Centrale Montemartini

Centrale Montemartini presents ancient Roman art inside the machinery of a former electrical power station. White marble sculptures stand beside grey engines and a colossal steam boiler.

The building retains original turbines and diesel engines, making industrial history visible within the museum. The engine room holds the strongest contrast.

Centrale Montemartini is the second exhibition centre of the Capitoline Museums, with sculptures, mosaics, and architectural fragments. Its collection came from excavations between the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

These works trace the ancient city from the Republican era to the Late Imperial age. The Temple of Apollo Sosianus appears through figures from its pediment.

Those sculptures once formed part of a larger architectural scene, but the museum lets you examine each figure separately. The goddess Fortuna appears as a colossal acrolith.

Nearby, the thoughtful Muse Polyhymnia creates a quieter presence among the machines. A huge mosaic shows hunting scenes with animals and figures.

Together, the marble, mosaics, engines, and architectural fragments connect ancient monumental power with the force of modern industry.