Keats-Shelley Museum - British Gem in the Heart of Rome
Located right next to the Spanish Steps in Rome, in the midst of tourist groups, high fashion houses, cafes, hotels, and restaurants, this narrow yellow house is easy to overlook.
And yet, amid the vast offer of Italian culture in Rome, this small but charming museum is like a fresh drop of dew directly from an English garden.
For those uneasy with Italian, the Keats-Shelley House is an oasis.
Because, unlike most museums in Italy, all the displays and texts in the museum are in English, and even the knowledgeable museum staff is fluent in the language of Shakespeare.
Beset by tuberculosis (disease which years earlier had taken the life of his mother), John Keats arrived in Italy in 1820, in a last bid to recover his declining health.
At that time, this area of Rome was a hub for British expatriates, and the house which now houses the museum was an Inn.
Here Keats shared accommodation with artist Leigh Hunt and other fellow Brits. However, the taxing conditions of the trip undermined Keats' health even further, and he died on February 28th of 1821, at the young age of 25.
Incredibly, in such a brief lifetime, Keats produced some of the finest poems in the English language, such as "O solitude","Endymion", "The Eve of St. Agnes", "La Belle Dame sans merci", and "Ode to a nightingale", among many others.
After crossing the entry door, the museum is accessible through a narrow staircase that conducts to the second floor.
The reception area offers a brief introduction to Keats' life and to the Rome at the start of the XIX century, before continuing to the third floor, where the main exhibits are located.
Due to its limited space, the staircase walls are also used as exhibition space to display an array of texts and images of Keats and his contemporaries.
The third floor, which hosts the room in which John Keats lodged, is divided in five rooms of different sizes: the entrance hall, the Salone, the Terrace room, Keats' room, and the Severn room.
Throughout these, dozens of unique articles, paintings, and relics are exhibited, such as John Keats' life and death masks, original editions, letters and documents, hair locks of Keats, Shelley and Leigh Hunt, Lord Byron's clock and carnival mask, Mary Shelley's travel writing desk, and a bust of Percy Bysshe Shelley, among many others.
Across the rooms, the walls are covered by shelves with books.
The vast library comprises a collection of more than 8,000 volumes, both in English and Italian, on the collected works of John Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, Mary Shelley, and their Romantic contemporaries, as well as volumes in criticism and literary studies.
Although not present at Keats' time, the volumes in the Museum's library can be consulted by scholars and the general public previous application to the Museum's director.
Different texts positioned in strategic locations expand on key moments in the life of Keats, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Lord Byron, Mary Shelley and their circle.
One of the particular charms of this museum is how the house retains most of its original atmosphere.
From the decorated ceiling to the floors, doors, and furniture, all of the house's details have been kept as they were during Keats' time.
Thus, despite its busy location, the Keats-Shelley house manages to encapsulate its collection in an aura of serene timelessness.
However, its diminutive space gets crammed quickly, which makes it hard to contemplate the exhibitions.
The building was saved from demolition by the Anglo-American community and was officially opened to the public in 1909. Nowadays it is maintained by the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association and is a registered UK Charity.
In addition, the Association offers an interesting variety of events through the year related to literature and the Romantics in Italy.
A British gem hidden in plain sight, the Keats-Shelley House is a must-see for anyone interested in British culture, even abroad.
To Learn More
Venue: Keats-Shelley House
Location: Piazza di Spagna, 26 - Rome 00187. Nearest subway station: Spagna (Line A)
Hours: Unless otherwise stated, the Museum is open from Monday to Saturday, from 10:00 to 13:00 and from 14:00 to 18:00.
Cost: €7 general entry. Concessions, €5. Disabled visitors may enter for free.
More information: https://ksh.roma.it/
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