“Dawn of a Museum” exhibition at Castel Sant'Angelo: Tickets and Hours

The exhibition “Castel Sant'Angelo 1911-1925. The Dawn of a Museum.” can be visited from September 23, 2025 to February 15, 2026 Inside the monumental halls of the Castle.

The exhibition celebrates the centenary of the birth of the National Museum of Castel Sant'Angelo and is included in the regular admission ticket, at no additional cost.

The exhibition follows the opening hours of the museum: doors are open daily from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., with last entry at 6:30 p.m..

The castle is closed every Monday, as well as on December 25 and January 1, except for any special openings arranged by the Ministry of Culture.

Legal gratuities are provided and, as always, on the first Sunday of the month, admission is free For all, without reservation.

The ticket purchased allows visitors to visit both the Castle and the entire exhibition dedicated to the centennial.

The dawn of a museum: what the exhibition is all about.

“Castel Sant'Angelo 1911-1925. The Dawn of a Museum.” is much more than a celebratory exhibition: it is a journey inside the origins of the National Museum of Castel Sant'Angelo, a path that reconstructs the moment when the monument-for centuries a mausoleum, fortress, papal residence and prison-began to transform itself into a place dedicated to culture.

The occasion is the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Museum, which occurred with the Royal Decree of May 4, 1925.

A century later, the Castle pays tribute to that founding season by tracing the years from the 1911 to 1925, a crucial period in defining its modern identity.

Why it is called “Dawn of a Museum.”

The title of the exhibition, “Dawn of a Museum.”, is inspired by the extraordinary painting by Umberto Prencipe, made specifically for the great 1911 exposition.

The work, depicting a Rome still bathed in the soft light of dawn, has become the perfect metaphor for that moment in history: a delicate and decisive transition phase in which Castel Sant'Angelo ceased to be just a monument and began to become a museum.

What the exhibition tells

The exhibition project - conceived by Luca Mercuri, acting director of the Pantheon and Castel Sant'Angelo, with the support of a dedicated scientific committee - brings together works, documents, photographs and materials from Italian museums, archives and the Castle's rich deposits.
The goal is twofold:

• restore the atmosphere of the 1911 Exposition, a true laboratory of museographic experimentation;
• show how, over the next fourteen years, the idea of the museum we know today took shape.

The result is a path that weaves memory, history and innovation, and inviting visitors to look at Castel Sant'Angelo with new eyes: not only as a monumental building, but as a cultural institution created to tell - and preserve - the history of Italy.

The exhibition route

To understand the essence of the “Dawn of a Museum” exhibition, we need to go back to the 1911, when Castel Sant'Angelo is transformed, for the first time, into a real exhibition space.

It is the fiftieth anniversary of the unification of Italy and Rome is hosting a large celebratory exhibition spread across various parts of the city. In this atmosphere of renewed national pride, Castle becomes one of the symbolic places of the initiative.

The 1911 exhibition design was strikingly modern: it did not merely display works following a strict chronological sequence, but constructed an immersive itinerary, bringing together Archaeology, fine arts, decorative arts, historical settings and thematic reconstructions.

Halls that had once been prisons or service rooms were transformed into narrative environments, capable of evoking atmospheres and telling centuries of artistic history.

That exhibition had a decisive impact.

For the first time, people began to think of Castel Sant'Angelo no longer as a fortress to be guarded, but as a A place to be culturally enhanced.

The 1911 experiment laid the theoretical and museographic foundation for what fourteen years later, would become the National Museum of Castel Sant'Angelo.

The 2025 exhibition recovers that very spirit: a workshop of ideas, a new vision, a narrative that changed the fate of the monument.

The 2025 curatorial project

The project takes direct inspiration from the 1911 Exposition, not to reproduce it in a philological manner, but To reinterpret the spirit: that combination of scientific rigor and creative enthusiasm that had characterized the great museographic experiment of the early twentieth century.

In fact, the 2025 exhibition not only presents works and documents, but also arranges them in An ongoing dialogue with historical photographs, archival materials, and artifacts from the Castle's storerooms, many of them restored especially for the occasion.

The objective is twofold: on the one hand, to return the complexity of a period of great cultural ferment, on the other to invite visitors to reflect on the role of the museum in contemporary society.

The exhibition tells the story of how it went from a predominantly military monument to a public institution, designed to preserve, study and, above all, share heritage with an ever-widening public.

The result is. A journey that interweaves memory, research and vision: a celebration of the Museum's first 100 years, but also a way to question its future and the value that places like Castel Sant'Angelo continue to represent in the cultural life of the country.

The sections of the exhibition and the main works

The heart of the exhibition is a rich path, constructed as a continuous dialogue between works from important Italian museums, historical materials from 1911, and objects kept for decades in the storage rooms of Castel Sant'Angelo.

Each section illuminates a fragment of the museum's history, bringing to light masterpieces, documents and testimonies that reconstruct the identity of the Castle in the early twentieth century.

The journey begins with the watercolors by Hector Roesler Franz, which tell of a Rome in transformation.

His views, delicate and melancholy, show corners of the city that were disappearing under the new urban plans: a tribute to the visual memory of a capital city changing face as modern Rome was born.

Next to it stands the extraordinary painting by Umberto Prencipe, conceived specifically for the 1911 Exposition.

The great view of Rome - Umberto Prencipe

The great view of Rome in the fifteenth century, shrouded in the light of dawn, is the work that inspired the title of today's exhibition. Its presence ideally marks the threshold between past and future: it is a symbol of that moment when the Castle began to imagine itself as a museum.

Another key section is devoted to the Gorga collection, an important core of the 1911 exhibition.

Here ancient musical instruments, archaeological objects, a striking late antique stele with a praetorian, and the splendid carved Romanesque slabs, specially restored for the occasion.

They are evidences of the first attempt to show, inside the Castle, Heterogeneous materials capable of telling the story of Italian art in its many forms.

The tour continues with major works, such as the’Elijah in the desert by Daniel of Volterra, from the Uffizi.

Elijah in the Desert by Daniel of Volterra - Pic by Wikipedia

A tribute to the “michelangiolesque” section of 1911 and a point of connection between the great pictorial tradition of the sixteenth century and the historical museography of the Castle.

Next to it, the View of the Tiber at Vanvitelli's Castel Sant'Angelo, loan of Barberini Palace, returns to the visitor an image of the monument in its relationship with the urban landscape.

View of the Tiber by Gaspare Vanvitelli - Pic by Wikipedia

There is no shortage of space for sculpture, represented by a terracotta from the Giambologna, while an entire section is devoted to Bartholomew Pinelli, able as few to immortalize the popular life of nineteenth-century Rome.

Its trades, characters and scenes of everyday life they tell of another Rome, complementary to the monumental one.

One of the most scenic cores is the historical weapons and armor, in dialogue with the “men in arms” section from 1911. Among prestigious loans - such as the Bargello's celades - and works restored from storage, an extraordinary 16th century Medici armor, along with the portrait of Alfonso I d'Este, a figure related to both art and artillery.

The most intense and symbolic part of the route is the one dedicated to Giovan Battista Piranesi.

His Invention prisons, printed for the 1911 exhibition, dialogue with the actual rooms in which the Castle's prisoners were kept. It is a section that interweaves imagination, metaphor and history, highlighting one of the darkest and most fascinating chapters in the monument's life.

Finally, the archaeological section collects Piranesi's engravings dedicated to ancient monuments and artifacts from Castel Sant'Angelo itself: Roman puntazze found near Ponte Sant'Angelo, with still traces of charred wood, and marble bipedals coming from the Mausoleum. A return to the monument's earliest origins.

This long journey finds its synthesis in the Hall of Apollo, where the great 1911 model, flanked by the busts of Adriano e Antoninus Pius, a reminder of the castle's imperial roots.

Closing, like a golden whisper, the’angel of Peter Bracci, chosen as the icon of the exhibition: a discreet presence that accompanies the visitor to the exit.

St. Michael the Archangel - Peter Bracci

The documentary dimension

One of the most fascinating aspects of the exhibition is the way it relates the works with historical documentation.

It is not just about displaying paintings, sculptures or artifacts: the exhibition reconstructs the context in which these materials were first presented, unearthing photographs, guidebooks, posters and archival materials that tell the story of the 1911 Exposition and the museum's early beginnings.

Along the way, the following appear historical images drawn from the exhibits of the time: rooms thick with objects, walls covered with works, a different aesthetic from the contemporary museum aesthetic, more dense, theatrical and pedagogical. The photographs, enlarged and arranged along the walls, become almost a second display, parallel to the real one: they allow the visitor to compare the work with its “first life” in the museum.

A central role is played by the original poster from 1911, displayed in a vitrine like a secular relic that restores the enthusiasm of that cultural enterprise.

Next to it, the exposition guide, preserved in the original version but flanked by an anastatic copy, is made available for the public to freely peruse.

It is a simple but meaningful gesture: invites hands-on experience of the legacy of 1911, coming into direct contact with the words and tools of a nascent museography.

Historical documentation is not presented as a mere explanatory appendix, but as an integral part of the narrative: each photograph or document dialogues with the works on display, offering a broader look at how they were interpreted, presented and experienced by visitors of the time.

It is a form of visual and cultural memory that enriches the exhibition experience, Creating a bridge between the past and the present.

Museography compared: 1911 vs. 2025

One of the most fascinating themes of the exhibition “Dawn of a Museum.” is the comparison between How art was told in 1911 e how it is being told today.

It is not just an aesthetic difference: Is a profound change in the way the museum is conceived And its public function.

In 1911, the setup was dense, theatrical, encyclopedic. The halls of Castel Sant'Angelo were filled to overflowing, with works displayed very close together, organized according to thematic criteria capable of generating immediate visual impact. The museum at that time had a specific mission: astonish, excite, tell the birth of Italian identity through powerful symbols, accumulated objects, evocative settings.

In 2025, the approach is completely different. The layout of the current exhibition is more essential and calibrated, attentive to legibility and the space surrounding each work. Contemporary museography privileges the dialogue between work and context, a fluid narrative, a more direct relationship with the visitor. The exhibition rereads 1911 with a critical eye: it recovers its charm, but smooths out its excesses, transforming theatricality into narrative balance.

Contributing decisively to this comparison are the historical photographs Of the 1911 Exposition. These are images that function as mirrors, placing the past and the present side by side. Through them we see how the halls looked a century ago: full, almost suffocating, but extraordinarily eloquent.

Today, those same works breathe in a more controlled environment, where light, materials and the exhibition route are designed to enhance the critical reading.

To observe the same work exhibited in 1911 and 2025 is to witness two different ways of building a museum: on the one hand, the view of the museum as “secular cathedral”, a solemn and identifying place; on the other hand, that of the museum as a dynamic space, open, research-oriented, and dialogue with the public.

The environments of the exhibition route

The exhibition is developed within some of the most representative spaces of Castel Sant'Angelo, rooms that alone tell centuries of history and are now returning to a new exhibition function.

The route opens in the Halls of Clement VIII, where one immediately finds that atmosphere suspended between monumentality and narrative that already characterized the great 1911 exhibition.

Apartment of Clement VII - Castel Sant'Angelo

From here we move on to the Hall of Justice, one of the most striking rooms of the Castle, once a place of administrative functions and now converted into a museum hall.

Prison Gate - Castel Sant'Angelo

The lights, volumes, and architectural structure frame a selection of works that dialogue with the very history of the hall, evoking the idea of a building that has always changed roles while keeping its solemn character intact.

The path then continues in the’Apartment of Clement VII, where Renaissance decorations coexist with works from Italian collections and museums. Here emerges perhaps more than elsewhere the ability of the Castle to adapt to new functions, transforming itself from a papal residence to a cultural space without losing its identity.

The exhibition concludes in the magnificent Hall of Apollo, one of the most iconic rooms in the Castle. It is here that the great 1911 model of Castel Sant'Angelo, restored and repositioned for the occasion, flanked by the busts of Adriano e Antoninus Pius, a reminder of the monument's imperial origins.

Hall of Apollo - Castel Sant'Angelo

In a side compartment, almost like an intimate apparition, is the’golden angel by Pietro Bracci, chosen as the symbol of the exhibition: a delicate presence that closes the tour on a note of strong symbolic value.

Useful information for the visit

The exhibition “Castel Sant'Angelo 1911-1925. The Dawn of a Museum.” is housed within the monumental route of the Castle and is included in the regular admission ticket.
Here is all the practical information you need to make the best arrangements for your visit.

Dates
The exhibition is open from September 23, 2025 to February 15, 2026.

Schedules
Castel Sant'Angelo can be visited from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., with last entry at 6:30 p.m..
The museum is closed on Mondays, as well as the December 25 and the January 1 (subject to ministerial communications).

Tickets
The Castle admission ticket also includes the exhibition:
- Full price: 16 €
- Reduced 18-25 years old: 2 €
- Gratuity by law
- First Sunday of the month: free admission without reservation

Where it is located
Castel Sant'Angelo, Lungotevere Castello 50 - Rome, just minutes from Piazza Navona and the Vatican.

Getting there
It is recommended to arrive by public transportation: several bus lines stop nearby, while the Metro A (stop Octavian) is about a 15-minute walk away.
The car is not recommended due to the presence of the LTZ and the traffic in the area.

Contact and reservations
- Call center: +39 06 399 671 00
- Email: info@coopculture.it
- Ticketing: buy ticket online

Frequently asked questions about the exhibition at Castel S.Angelo

Conclusions

The exhibition “Castel Sant'Angelo 1911-1925. The Dawn of a Museum.” is much more than a celebratory tribute. It is an opportunity to understand how a museum is born, how a collective memory is built, and how a monument can transform through the centuries without ever losing its identity.

Bringing back works, photographs, documents and artifacts that have long remained in storage, the exhibition offers a privileged look at a key period in Italian cultural history.

The dialogue between the 1911 works and the contemporary setting creates a lucid and fascinating reflection on the role of museums: places of preservation, but also of interpretation, narrative and confrontation.

It is an exhibition that invites Slowing down, observing and rethinking museum space As a living organism, constantly evolving. And Castel Sant'Angelo, with its thousand-year history, proves to be a perfect symbol of this metamorphosis.