Museo Canonica

About the museum

The museum is housed in the Fortezzuola, a building in the Villa Borghese that in the seventeenth century was called “Gallinaro”, because birds were raised there for the Borghese family's hunting parties. The present name derives from the turreted enclosure in medieval taste; in 1793 Felice Giani added eight caryatids to the façade. A fire in 1919 damaged the building, which was then used as an administrative office and afterwards abandoned.

In 1926 the Fortezzuola was entrusted to the sculptor Pietro Canonica, who restored it and converted the former stables into exhibition rooms and studios. On his death in 1959, an initial nucleus of works formed the basis of the future museum; after the death of his second wife in 1987, the furnishings of their home passed to Roma Capitale. The museum opened to the public in 1995.

Today it is one of the few artist's house museums in Italy. On the ground floor, seven rooms display marbles, bronzes, original plaster casts, sketches, studies and replicas that show the sculptor's creative process. A more private route passes through the studio and, on the first floor, the apartment with period furniture, Flemish tapestries and a seventeenth-century samurai armour. The collection also includes nineteenth-century paintings of the Piedmontese school and a library.

Highlights

• Seven rooms with marbles, bronzes and plaster casts by Pietro Canonica
• Equestrian monuments to Tsar Alexander II and Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich
• The sculptor's studio and the private first-floor apartment with period furniture
• Storage of the Villa Borghese sculptures with a visitable gallery
• Nineteenth-century Piedmontese paintings by Fontanesi, Quadrone, Gamba and Cavalleri

Permanent exhibition

• Sale del museo, atelier e appartamento privato – Route on the ground floor with marbles, bronzes, plaster casts and sketches by Pietro Canonica, the sculptor's studio and the private apartment with period furniture on the first floor.

Founded

1995

Operated by

Roma Capitale – Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali

Admission & discounts

Free admission for residents of Rome and the metropolitan area with an identity card, and for holders of the MIC card (€5 per year, free admission for 12 months to the Sistema Musei di Roma Capitale); other free admissions according to the current price list. Advance sales online, by phone on 060608 or at the ticket office: booking fee of €1; tickets are non-refundable and non-changeable. Groups of 5 to 25 people plus the guide only with free booking on 060608. Schools: compulsory, free booking.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The building dates from the seventeenth century and has some architectural barriers. A wheelchair is available on request from the reception staff, and there are seats along the route, particularly in rooms II and III. Two accessible toilets (ground floor and library/archive spaces). The sculpture storage can be reached by a gravel avenue with a ramp. Cars with a disabled parking permit and taxis can drop off at piazzale delle Canestre and viale Pietro Canonica. Tactile map in room I, Braille panel outside, tactile-sensory tours on request and a LIS video station near the entrance.

Kids & families

Educational routes are planned for schools and for all visitors.

Getting there & parking

The museum is located within the Villa Borghese, near Piazza di Siena. For wheelchair users, three routes along the carriageway are described: from piazzale delle Canestre and viale Pietro Canonica, from piazzale Pablo Picasso and viale di Valle Giulia, and from via Pinciana and viale dei Cavalli Marini.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

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