Room 4. Rome and the Roman School

In the Roman artistic landscape between the two wars, a special role was played by a small group of contenders known as the Roman School. Their first meetings took place in the house and study of Mario Mafai and Antonietta Raphaël, situated in Via Cavour and destroyed in 1930 as part of the demolition works for the creation of Via dell’Impero. The most assiduous frequenters of the group were literary figures and artists such as Ungaretti, Sinisgalli, Libero de Libero, Mazzacurati, Cagli and, above all, Scipione Bonichi. In 1929, Roberto Longhi coined the phrase “Via Cavour School” to describe the artists in the group, who formed the nucleus of the Roman School. The room presents the works of some of those who inspired and participated in this expressive phase, alongside other figures on the Roman scene during the interwar period.