These frescoes were discovered in 1862, during work on Rome's first railway station.
In 1947, during the construction of Metro B in the adjacent Piazza dei Cinquecento, an archaeological excavation was started, which initially brought to light two insulae and, later, a stately building dating from the Antonine period and thus from around the second century AD.
Successfully completed in 1949, the excavation campaign brought to light an entrance hall, a bathhouse, a nymphaeum and a large apsidal hall.
The decorative repertoire was detached and transferred to Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, seat of the National Roman Museum.