Formerly the site of the preparatory school "Massimiliano Massimo", the building was constructed in 1883-87 by Camillo Pistrucci in imitation of the noble residences of the early Roman baroque period. Exhibited in the central hall are works that illustrate the political and ideological program of Augustus, including the statue of Augustus dressed as the Pontifex Maximus from the Via Labicana and the pictorial frieze of the noble sepulchre from the Esquiline hill.