May 19, 2024 - Classic Italy
Capitolini Museum
Looking at the Palazzo Nuovo, the palace on the left, which is one of the two museum buildings. To see the museums, you start with the Palazzo dei Conservatori, on the right, then cross underneath the square to the Palazzo Nuovo. The Capitoline Museums, the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the Palazzo Nuovo, are considered to be one of the oldest national museums in the world. It was founded in 1471 when Pope Sixtus IV donated some of the museum's most impressive statues, the She-wolf, the Spinario, the Camillus and the colossal head of emperor Constantine. Over the centuries the museums' collection has grown to include many of ancient Roman's finest artworks and artifacts. If something was considered too valuable or fragile in Rome and a copy was made in its place for display, the original is likely now on display in the Capitoline Museum.
The Palazzo Nuovo (English: New Palace) was constructed in 1603 to close off the piazza's symmetry and hide the tower of the Santa Maria in Ara Coeli. It was finished in 1654 and opened to the public in 1734. Its façade is an identical copy of the Palazzo dei Conservatori, made using Michelangelo's blueprint when he redesigned the Palazzo dei Conservatori a century earlier.
This square atop Capitoline Hill, called Plazza del Campidoglia, was once the religious and political center of ancient Rome.
In the 1530s, the pope called on Michelangelo (1475–1564) to reestablish this square as a grand center. Michelangelo placed the ancient equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius as its focal point. He had the grand stairway built. He gave the buildings the "giant order" -- huge pilasters make the existing two-story buildings feel one-storied and more harmonious with the new square. ... Rick Steves
He was commissioned by Pope Paul III to rebuild the Piazza del Campidoglio because the pope wanted a symbol of the new Rome to impress Charles V, who was expected to visit Rome in 1538. Since the Middle Ages the piazza was in such a state of abandonment to be also called "colle caprino" (goat hill), as it was used for grazing goats after the triumphal journey organized in Rome in honor of Charles V in 1536.
The existing design of the Piazza del Campidoglio and the surrounding palaces was created by Michelangelo. At the height of his fame, Michelangelo was offered the opportunity to build a monumental civic plaza for a major city as well as to reestablish the grandeur of Rome.
Michelangelo's first designs for remodeling the square date to 1534. From 1534 to 1538 Michelangelo completely redesigned the square, drawing every detail and making the Capitoline no longer turn towards the Roman Forum but towards the St. Peter's Basilica, which represented the new political center of the city. In 1546, Michelangelo produced the oval design for the piazza that included complex spiraling pavement with a twelve-pointed star at its centre.
Michelangelo provided fronts to the official buildings of Rome's civic government, the Palazzo dei Conservatori, Palazzo Senatorio, and Palazzo Nuovo. Michelangelo designed a new façade for the dilapidated Palazzo dei Conservatori and he designed the Palazzo Nuovo to be a mirror complement, thereby providing balance and coherence to the ensemble of existing structures. The construction of two of these buildings was carried out after his death under the supervision of Tommaso dei Cavalieri.
The work went so slowly that Michelangelo could only see the completion of the double staircase which served as the new access to the Palazzo Senatorio, with the positioning of the two statues depicting the two river gods of the “Tiber” and the "Nile.” The façade and the top of the tower was still incomplete, while the Palazzo Nuovo had not started.
We enter the palace on the right, the Palazzo dei Conservatori, which is the entrnace to the Capitoline Museum.
The Capitoline Museum was established in 1471 under the observation of Pope Sixtus IV,[1] who donated to the city a collection of important bronzes from the Lateran (including the Capitoline Wolf), which he had placed in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori and in Piazza del Campidoglio.
In 1734 Pope Clement XII purchased the prestigious collection of antiquities of Cardinal Alessandro Albani, which was about to be purchased by English collectors, and opened the museum to the public, making it the oldest public museum in the world, the first place in the world that allowed ordinary people to enjoy art.
IIn the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori. At right is the head of the Colossus of Constantine, along with his right hand, a many times life-size acrolithic early-4th-century statue depicting the Roman emperor Constantine the Great (c. 280–337), commissioned by himself, Surviving portions of the Colossus now reside.
Three panels from a triumphal arch refer to the exploits of Marcus Aurelius and are lined up on the first landing, while another three portraying the Emperor Hadrian are distributed one on each landing.
Below is Imperial religiosity: Marcus Aurelius, in civilian clothes and with his head veiled, offers a sacrifice at the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus , where all the triumphal processions ended.
The below relief depicts Hadrian entering Rome (probably returning from the Roman-Jewish war in 134 AD), through a door in the wall, welcomed by the goddess Roma and the personifications of the Senate and Roman people.
The relief comes from Piazza Sciarra, and is the preserved part of an honorary arch located near the temple to the deified Emperor:
Bronze colossus of Emporer Constantine, probably made in the 4th century but only fragments survive. It is usually interpreted as depicting Constantine the Great.
The museum also holds fragments from an acrolithic Colossus of Constantine, an even larger marble statue once erected in the Basilica of Maxentius near the Forum Romanum, which are displayed in the courtyard of the museum's Palazzo dei Conservatori on the Capitoline Hill.
The bronze statue was probably made before the year 326. When complete, it may have reached 33 to 39 ft in height. Three large fragments of the statue survive, some with traces of gilding: a large head, a left hand, and a spiked orb. All three fragments are damaged.
The new glass-covered hall — the Sala Marco Aurelio — created by covering the Giardino Romano is similar to the one used for the Sala Ottagonale and British Museum Great Court. The 1996 design is by the architect Carlo Aymonino. Its volume recalls that of the oval space designed by Michelangelo for the piazza.
Its centerpiece is the bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, which was once in the centre of Piazza del Campidoglio and has been kept indoors ever since its modern restoration.
Our tour guide explains the famous Lion Attacking a Horse statue. One of the most talked-about survivors from ancient times, this statue depicts a ferocious lion attacking a helpless horse. It is believed the lion’s characteristics would have appealed to Romans and inspired them to fight. According to some, the statue became a new symbol of Rome. Parts of the statue date back to around 300-325 BC, although it has undergone several repairs and additions since that time. It is understood that one of Michelangelo’s pupils designed and sculpted the horse’s head and legs for both animals in 1594.
The Capitoline Wolf is a bronze sculpture depicting a scene from the legend of the founding of Rome. The sculpture shows a she-wolf suckling the mythical twin founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus. According to the legend, when King Numitor, grandfather of the twins, was overthrown by his brother Amulius in Alba Longa, the usurper ordered them to be cast into the Tiber River. They were rescued by a she-wolf that cared for them until a herdsman, Faustulus, found and raised them.
The age and origin of the Capitoline Wolf are controversial. The statue was long thought to be an Etruscan work of the fifth century BC,[1] with the twins added in the late 15th century AD.
The image of the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus has been a symbol of Rome since ancient times, and one of the most recognizable icons of ancient mythology.[5] The sculpture has been housed since 1471 in the Palazzo dei Conservatori
The dating of the work is traditionally dated to the first half of the V century BC with many comparisons to Greek and Italic figurative production.
The statue, donated to the Romans in 1471, became the symbol of Rome when, transferred to the Capitol, the twins Romulus and Remus (the legendary founders of the city) were added to the ancient bronze. Since then the work is stored in this building and from the Sixteenth century, according to witnesses at the time, was placed in this room, formerly an open space to the outside with three arches. The lodge was decorated between 1508 and 1513 with a series of frescoes attributed to Jacopo Ripanda. The subsequent inclusion of two large memorial stones caused the loss of much of the decoration, which is now preserved in an extremely fragmented state.
The she-wolf is the symbol of the city of Rome, depicted in this larger than life-size statue nursing the twins, Romulus and Remus. Legend states the she-wolf rescued the twins after an order was made to cast them into the Tiber River. Looked after by the she-wolf until found by a farmer, the twins went on to found the city of Rome as adults. The statue is believed to date back to the Middle Ages, with the twins added at a later date, when the statue was moved inside the Palazzo dei Conservatori.
Outside was a 1:1 scale recreation of the colossal statue of Costantino. It was created using an innovative reconstruction process, starting with the original pieces from the 4th century A.D. preserved in the Musei Capitolini.
The original colossal statue of Costantino -- created in the 4th century A.D. -- is one of the most significant examples of late antique Roman sculpture. Of the entire statue, rediscovered in the 15th century at the Basilica di Massenzio, today only a few monumental marble fragments remain, housed in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori at the Musei Capitolini: head, right arm, wrist, right hand, right knee, right shin, right foot, left foot.
The nine fragments in Parian marble, now preserved in the Musei Capitolini, were found in 1486 inside the apse of a building that at the time was believed to the Tempio della Pace di Vespasiano, and that only in the early 19th century would be correctly identified with the Basilica di Massenzio along the Via Sacra. They were thought to belong to a statue of the emperor Commodo and, due to their exceptional importance, were set up in the Palazzo dei Conservatori during the renovation of the same, carried out to a design by Michelangelo between 1567 and 1569. The fragments were only identified as a colossal portrait of the emperor Constantino in the late 19th century.
A tenth fragment, part of the thorax, found in 1951, is about to be transferred from the Parco Archeologico del Colosseo to the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori, next to the other fragments. The archaeological study of the fragments has allowed us to hypothesise that the Colosso was seated and that it was made as an acrolith, that is to say with the naked parts in white marble and the drapery in metal or gilded stucco. According to an iconographic scheme typical of the time, which likened the emperor to a divinity, Costantino is represented as Giove with the upper part of his body uncovered and his cloak resting on his shoulder; his right arm holding the sceptre with a long shaft and his left hand holding the globe.
At the end of March 2022, a team from the Factum Foundation spent three days in the courtyard of the Musei Capitolini to scan the fragments present using the technique of photogrammetry. Each fragment was modelled in 3D and positioned on the digital body of the statue created using other cult statues from the imperial age in similar poses as iconographic examples, including the colossal statue of Giove (1st century AD) in the Museo statale Ermitage in San Pietroburgo, probably inspired by the Zeus di Olimpia by Fidia, and the large plaster copy of the statue of the emperor Claudio, portrayed as Giove, in the Ara Pacis Museum.
The reconstruction process carried out by Factum took into account many factors: the type of marble of the original parts, the restorations and additions; the details of the missing drapery and the appearance of the gilded bronze of which it was composed; the relationship between the reconstruction and the surviving fragments, the condition of these and their exact location. After finalising the very high resolution 3D model, the material reconstruction of the Colosso was then carried out.
Resin and polyurethane, combined with marble powder, gold leaf and plaster, were chosen as materials to render the material surfaces of the marble and bronze, while an easily assembled and removable aluminium support was used for the internal structure (originally perhaps composed of bricks, wood and metal bars).
The final result allows one to admire, in a magnificent illusion, the Colosso as a whole, in which one can visually distinguish the "stitching" between the rematerialised parts and the copies of the original fragments in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei Conservatori.
We enter back into the building, into the Conservators' Apartment.
The rooms making up the apartment on the first floor of the Palazzo, were used by the Conservators, or magistrates, for activities connected to their office; they therefore form a single entity, both as regards their function and their ornamental features. The rooms were also used for Public and Private Council meetings.
The rich decoration of these reception rooms (frescoes, stuccoes, carved ceilings and doors, tapestries) has as its main theme the history of Ancient Rome, from its foundation to the Republican Age. The earliest cycle of frescoes goes back to the beginning of the 16th-century. They are the oldest part of the Palace: some rooms preserve parts of the series of frescoes painted at the beginning of the 16th-century, whereas the decorations of the other rooms were renewed after Michelangelo’s renovation.
The whole decoration of the Apartment, though it was painted separately and subsequently, present a uniform appearance dedicated to the extolling and memory of the virtues and value of the Ancients.
Below: Pope Urban VIII
Below is the Great Hall.
A prominent figure in Roman Mannerism, Giuseppe Cesari, also known as Cavalier d'Arpino (1568-1640), was appointed in 1595 to decorate the room. The work was expected to be finished for the Jubilee of 1600, but in 1613 only the first three scenes were completed. After a break of more than twenty years the work was finished in 1640.
This cycle of frescoes illustrates some episodes of the history of Rome as told by Titus Livius. The scenes depict a series of fake tapestries, wrapped with painted festoons of fruit and flowers, lustral vases and trophies of arms. There is also a fake marble decoration by Cesare Rossetti that runs along the lower parts of the walls with monochrome medallions which depict historical events.
In order of execution, the cycle begins with:
Finding of the She-wolf with Romolus and Remus (1596): along the banks of the Tiber, under a fig tree, Faustulus discovers the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus. The representation of the she-wolf clearly alludes to the Capitoline Wolf, which is exhibited in the museum and is the symbol of the city.
Battle of Tullus Hostilius against the Veientes and the Fidenates (1597-1601): the fresco depicts a scene of the expansionist war fought by the Romans against neighbouring cities in the times of Tullus Hostilius, third king of Rome.
Battle between Horatii and Curiatii (1612-1613): an episode of the war Rome fought against the neighbouring city of Alba Longa, which resulted in the duel between the Romans, the Horatii brothers, and the Curatii brothers of Alba Longa. The contending armies witness the final scene of the duel, when the last of the Horatii is about to defeat the last of his opponents.
Rape of the Sabine Women (1635-1636): in the foreground, a group of Sabine women abducted by the Romans to populate their newly built city. The fresco was completed twenty years later and it shares a quicker and sketchier painting technique with the last two scenes, in the late manner of Cavalier d’Arpino.
Numa Pompilius Instituting the Cult of the Vestals (1636-1638): against an architectural backdrop, the Vestals keep the sacred fire that burns on the altar.
Romulus traces the boundaries of Rome (1638-1639): the legendary founding of Rome, Romulus marks out the boundaries of the city by tracing a furrow with a plow.
The fresco decoration of this large room was carried out by Cavalier d'Arpino (Giuseppe Cesari) at the end XVI century and the beginning of the XVII century. Originally conceived as tapestries to be hung along the walls, these frescoes portray historical episodes of Ancient Rome, which also inspire the monochrome medallions below.
Two monumental statues of popes face each other on the two smaller sides of the room: the one portraying Urban VIII is in marble and was carried out by Bernini and his pupils, while the bronze statue of Innocent X is the work of Algardi.
The carved and engraved wooden doors that illustrate the mythical founding of Rome were made in 1643 by Giovan Battista Olivieri and Giovanni Maria Giorgetti.
On the short side of the hall there are two honorary statues of Popes commissioned by the Conservators: the first, in marble, was sculpted by Gian Lorenzo Bernini between 1635 and 1640 and portrays Pope Urban VIII Barberini (1623-1644); the second statue, in bronze, was sculpted between 1645 and 1650 by the Alessandro Algardi, and it portrays Pope Innocent X Pamphilj (1644-1655).
The Battle between Horatii and Curiatii. Author: Cavalier d'Arpino (Giuseppe Cesari 1568-1640)
The fresco was painted during 1612-1613.
The Battle of Tullus Hostilius against the Veientes.
This canvas depicts the battle that pitted the Roman army against that of the Veientes and the Fidenates. The action takes place under a gloomy sky: a group of enemy soldiers occupy the left of the scene, while the actual fighting takes place in the centre. In the foreground, a fallen warrior lying on his white horse stands out. On the right we see the king, Tullus Hostilius, who mounted on his steed turns around to receive the message of a soldier that the Albans, confederates of Rome, are retreating toward the mountains. The composition makes multiple references to The Battle of the Milvian Bridge, the fresco in the Vatican by Raphael and Giulio Romano. It is crowded with fallen horses and unhorsed cavalry soldiers, which together form a tangle of bodies typical of battle scenes; this genre would indeed be popular throughout the 17th century.
The painting, along with Venere incoronata da Amore [Venus crowned by Cupid], San Giovanni Battista [Saint John the Baptist], the Cattura di Cristo [Taking of Christ] and Calvario [Calvary], probably comes from the confiscation, ordered by Pope Paul V in 1607, of the works in the studio of Cavalier D’Arpino. This is the original model for the fresco painted by the artist in the Sala degli Orazi e Curiazi in the Palazzo dei Conservatori in the Campidoglio. It depicts the battle of King Tullius Hostilius against the Veienti and Fidenati with the dramatic episode of the retreat of the Albans, allies of the Romans, shown on the right of the composition. Cesari captures the battle in the moment of the clash between the two ranks of horsemen.
Statue of Pope Innocent X (1574 – 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), who headed the Catholic Church and ruled the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death, in January 1655.
Innocent X was one of the most politically shrewd pontiffs of the era, greatly increasing the temporal power of the Holy See. Major political events in which he was involved included the English Civil War, conflicts with French church officials over financial fraud issues, and hostilities with the Duchy of Parma related to the First War of Castro.
Another wall in the Hall of the Captains is this fresco called Brutus' Justice.
The subject of the fresco is a little-known episode narrated by the historian Livy. The first consuls of the Republic, Brutus and Collatinus, see the assassination of Brutus’s sons, sentenced to death for high treason. For its symbolic meaning, the fresco was painted on the wall where the Court of the Conservators had been set up, with a Latin inscription “Diligite iustitiam” (Love Justice).
Also in the Hall of the Triumphs: the Capitoline Brutus.
The Capitoline Brutus is outstanding, one of the oldest Roman portraits, dating from the fourth or third century BC, it was donated in 1564 to the Capitol.
In 1564 Cardinal Pius da Carpi donated to the museum the magnificent bronze portrait of extraordinary expressive force. The identification of the statue with Junius Brutus, the first Roman consul, represents an astute interpretation of the antiquarian culture. However, this assertion is without any real foundation.
Check out those crazy eyes!
Also in the Hall of the Geese is a sculpture of the Head of Medusa by the sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680). The work very effectively portrays the mythical figure of the Medusa, whose petrifying gaze and snake hair are rendered by the sculptor with grace and power.
According to myth, anyone who looked at snake-haired Medusa would turn into stone. This marble bust portrays Medusa’s anguish when she looks at her own reflection in a mirror and realises she is turning into stone. The statue dates to around 1645 AD
The remarkable fresco decoration at top, as well as the beautiful wooden ceiling, date back to the time of Pope Paul III (1534-1549), when three of the halls (the Hall of the Geese, the Hall of the Eagles and the Hall of the Tapestries) of the Palazzo were completed. In the painted frieze one can see trophies of arms, flowers and fruits, and decoration of grotesque carvings followed by scenes of ancient games played in real or fantastic Roman landscapes. The panel reproduces the image of the Capitoline's Piazza Campidoglio, before Michelangelo’s work, with the church of Ara Coeli on the background.
You can probably guess the name of this room. Yes, it's the Hall of the Tapestries. It's also known as the Throne Room, because in the 18th-century the throne of the pope was positioned here, since he was the sovereign of the city.
The precious tapestries adorning the walls were executed, in the second half of the 18th-century, by the Manifattura Romana di San Michele. The series of tapestries depict important Roman scenes, busts of Roman emperors and trophies of arms.
The painter Domenico Corvi (1721-1803) drew the sketches, now collected at the Capitoline Museum. He oversaw the decoration of the Hall in every detail, from the faux marble wainscoting to the valuable doors and the painted window shutters. Rich gilt wood consoles were also positioned here.
The room retains the style of the 16th-century, when Pope Paul III Farnese (1534-1549) fostered the renovation of the Conservatos’ Apartment.
The fresco frieze was completed in 1544, depicting scenes of Scipio Africanus’ life wich alternate with monochrome reproductions of famous ancient sculptures, including the Laocoön, the Apollo Belvedere and the gilded bronze Hercules. In the same years, it was also made a hexagonal coffered ceiling with rich gilded carvings and ceremonial weapons, whose preciousness was recently restored.
Bust of Commodus as Hercules
180-193 AD
