The National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art is today a museum with two hearts.

The first is the Museum's connection to the past. Its cultural history is intertwined with that of the Italian State which achieved complete political unity only in 1870 with the establishment of Rome as its capital. The first half of the 19th Century was a period of great political and cultural ferment and this is the foundation upon which the Museum stands.

On the other hand the Museum, since its founding in 1883, has always looked to the present. It's mission being to represent "living" art.