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The Antiquarium of Villa Barberini in Castel Gandolfo: Roman Sculptures in the Popes’ Villa
The Antiquarium of Villa Barberini is located in Castel Gandolfo, within the Pontifical Villas complex: a 55-hectare park larger than Vatican City itself. Inaugurated in 1989, the ground floor of the villa has seven rooms displaying the finds from the residence that Emperor Domitian had built here between AD 81 and 96. A compact yet very rich museum that few people know about.
The Emperor’s villa beneath the Pope’s gardens
The history of the site is one of several layers. Domitian had an enormous villa built in the Alban Hills (Colli Albani), complete with a private theatre, nymphaea and terraces overlooking the lake. In 1628 Taddeo Barberini, nephew of Pope Urban VIII, purchased the land and built over it. With the Lateran Treaty of 1929 the entire estate passed to the Holy See, and in 2016 Pope Francis opened the complex to the general public.
What to see in the seven rooms
The seven rooms bring together works of outstanding quality. The visit begins with the opus spicatum floors (bricks laid in a herringbone pattern) of the Roman villa. The first rooms display reliefs from the age of Domitian and materials from his private theatre, which is still visible in the park. Room IV houses statues of athletes from the 1st century BC. The highlights are in rooms V and VI: sculptures from the Bergantino Nymphaeum (ninfeo Bergantino), on the shore of Lake Albano, inspired by the Grotto of Tiberius at Sperlonga. Sculptural groups depict the blinding of Polyphemus and the attack of Scylla, scenes drawn from the Odyssey.
