The collection was created in 1925 with the intention and aim to record the Roman cultural and artistic landscape in its various aspects and today, after several purchases, it contains more than 3000 paintings, sculptures and graphics: a truly special collection of great value for the comprehension of the development of the visual arts in Italy in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Among the most representative names, for the 19th century, Giulio Aristide Sartorio, Nino Costa, Onorato Carlandi and the painters of the "XXV della Campagna Romana"; for the 20th century, divisionismo Romano with artworks by Armando Spadini, Camillo Innocenti, Arturo Noci, Giacomo Balla; the artworks of the 1930s and the artists of the Scuola Romana including Scipione, Mario Mafai, Giuseppe Capogrossi, Emanuele Cavalli. Emblematic works such as Il Cardinal Decano di Scipione, from 1930, are displayed in addition to numerous examples of the artistic trends of the century: from the 20th century to Realismo Magico, from Secondo Futurismo to École de Paris.
The exhibition also includes sculpture, with artworks by Arturo Martini, Marino Marini and Giacomo Manzù, and the important work of Giulio Turcato's Comizio, purchased in the 1990s.