MASSIMO PALACE - NATIONAL ROMAN MUSEUM (sixth part)

First Gallery - Portraits from Villa Adriana in Tivoli

“Marcus Aurelius”

“Crispina”

“Caracalla”

Fifth Room - Sculptures from Imperial Homes

Two copies of the marvelous “Venus before the bath” from the original maybe in bronze of the second century BC by Doidalsas exhibited, according to Pliny, in the Portico d'Ottavia: one from Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli, the best of many existing copies and one in Parian marble found in 1913 in Via Palermo, near the Viminal Palace

“It is in the wake of the changes introduced by Lysippus and Praxiteles: it inherits from the first the rhythm sought in the apparent instability, from the second the delicate sensuality. Typical of Asia Minor, from which Doidalsas came, however, is the full and prosperous softness” (Elena Calandra)

“Headless Ephebe” first century AD from the Villa of Nero in Subiaco maybe a Niobid with traces of ganosis, the wax-like substance which was used to imitate complexion

“Head of a Young Girl Asleep” first century AD from the Villa of Nero in Subiaco, maybe a dead Niobid

“Dancing Girl” from Hadrian's Villa

It's amazing how a statue with most of the limbs missing would still be able to express so intensely movement, sensuality, music and joy

“Statue of Dionysus” and “Statue of Athena” of the Vescovali-Arezzo type from Hadrian’s Villa

“Maiden of Anzio” third century BC in white Greek marble of two different types of which the finer it is used for the flesh

“Figure of intense expressiveness, caught in a complex pose, enriched with light and shadow play, thoughtful and melancholy” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

“The slender figure must be connected to the school of Lysippus, while the overall approach reminds of Praxiteles' compositional schemes. The twist of the figure shows instead the beginning of Hellenism. On the other hand the use of two different qualities of marble connects it to workshops of Asia Minor and also the adoption of the heavy roll of folds around the waist is of Greek and Eastern European origin” (Elena Calandra)

“Apollo of Anzio” mid-first century AD from an original of the fourth century BC of the school of Praxiteles. It was found by the Anzio-Ardea state road

“Headless amazon on horse fighting a barbarian” Antonine period from Anzio. It is a copy of a Hellenistic original

“Head of an Amazon” from Hadrian's Villa

“Headless statue of Heracles” first century BC from the Villa of Voconio Pollio in Ciampino from a Greek original of the fourth century BC

“Statue of Hermes”

“Crater with cranes and snakes” in Pentelic marble from Hadrian’s Villa

“Portrait of Antinous”

“Two heads of Apollo Lyceus” from the original by Praxiteles (about 395/326 BC)

“Apollo from the Tiber” neo-attic work in Parian marble

Sixth Room - Statues from Gymnasiums

“Lancellotti Discus Thrower” found in 1781 in the Villa Palombara where Piazza Vittorio is today and kept in Palazzo Lancellotti

It was bought in 1939 by Hitler for 5 million lira and was taken to Munich. It was retrieved after the war

“Discus Thrower of Castel Porziano”

Both statues are copies from a bronze original of about 450 BC by Myron of Eleutherae (about 500/about 440 BC)

“The body is caught in the moment of its maximum tension. But the effort is not reflected in the face, which expresses only a measured concentration of determination and intelligence. Strong and harmonious the twisting of limbs, in a wheel composition, with the gestural rhythm of the hands on which attention inevitably focuses” (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)

“Ephebe of Monteverde” first half of the first century AD

“Three heads of athletes” from originals of Skopas, Polykleitos of Argos (about 490/about 425 BC) and Lysippus

VATICAN MUSEUMS - ROOM OF THE CHARIOT

SALA DELLA BIGA
 

1786/94 Giuseppe Camporese (1763/1822) with walls covered in Carrara marble

Camporese was a pupil of Pasquale Belli and member of an important family of architects working in Rome and Lazio

At the age of 23 he was appointed papal architect and when a year later, in 1787, Michelangelo Simonetti died, he replaced him as the Chamber Architect of Pius VI

He also designed in the 1786 the ATRIO DEI QUATTRO CANCELLI (Atrium of the four gates) downstairs, which used to be the place of access to the Vatican Museums

In the center “Marble chariot” 1788 by Francesco Antonio Franzoni (1734/1818) who adapted and completed the horse on the right and the chariot of the first century AD

The chariot was maybe originally part of a votive offering and it was used as the Episcopal throne in the Basilica of St. Mark

“Five sarcophagi for children” II/III century with cupids racing chariots in the circus

From the right:

“Bearded Dionysus aka Sardanapallos” first century AD from original of the end of the fourth century BC by an artist of Praxiteles' circle

The Greek inscription dates to a later period

“Young Bacchus”

“Statue of naked warrior, maybe Alcibiades”

“Statue of an old Roman man toga-draped and sacrificing” by a Greek artist of the Hadrian's period (117/138 AD) with Roman head first century BC not relevant

“Apollo with the lyre”

“Discus thrower preparing to launch” early imperial period from a bronze original by Nausides, son of Polykleitos of Argos

“Hermes” from an original of the fifth century BC with head not relevant, copy of a portrait of late fifth or early fourth century BC of the Greek strategist Phocion

“Discus thrower throwing the disc” of Hadrian's period from the original by Myron of Eleutherae (about 500/440 BC), from Hadrian's Villa

“Based on a reproduction of the statue with an inscription 'Hyakinthos' in a gem, now preserved in the British Museum, Lippold wanted to acknowledge in the discus thrower the Spartan hero loved by Apollo, whom he accidentally killed while training in the discus throw. The hypothesis, however, more credited nowadays, is Fuchs' according to which the discus thrower would not be a mythical figure, but only a victorious athlete in this event, to whom his polis (city) would have dedicated a statue, according to a widespread custom in Greece” (Brunella Germini)

“Sextus of Chaeronea” stoic and teacher of Marcus Aurelius with head not relevant

Below “Sarcophagus with the contest between Pelops and Oenomaus” about 160

“Charioteer of the Circus”

“Diana huntress”