90)
completed, after his death, in the years 1893/1922 by Carlo
Sacconi and Rodolfo Buti
The
interiors were designed and furbished in the years 1909/12 by Francesco Gai (1835/1917) with new architectural
details, paintings, a nympheum and a coffee-house in the garden
“Gai was an
uninhibited decorator, who knew eclectically how to combine the rigor of the
classical tradition of the sixteenth and seventeenth century with the unrefined
taste of the owners, often undecided between the already dated atmosphere of
Paris during the Second Empire, the neo-rococo more Austro-German than French,
the temptation for the pagination and refinement of the late Piedmontese
Baroque and finally the splendor of the Tuscan and Roman Baroque” (Official
website of the museum - www.museorientale.beniculturali.it)
The palace includes the TEATRO BRANCACCIO
(Brancaccio Theatre) 1913/16 by Carlo Sacconi
Seat of the
Istituto Italiano per l'Africa e l'Oriente (Italian Institute for Africa
and the East) with a library of about 53,000 books and the
MUSEO NAZIONALE D’ARTE ORIENTALE “GIUSEPPE TUCCI”
National
Museum of Oriental Art 'Giuseppe Tucci'
The most important
of its kind in Italy. It opened in 1958
It has been
dedicated since 2005 to Giuseppe Tucci (1894/1984) one of the greatest scholars
of Eastern Art of the twentieth century
It houses
objects found by Italian archaeological expeditions in Iran, Pakistan and
Afghanistan, as well as items purchased by Giuseppe Tucci in Nepal and Tibet
FIFTEEN
ROOMS WITH SIX SECTIONS
Ancient
Near and Middle East (2 and 3)
The ancient
civilizations of the Mediterranean, the Iranian plateau and Central Asia are
represented by ceramics, bronzes, precious metals and semiprecious stones
dating from the sixth millennium BC to the seventh century AD
Tibetan
and Nepalese (4)
Paintings
on cloth, metal alloy statues, ritual and everyday use objects, jewelry and
furniture parts, from twelfth through nineteenth century
Gandhara
Art (5 and 8)
The works,
mostly from the excavations of the Italian Archaeological Expedition in
Pakistan depict scenes from the life and history of previous lives of the
Buddha, first/fourth centuries AD
Islamic
(1, 6 and 10)
Metals,
glass and especially ceramics from Iran, from the early Islamic period to the
Qajar (eight/nineteenth centuries) and artifacts from the palace of Mas'ud III
at Ghazni in Afghanistan (twelfth century)
Indian
(9)
Sculptures
from different parts of the Indian subcontinent, which are mainly Brahmanical
deities of the pantheon, such as Shiva and Vishnu and images of Buddha and
Bodhisattvas dating from the eight to the eighteenth century AD
Southeast
Asia, China and Japan (7 and from 11 to 15)
Rich
collection of about 4,000 pieces dating from the third millennium BC to the end
of the nineteenth century AD shown in rotation
It includes
Neolithic vases, archaic ritual vessels, figurines of Buddha and bronze
mirrors, paintings, prints, textiles, as well as glazed ceramics and porcelain
“Guanyin” about twelfth century, Chinese sculpture
carved in wood with traces of gold
ACTIVITIES
OF THE MUSEUM
Photographic
archives, specialized library, restoration workshop, archive of the eastern collections
in Italy, service of bio-archaeology and electronic microscopy
