Capitoline
Museums ( Musei
Capitolini roma)
• Palazzo Nuovo
• Tabularium
• Palazzo dei
Conservatori
• Pinacoteca
Capitolina
The Capitoline museums, which have now reopened
to the public after a long period of restoration of
the palaces which stand around the piazza
(the whole complex conceived by Michelangelo),
offer the visitor a wonderful itinerary: the
Palano dei Conservatori, with its Exhedra of
Marcus Aurelius and picture gallery,
the Palazzo Nuovo, the Tabularium
(ancient records offices with its Galleria
Lapidaria (collection of epigraphs) and the
Palazzo Clementino Caffarelli, which contains
the Capitoline medals collection and holds
temporary exhibitions.
The museums have been extended and reorganized
as part of an overall project to give an optimal
rendering of the Capitoline Hill's
historical, architectural and artistic merits: a
highly detailed itinerary has therefore been
designed, new spaces have been acquired and some
sectors have been reorganized, with the opening up
and equipping with new displays of sections which
had been left closed, sometimes for long periods.
The Capitoline collection, founded in 1471 by
Pope Sixtus IV with the donation to the Roman
people of the bronze statues of the Lateran
(the She-wolf, the 'Spinario', or
Boy extracting a thorn from his foot, the
'Camillus' and the colossal head of
the emperor-king Constantine with its hand and
orb), is regarded as the oldest public museum in the
world; moreover, the restitution to the people of
these works (the Thesaurus Romanitatis,
symbol of Rome's former grandeur) took on a higher
emblematic value as the Capitoline had always
been the centre of Ancient Rome's religious
life and, after a long period of abandonment, seat
of its chief civic offices from the Middle Ages
onwards.
These
sculptures were initially located on the
front and in the courtyard of the Palazzo dei
Conservatori.
Later, several works of art originating from
archaeological excavations were added to the
collection, including the large Hercules in
gilded bronze (2"d century BC) found in the
Forum Boarium during the papacy of Sixtus IV,
the fragments of the colossal statue of
Constantine (achieved using the acrolithic
technique with uncovered parts in marble and
clothing in stucco or bronze, dating back to between
313 and 324 AD) originally located in the
Basilica of Maxentius in
the Roman Forum,
the three marble relief panels, dating back to
between 176 and 180 AD, depicting the exploits of
the emperor Marcus Aurelius (sacrificial scene
in front of the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter;
triumph of the emperor king; scene of
imperial clemency towards prisoners),
transported in 1515 from the church of SS. Luca e
Martina in
the Forum,
and what is known as the 'Capitoline Brutus',
a bronze bust dating back to between the 4th and the
3th centuries BC, donated to the museum by
Cardinal Pio da Carpi in 1564.
The
original historical nature of the Capitoline
collection was however altered in 1566, when
Pope Pius V decided to remove the images of
pagan idols from
the Vatican and donated over
140 ancient statues to the Capitol,
turning the museum into a great collection of
classical sculpture. In 1654 the Palazzo
Nuovo was built as part of Michelangelo's
brilliant project to restructure the whole area of
the piazza, making it possible to move
several of the statues there.
To
these was added the collection of Cardinal Albani
in 1733, which included over 400
sculptures and portraits, allowing
Pope Clement XII to open the Capitoline
Museum in 1734.
It
was in this period that many statues were added to
the Capitoline collections, including the
Capitoline Venus, a Roman copy of a
Hellenistic original deriving from the Venus
of Cnidus (2"d century BC), the Drunken Faun
in 'rosso antico' marble, the two centaurs in
'bigio morato' (black with white flecks)
and a mosaic with doves originating from
Hadrian's Villa in Tivoli (2"d century
AD), in addition to the famous statue of the
Dying Gaul, which was part of the Ludovisi
collection.
There
were major additions to the Capitoline
collections towards the end of the 19th century
after Rome became the capital of a
unified Italy in 1870 and new areas were
excavated for the construction of modern
neighborhoods.
In
the same period, thanks to the generosity of
private collectors who donated their
remarkable collections, the Capitoline
Museums acquired the Castellani Collection
of Greek and Etruscan vases and the
Cini Collection of precious porcelain.
The Medagliere Capitolino (Capitoline medals
collection) now housed in the Palazzo
Clementino Caffarelli also came into being in
1872 with the acquisition of important private
collections of coins, medals,
gems and jewels from city excavations.
The Galleria Lapidaria may be reached from
the Palazzo Nuovo via the so-called Galleria
Congiunzione which runs under the piazza.
It
has now re-opened after thirty years' closure, and
the new display illustrates the most important
aspects of Ancient Rome's public and private
life by means of over 3,000 inscriptions in Latin,
Greek and Hebrew, combining a high
level of scientific rigor with the need to satisfy a
growing interest and attention on the part of the
general public.
The Galleria Lapidaria is divided into nine
thematic sections: ''Languages'', "Profession
sand Trades", "Games", "Burials",
"Worship", ''Law'', "Roads and
Aqueducts", "Soldiers" and the "Roman
Aristocracy".
The gallery also has an informatics point where
all the inscriptions can be viewed complete with
images and translations into Italian and
English. There is also a specific itinerary for
the visually disabled and a musical commentary which
accompanies the visitor all the way, right up to the
spectacular view from the Tabularium over
the Roman Forum.
Indeed, from here the museum itinerary takes us to
the imposing structure of the Tabularium,
with its monumental arches.
This
was the ancient public archive of the people of
Rome, where the bronze tabulae were
preserved containing the laws and official acts of
state.
Its
construction was completed by Quintus Lutatius
Catulus, consul in 78 BC.
It
stood on a high podium against the slopes of the
hill and it was built on several storeys, which
overlooked the square behind.
The
previously existing Temple of Veiove, a
youthful underworld version of Jupiter
of ancient Italic origin, was incorporated into
its design, and its cult statue (double life-size)
still survives, unfortunately minus its head.
As
for the remains of the temple, which was consecrated
in 192 BC, the area of the inner chamber may
be seen, with its laterally elongated plan: his was
only discovered in 1939 during the building of the
above-mentioned Galleria Congiunzione.
lndeed, the Palazzo Senatorio is built on top
of both the Tabularium and the protruding
parts of the Tempie of Veiove, which has
preserved both buildings from otherwise likely
destruction.
Continuing along this memorable itinerary, we come
to the Palazzo dei Conservatori (the name
derives from the holders of civil office who played
a central role in municipal government from the mid
14th century onwards) after crossing a large
courtyard containing important ancient sculptures,
including the fragments of the
above-mentioned colossal acrolith of Constantine
and reliefs depicting military trophies
and conquered provinces originating from the
Temple of the Deified Hadrian (145 AD), the
imposing remains of which are still visible in
Piazza di Pietra.
We
ascend the grand stairway to the first floor, which
constitutes the original nucleus of the building,
with its frescoed halls such as the 'Sala degli
Orazi e Curiazi', which tells the legendary
story of the origins of Rome in the cycle
painted by Cavalier d'Arpino and his pupils between
1595 and 1640 (the finding of the twins by the
she-wolf; the battle of the Veientes and
the Fidenati; combat between the Horatii
and Curiatii; Rape of the Sabine Women;
Numa Pomplius founds the cult of the
Vestal Virgins; Ramulus draws the perimeter
trench around his square city).
The
many other rooms of the Palazzo del Conservatori
include the Sala dei Capitani, frescoed by
Tommaso Laureti between 1587 and 1594 (with
scenes extolling the virtue and courage recounted in
the stories of Muclus Scaevola and
Porsenna; Horatius Cocles on the Subllclan
Bridge the Justice of Brutus and the victory of Lake
Regillus); and the Sala di Annibale,
which contains the original frescoes dating
back to the beginning of the 16th century (depicting
various episode from the Punic Wars: the
triumph of Rome over SiciIy; Hannlbals
descent into Italy; the peace negotiations
between Lutatius Catulus and Hamilcar; and
the Battle of the Aegadian Islands).
The
various statues present in the Palazzo dei
Conservatori apart from those already mentioned:
the She-wolf, the 'Spinario' (Boy
extracting a thorn from his foot), the
'Camillus' and the 'Capitoline Brutus' -
include the marble statue of Pope Urban VIII
designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1640), the
bronze statue of Pope Innocent X by Alessandro
Algardi (1645-1650) and the recently restored
Medusa's head by Bernini (1644-1648)
Continuing along the museum itinerary, we may
admire the effective new setting of the famous
equestrian statue in gilt bronze of the emperor
Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD), which Pope Paul
III ordered moved to the Capitoline Hill
from the Lateran in 1538 and which, under
Michelangelo's project, stood In the centre of
the piazza (bronze copy cast by the State Mint was
positioned there in 1997) The sculpture group, which
returned to the Campidoglio in 1990 after
restoration work lasting nine years and spent
fifteen years in an air-conditioned ground-floor
hall off the Courtyard of the Palazzo Nuovo,
now stands on a new base which allows it to be
viewed correctly from close quarters, and is housed
in the what is known as the Exhedra of Marcus
Aurelius.
inaugurated In December 2005, this is a vast
oval-shaped hall (1,000 sq. m.) with a
glass-coffered ceiling and controlled temperature
and humidity, designed by Carlo Aymonino, occupying
the area which used to contain the Roman Garden.
Some
of the great Capitoline bronzes have been
brought together in the exhedra (the
colossal head of the emperor Constantine and his
hand holding an orb, and the bronze Hercules,
nude and armed with a club, which originates
from the Forum Boarium); here, the perimeter
wall of the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter,
dedicated to luppiter Optimus Maximus and to
the two goddesses of the Capitoline triad,
Juno and Minerva, may now be seen aII the way
down to its foundation base.
The
building was started by King Tarquinius Priscus
and completed by the last king of Rome,
Tarquin the Proud, but the temple was only
inaugurated at the beginning of the Republic in 509
BC.
It
stood on a high podium with a flight of steps at the
front, and was surrounded by a colonnade on three
sides, with another two rows of columns aligned
with those on the façade inside the deep porch in
front of the three chambers.
The
extant remains of the foundations and podium consist
of enormous parallel wall structures of blocks of
'cappellaccio' tufa indicating the broad
extension of the base of the building (about 55 x 60
meters).
The roof of the temple was decorated by a
grandiose terracotta four-horse chariot, a 6th
century work by the Etruscan artist Vulca of Veii,
but the temple was rebuilt in marble after total
destruction in the fires of 83 BC and 69 and 80 AD.
Findings from the excavations of the Area Sacra
di S. Omobono in the Forum Boarium have
been placed in the area next to the remains of
the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter.
These
include the statues in painted terracotta
depicting Heracles and Athena which decorated
"the top of one of the temples of the sanctuary,
dedicated to Fortuna and Mater Matuta,
and a few architectural pieces from the same
building dating back to the reign of Servius
Tullius in the 2n: half of the 6th century BC.
The
new museum display has also renewed the vast
sector devoted to the Horti romani, the sumptuous
villas which the patrician families possessed
across the city, including the Horti Lamiani
on the Esquiline.
Here,
a bust often emperor 19 Commodus was found at the
end of the 2'" century AD and also the Esquiline
Venus, a nude portrayed binding her hair
before bathing.
On
the stand, next to the statue, is a sculpture of
an Egyptian vase with a snake wrapped around it and
a basket of roses, suggesting a representation
of Isis and Osiris, according to the religious
synthesis which operated in Hellenized Egypt.
The goddess is accompanied by two figures of
priestesses or muses, who are very similar in the
treatment of the marble surface and the
porcelain-like finish of the skin: the three pieces
may be dated to the early imperial age.
Further ascending the great stairway, we come to
the Pinacoteca Capitolina. or Capitoline
picture gallery: the first nucleus of the
collection was formed with the acquisition of the
picture collections of the Sacchetti marquises
(1748) and the Pio of Savoy princes (1750) under the
papacy of Benedict XIV.
It
included about 300 pictures which were
brought together for a joint purpose: to avoid
dissipating the collections on the antiques
market, and to encourage the study of the works
by the "Scuola del Nudo" of the Accademia di
San Luca, which was based in one of the rooms of the
Palazzo dei Conservatori Reopened to the
public in 1999, the Capitoline picture gallery
boasts a totally new itinerary in chronological
order, starting with paintings from the late Middle
Ages and ending with those of the 18'h century
The
works from the Veneto and Ferrara schools
constitute the main core of the collection, which
includes the Baptism of Christ (c. 1512) by
Titian, the Rape of Europa by Veronese - a
mythological subject very dear to the painter, an
Annunciation by Garofalo (1528) and a Holy Family
by Dosso Dossi (1527).
The collection also includes masterpieces by
Caravaggio: the Fortune Teller (an early work
of 1595 from the collection of Cardinal Francesco
Maria Del Monte, one of the artist's first patrons),
and St John the Baptist, painted in 1602 for the
Mattei family.
The
collection also includes important paintings with
mythological themes commissioned from Pietro da
Cortona by the Sacchetti family between 1624 and
1630: the Sacrifice of Polyxena; the Rape
of the Sabine Women and the Triumph of Bacchus,
as well as a notable group of works by Guido Reni
which includes an early painting of St Sebastian
(C.1615) and canvases from his mature period
depicting Cleopatra, Lucretia, the
Young girl with a crown and the Blessed Soul
(1640-1642).
In
the hall built in 1752 is the monumental altarpiece
of St Petronilla by Guercino, executed
between 1622 and 1623 for an altar in the
Basilica of St Peter and commissioned by Pope
Gregory xv.
Works
by foreign painters include the canvas of Romulus
and Remus being suckled by the She-wolf, by
Pieter Paul Rubens and assistants (1617-1618),
portraits by Anton Van Dyck (1627-1629) and the
self-portrait by Diego Velasquez (1649-1651)
Information and Addresses
Address Piazza del Campidoglio, 1
Visiting Hours Every day from 9.00 am to 8.00
pm; 24 and 31 Dec. 9.00 am - 2.00 pm
Closed Monday, Dec. 25, Ja n.1, May 1
Telephone 0682059127; Fax 06 6785488;
Bookings 39967800 (evenings)
For
Tours information
– private guided tours – special entrances, no waiting in
line - VIP services
www.tourinrome.com
www.vaticanmuseuminformation.com
www.vaticanmuseumticket.com
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