National Museum of Oriental Art

The National Museum of Oriental Art was a museum in Rome, Italy, dedicated to the arts of Asia and the Near East, spanning from the Middle East to Japan. Established in 1957, it played a significant role in presenting Asian archaeology, art, and culture to the Italian public. The institution was officially named for the prominent orientalist Giuseppe Tucci, whose fieldwork provided its foundational collections. The museum operated from Palazzo Brancaccio in the Rione Esquilino until 2017, when its collections were transferred to the Museum of Civilizations in the EUR district.

The museum was founded in 1957 by presidential decree, arising from an agreement between the Ministry of Public Education and the Italian Institute for the Middle and Far East. Its stated purpose was to provide Italy with an institution reflecting its long tradition of orientalist research. It opened to the public on June 16, 1958, initially housing objects owned by the Institute. In December 1974, the museum was transferred to the newly created Ministry for Cultural and Environmental Heritage. It was officially dedicated to Giuseppe Tucci in 2005. In September 2016, the museum merged with four other institutes to form the Museum of Civilizations, and by 2017 it was closed, with its collections, photographic archives, and library relocated to the Palazzo delle Scienze in EUR.

The museum's holdings were organized into eleven thematic and geographical areas: Near and Middle East, Islamic World, South Arabian Antiquities, India, Gandhara, Tibet and Nepal, Southeast Asia, China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. The collection covered an extensive chronological range, from Neolithic Anatolia in the sixth millennium BCE to twentieth century Asian cultures. Beyond the initial core of Tucci's acquisitions and subsequent state purchases on the antiquarian market, the museum actively expanded through international exchanges with countries such as Thailand and Pakistan, and through numerous private donations.

The museum was built upon the collection of art objects from Nepal, Tibet, and Ladakh acquired by Giuseppe Tucci during his expeditions between 1928 and 1954. Another major strength was its notable Gandhara collection, derived from IsMEO archaeological missions to Buddhist and protohistoric sites in Pakistan's Swat Valley, including the Butkara Stupa, Barikot, Panr, and Aligrama. Additional significant holdings included artifacts from the Palace of Mas'ud III and the Buddhist shrine of Tape Sardar at Ghazni in Afghanistan, and prehistoric materials from Shahr-e Sokhteh in eastern Iran. Donations further enriched the museum, including Burmese art from Giovanni Andreino, Indian artifacts from Giacomo Mutti, Korean ceramics from the Goryeo and Joseon dynasties, and roughly five thousand objects bequeathed by Francesca Bonardi, Tucci's widow.

The museum was historically housed in Palazzo Brancaccio, located at Via Merulana 248 in Rome's Rione Esquilino. Following the 2016 merger into the Museum of Civilizations, the collections were moved to the Palazzo delle Scienze in the EUR suburb of Rome. The former Palazzo Brancaccio site was subsequently closed, and the collections, archives, and library were relocated to the new EUR headquarters, where they are partially exhibited while awaiting a permanent installation.

The original museum at Via Merulana 248 is now closed. Its collections are currently administered as part of the Museum of Civilizations, located at Piazza Guglielmo Marconi 14 in the EUR district of Rome, accessible via bus lines 791 and 714. The institution remains under the ownership of the Italian Ministry of Culture. Currently, a temporary exhibition of the former museum's holdings is on display, featuring a selection of 650 pieces organized by their geographical origin, while the broader collection awaits a definitive permanent installation. The museum offices continue to manage the exhibition spaces, conduct research on Asian archaeology and culture, and exercise tutelage over publicly owned Asian art materials.