Sunday, May 11, 2014

CAPITOLINE MUSEUMS - GALLERY OF THE GARDENS (first part)

Galleria degli Horti
Findings from the Quirinal, Viminal and Esquiline hills during the construction work for the expansion of Rome at the end of 1800s
The archeologists found, among other things, 192 marble statues, 266 busts and heads, 54 polychrome mosaics, 36,679 pieces of gold, silver and bronze 705 amphora with inscriptions, 405 works of art in bronze, 711 gems, engraved stones and cameos
Many of the statues were found inserted in pieces in late ancient walls, used as construction material
Lamian Gardens
Between Piazza Vittorio, Viale Manzoni and Via Merulana
Property of Lucius Aelius Lamia consol in 3 AD and friend of Tiberius (14/37)
They became imperial property and were inhabited by Caligula (37/41)
The Lancellotti Discobolus, now at the Palazzo Massimo, was also found here as well as the Aldobrandini Wedding painting, now in the Vatican Museums, one of the most beautiful and best preserved ancient paintings
ROOM I
Very valuable original Greek pieces of the fourth century BC found in 1907 in Piazza Dante:
Two Greek funerary stelae, one with "Woman Sitting Down" and one with "Woman Standing"
"Group of the Ephedrismòs" with two girls, one on the shoulders of the other during a game of leapfrog, 
The group dell'Ephedrismòs is a masterpiece of Hellenistic sculpture of a piercing beauty and sensuality, so full of dynamism and with drapery rendered in such a way to be able to compete in virtuosic beauty, if not in size, with the "Nike of Samothrace" the great icon of Hellenistic sculpture in the Louvre in Paris
Although the original colors are lost the virtuosistic treatment of the marble, however, manages to distinguish the heavier draped garnments from the lighter ones of the two admittedly skimpy dressed young girls
The group was probably originally used as acroterion, a element placed on roof of buildings. According to an interesting hypothesis by Georgios Despinis it was brought to Rome as war booty from the city of Tegea in Greece
The Ephedrismòs game consisted in hitting with a ball a rock stuck in the ground: those who had not succeeded had to take on their shoulders the winners who would cover the losers' eyes until the latter had not reached the stone
ROOM II
Part of the extraordinary "Floor of alabaster" from the disappeared Villa Palombara, which at the time of the discovery appeared about 80 m (260 feet) long
"Fragments of precious furniture": gems, crystals and gold plated metal sheets
ROOM III
"Esquiline Venus" first century AD, maybe a portrait of Cleopatra or Isis-Aphrodite product of religious syncretism of Hellenistic Egypt. Extraordinary sensuality on the movement of the legs and lateral torsion of the body mitigated, however, by the classicist style used for the impassive face
"Diadoumenos" from an original of about 430 BC by Polykleitos of Argos (about 490/425 BC)
"Here Polykleitos exacerbates the characteristics of the Doryphorus: the center of gravity is no longer on one leg but in the middle between the two, the modeling is more subtle, the rhythms are more complex and an idea of marble coloring is present in the face and especially in the hair" (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
"Head of a satyr" believed by some scholars to be dating back tothe Tiberian period (14/37), and by others, like Filippo Coarelli, an original of early second century BC by an artist of the school of Pargamum. The marble is Asian and it wouldn't have made sense to use this kind of marble in the first century AD in Rome where there were far better kind of marble available. Bernini never saw this statue which surpasses even his most flamboyant works for its outstanding baroque expressionism
"The almost animalistic features of the face rendered with extraordinary effectiveness, the study exaggerated in the rendering of the features expressively tormented, are similar characteristics to the ones visible in the heads of the group of Polyphemus at Sperlonga, especially that of Ulysses. Maybe the same patron presided over the creation of this group of works, created with a declared similarity to Hellenistic art from Rhodes and Pergamum: Tiberius, owner of the villa at Sperlonga and heir of the Aelii Lamiae property" (Guide to the Capitoline Museums - 2007 Electa)
"If Hadrian with the theme of contrast between light and smooth parts of the face and the chiaroscuro of the animated short beard and hair is balanced by the strong classical matrix, with Marcus Aurelius and even more with Commodus, the almost frenetic pace of the masses of hair and beard, longer and longer, becomes the dominant feature, which wants to convey the idea of strength and vigor of the monarch, represented, not surprisingly as Hercules" (Gian Luca Grassigli - TMG)
"Statue of woman with chiton" in marble from Paros inspired to the early Hellenistic style
THREE ROOMS OF THE HORTI TAURIANI E VETTIANI
Taurian and Vettian Gardens
Via Labicana, Viale Manzoni
Property of senator Statilius Taurus
They became imperial property in 53 at the time of Claudius (41/54)
In 368 they became eventually property of the Praefectus Urbi (Superintendent of the city) Vettius Agorius Praetextatus
ROOM IV
"Statue maybe of Igea" first century BC with bracelet and beautiful armilla on the left arm
"Bust of a goddess" maybe Artemis from an original of the fourth century BC by Kephisodotos
"Sarcophagus with the myth of the Caledonian Boar" from Vicovaro in Proconnesian marble
ROOM V
"Statue of cow" maybe a copy from the famous original of Myron from Eleutere (about 500/440 BC) for the Acropolis in Athens and brought to Rome at the time of Vespasian (69/79)
Three neo-Attic reliefs: "Landscape with a sanctuary" "Quadriga of Helios" and "Quadriga of Selene" running after each other
"Draped female statue" second century BC in pentelic marble, an original Greek statue from the Magna Graecia (Southern Italy)
ROOM VI - GALLERY
"Genius of Domitian" in marble of Thasos
"Female Statue with a different head of the Faustina the Elder type"
"Legs of a Roman soldier" beginning of first century AD in pentelic marble
"Relief with Eros" without head in Synnada marble from Hadrian's period
"Base with four Greyhounds" in Luni (Carrara) marble maybe for a bronze decorative element
Portraits:
"Portrait of Man" first half of the III century with bust in alabaster not original
"Portrait of Child" in Greek marble
"Portrait of Woman" Severian period (193/235) in Luni marble with typical hairdo fashionable at that time
Imperial portraits:
"Adrian" (117/138)" between his wife "Sabina" and his mother in law "Matidia" whom he transformed onto a goddess
"Faustina the Elder"
"Domitian" (81/96) perhaps the finest extant portrait of this emperor who reigned for 15 years and who had, after hisdeath, the damnatio memoriae, or the cancellation of his images. This is why his portraits are quite rare and ruined like this one
THREE ROOMS OF THE HORTI OF MAECENAS
Maecenas Gardens
Via Merulana, Via Buonarroti
The area was reclaimed and became the sumptuous home of Maecenas in 40 BC. He was the first to colonize the Esquiline Hill as the place for luxury homes
It used to be the site of an ancient cemetery
The villa became imperial property by the first decade AD
Of all the structure only the so-called Auditorium in Via Merulana still exists today
ROOM VII
"Hermes" with portraits of writers
"Rhytòn shaped Fountain" (a Rhytòn was a cone shaped container for drinking) end of the first century BC, signed by the Greek Pontios
"Head of an Amazon" from the original of the fifth century BC by Polykleitos
"Statue of Marsyas" from an original of the second century BC in pavonazzetto marble in order to imitate the flayed skin
"Relief with Dionysian initiation scene" from an original of the second century BC
ROOM VIII
Group of "Charioteer and horse" Roman reinterpretation of Greek stylistic features from the fifth century BC
Three fragmentary statues identifiable as Muse from Hellenistic originals including "Calliope" (muse of epic poetry) and "Melpomene" (muse of tragedy)
"The special position of the body creates an elegant design of the heavy drapery of fabric arranged in a refined pattern of curved lines. The waist is encircled by a Nebrid, the goat skin typical of Dionysian characters, which is a clear reference to the origin of tragedy invented in honor of Dionysus" (Guide to the Capitoline Museums - 2007 Electa)
"Dog" of Egyptian green marble
"Four herms of caryatids" in the archaic style of the Augustan age
ROOM IX
"Igea" in pentelic marble from the original of 290 BC
"Eros Thanatos" second century AD from the original of the fourth century BC
"Archaic Attic funerary stele with dove" Greek original about 480 BC
"The production of dense folds still has an archaic taste, but the smoothness of the drapery and the effect of transparency reveal that attention towards the human figure, animated and alive, typical of the Severe style of 480/450" (Marina Castoldi)
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Saturday, May 10, 2014

CAPITOLINE MUSEUMS - PALACE OF THE CONSERVATIVES (second part)

ROOM OF THE TRIUMPHS
Ceiling 1568 by Flaminio Bolonger
Frieze "Triumph of the consul Lucius Aemilius Paulus over Perseus king of Macedonia in 167 BC" as described by Plutarch about 1570 Michele Alberti (active 1535/82) and Jacopo Rocchetti pupils of Daniele da Volterra
A magnificent procession accompanying the winner to the Capitol Hill, where, instead of the Temple of Jupiter where traditionally triumphal processions ended at, it is recognizable the new façade of the Palace of the Conservatives that it was being built in those years
"Portrait of a Man" fourth or third century BC, believed to be Junius Brutus the founder of the Roman Republic in 509 BC. Spectacular example of Roman portraiture, featuring marvellous and intense expressionism
"Camillus" classical work of the Augustan age, representing a young man employed during devotional rites (Camillus)
"Spinario" first century BC maybe representing Martius, a shepherd from Vitorchiano, who walked 90 km (56 miles) to warn the Romans of the arrival of an enemy army. A thorn stuck in his foot and after he raised the alarm, he died of the wound. This is maybe the oldest copy of the various existing (Uffizi, Louvre, British Museum, Pushkin Museum), whose head is probably not relevant and it was united to the body in the first century BC, as one would think looking at the hair defying the laws of gravity
On the walls:
"Victory of Alexander the Great over Darius" 1635 by Pietro Berrettini aka Pietro da Cortona (1597/1669)
"St. Frances of Rome" 1638 by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610/62) from Viterbo, a pupil of Pietro da Cortona
"St. Francis adoring the dead Christ" 1641 by Paolo Piazza (1557/1621)
"Front of sarcophagus" of the third century AD
At the center of the room:
"Bronze Crater of Mithridates VI Eupator" 120/63 BC found the Villa of Nero at Anzio in 1740, part of the spoils from the war against Mithridates in Turkey
Coffered wooden ceiling of 1865
"Mosaic Floor" of the first century AD found in 1893 in Via Nazionale
Frescoes on the left "Triumph of Aemilius Paulus" and on the right "Campaign against the Tolostobogi" 1508/13 by artists from the workshop of Jacopo Ripanda
"Two plaques in honor of Alessandro Farnese and Marcantonio Colonna"
Until the seventeenth century the room was an open loggia and certainly by the sixteenth century there was the bronze statue "Capitoline She-Wolf" believed until recently to have come from Magna Grecia (Southern Italy ruled by Greek) and to be dating back to the V century BC. It is certainly NOT Roman
The scholars that have restored it believe, on the other hand, with good evidence that it is a medieval statue, probably of the XII century AD: not only for the fact that a single casting of bronze, as this piece is made, was not practiced in ancient times (it was used the lost wax casting of various pieces of the statue assembled later) or that the position of the muzzle in all other iconographic representations is always turned backward, but also, and above all, for the analysis using carbon-14 in 2011 that convinced even the skeptics
The twins were added only in the fifteenth century maybe by the Florentine Antonio Benci aka Antonio del Pollaiuolo (about 1432/98)
The documentary evidence tell us that the true symbol of ancient Rome was the EAGLE and in the Middle Ages the symbol became the lion. Only by the end of 1400s the she-wolf became the symbol of Rome
The walls enclosing architecture of Michelangelo Buonarroti "Fragments of consular and triumphal pomp" engraved in the disappeared Parthian Arch of Augustus of 19 BC in the Forum with a list of Consuls from 483 to 19 BC in the panels and a list of Triumphs from 753 to 19 BC in the pilasters
It is a document of inestimable importance for the reconstruction of the history of ancient Rome and it can be considered the most important Latin inscription in the world
Michelangelo had placed it in the courtyard of the palace and it was moved here in 1586
Ceiling and frieze of the time of Paul III Farnese (1534/49) with "Trophies of arms, flowers and fruit, and grotesque decorations" alternate with "Small scenes of ancient Roman games" set in landscapes sometimes real, sometimes fantastic. In one of these the Capitoline Hill Piazza before Michelangelo's modifications is visible with S. Maria in Ara Coeli in the background
"Head of Medusa" by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680). The dating of this masterpiece is debated and it is has been inserted sometime between the years 1630 and 1648 
"The classical myth is revisited in the light of a poem by G.B. Marino: Medusa is looking at her reflection into an imaginary mirror, and she is caught in the moment when, with pain and anguish, she becomes aware of the horrible trick and physically, before our eyes, she turns into marble. Medusa, in Bernini's idea, is a fine Baroque metaphor for sculpture and the power of the sculptor who can leave 'petrified' in amazement those who admire the extraordinary ability of his chisel" (Guide to the Capitoline Museums - 2007 Electa)
"In an essay reworked by Irving Lavin (...) the scholar (...), with unpublished reflections, establishes a closer link between the bust of Constanza Bonarelli, sculpted between 1636 and 1638, and that of Medusa, maybes designed by Bernini as a moral counterpart of the first, both anyway designed as a personal reflection of the artist, and both later donated or sold to others by Bernini himself. According to this new hypothesis the dating of the Bust of Medusa might be slightly predated to the end of the thirties of the seventeenth century" (Web site of the Capitoline Museums - www.museicapitolini.org)
"Bust of Michelangelo Buonarroti" copy of the one by Daniele da Volterra (1509/66) in the National Museum of Florence, a bronze bust of bigio marble
Ceiling mid-1500s and frieze in panels and medallions about 1544 maybe by Cristofano Gherardi (1508/56) with interesting "Scenes of Rome's monuments" including a view of the Capitol Square with the statue of Marcus Aurelius moved there in 1538
"Statue in marble and bronze of Artemis of Ephesus" from an original of the second century BC: symbol of fruitful nature even though, according to Filippo Coarelli, the breasts are in reality scrotums of bulls
"Statuette of Athena Velletri type" Roman copy of the original of the fifth century BC
"Statuette of an eagle" early imperial period
"Herm of Socrates" first century AD from the original by Lysippus
ROOM OF THE TAPESTRIES
Ceiling mid-1500s and frieze in panels about 1544 with "Stories of Scipio Africanus" and "Monochromes of famous ancient sculptures" including the Laocoon, Apollo Belvedere, and Hercules in gilded bronze
In 1770 the room was renovated to house the papal throne
Tapestries with "Stories from the History of Rome":
"Romulus and Remus as painted by Rubens" from the painting in the Capitoline's Museums art gallery, "Roma Cesi" from the statue kept in the courtyard of the Palace of the Conservatives, "Vestal Tuccia" and "Bad Teacher of Falerii" 1764/68 from cartons by Domenico Corvi (1721/1803) from Viterbo woven in the factory of the Hospice of St. Michael
It is the only room of the fifteenth century apartment that wasn't changed or modified
Wooden ceiling 1516/19, the oldest of the Palace, with in the center "She-wolf suckling the twins" used as a decorative element and, for the first time, as a symbolic reference to the origins of the city
Frescoes "Stories of the Punic Wars" first decade of the 1500s traditionally attributed to Jacopo Ripanda (about 1465/1516) and assistants, but the attribution is quite disputed among scholars
 These frescoes are the only ones surviving from the first complete decorative cycle of the building, which was also present in the other rooms of the apartment
"Bronze Horse from Vicolo delle Palme" discovered in 1849 during an excavation in Trastevere during which the Apoxyòmenos now in the Vatican Museums was found as well
Recently restored after having been neglected for a long time. It is considered by some to be a Roman copy from an original of the fourth century BC, by others an extraordinary Greek original of the fourth century BC
Filippo Coarelli deemed it part of the "Turma Alexandri" an original work by Lysippus (about 370/300) who had represented Alexander the Great and twenty-five ethers (barons and small local rulers who ruled the mountainous areas of the ancient Kingdom of Macedonia) on horseback, died during the battle of the Granicus in 334 BC. The group was made for the sanctuary of Dion in Macedonia and was brought to Rome by Quintus Caecilius Metellus Macedonicus after his conquest of 146 BC in Macedonia
It is one of the rare examples of ancient large bronze statues still extant. Magnificent natural dynamism and tension for an incredible ancient masterpiece full of epic and Homeric suggestions
It was deconsecrated and closed at the end of 1800s
It was renovated and rebuilt in 2000. It is dedicated to the Virgin and the Sts. Peter and Paul, patrons of Rome
In the vault stuccos and frescos "Stories of Sts. Peter and Paul" 1575/78 Michele Alberti (active 1535/82) e Jacopo Rocchetti pupils of Daniele da Volterra
Altar "Sts. Peter and Paul ask Our Lady to protect the city of Rome" on a blackboard 1578 by Marcello Venusti (about 1512/79)
"Frontal of the altar" elaborately inlaid with precious marbles with bees of Urban VIII Barberini (1623/44)
On either side frescoes of saints: "Evangelists" and "Cecilia", "Alexis", "Eustachius" and "Blessed Ludovica Albertoni" 1645/48 maybe by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (1610/62)
On the long wall opposite the window, to cover a golden grating formerly communicating with the adjacent Room of the Captains, fresco "Madonna and Child" maybe by Andrea di Assisi or Antonio da Viterbo, from the fifteenth century loggia of the palace
Some 700 artifacts from Etruria, Latium and Magna Graecia dating from the eighth to the fourth century BC donated in 1867 and in 1876 by Augusto Castellani (1829/1914) goldsmith, collector and director of the Capitoline Museums since 1873
ROOM I
"Red-figure Attic kylix with athlete who draws water from a well" first three decades of the fifth century BC in the style of the Painter of Onesimos. The kylix was a cup to drink wine just like we do now from glasses
"Red-figure Attic kylix with pentathlete seen from behind" first three decades of the fifth century BC in the style of the painter of Onesimos
ROOM II
Production of Etruscan Latium region including objects from the so-called Castellani Tomb of Palestrina not really coming, however, from a single tomb: "Biconical bronze" and "Reconstruction of cyst" in silver last thirty years of the eighth century BC
"Oenochoe of Tragliatella" (wine jug) Etruscan-Corinthian, last thirty years of the seventh century BC, found near Lake Bracciano. The polychrome paintings on the oenochoe represent men, women and animals with meanings not entirely clarified, maybe connected to the myth of Theseus and Ariadne
Greek manufacturing objects, including terracotta "Crater with blinding of Polyphemus and naval battle" about seventh century BC signed by Aristonothos
"The intense westward diaspora of families fleeing the Eastern Assyrian pressure had created the conditions for new techniques and iconographic languages were learned directly from Greek masters from the East. The assimilation is not naturally free of trauma and lacerations, the order of the Geometric age is overwhelmed by the furious Eastern trend of narrative matrix, whose more violent and dark contents are, however, gradually exorcised, smoothed and eventually rejected. The clash between figurative Greek order and Eastern monstrosities is expressed clearly in the Greek stories of struggle" (Claudia Lambrugo)
"Terracotta statuette of a seated dignitary" second half of the seventh century BC from the Tomb of the five chairs in Cerveteri
Huge "Fragment of a bronze bull" found in 1849 during an excavation in Trastevere together with the Apoxyòmenos of the Vatican Museums and the bronze horse from Vicolo delle Palme in the Hall of Hannibal. This is probably an original Greek piece of the fourth century BC just like the horse
"Bas-reliefs from the tomb of dogs in Tolfa" in gray tuff, first half of the sixth century BC
"Reconstruction of a tensa" with stories of Achilles in the relief, maybe of the fourth century AD. It was rebuilt by Castellani, who made very subjective reconstructive choices believing it to be a chariot. It was actually a tensa, a kind of rickshaw used during sacred processions in antiquity, so that near the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus there was a building known as Tensarium used as a "garage" for these vehicles
Objects from the archaeological section of about 300 objects from the Collection of the Museum of Industrial Art dispersed in the 50s of the twentieth century among various museums: figurative ceramics of Greek production, buccheri, terracotta statuettes, antefixes from Campania region and silver objects from Boscoreale
Embedded in the walls inscriptions with the names of the civic magistrates in Rome from 1640 until today
ROOM I
Two "Athletes of Velletri" from originals of the second half of the fifth century BC, found in a villa in Arriano, near Velletri
"Erma of Apollo" from original of the fifth century BC
ROOM II
"Fluted column" of marine alabaster
"Statue of an old shepherd" from the Esquiline Hill
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Thursday, May 8, 2014

CAPITOLINE MUSEUMS - PALACE OF THE CONSERVATIVES (first part)

Palazzo dei Conservatori
Maybe XII century, rebuilt in mid-1400
From 1563 restoration of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475/1564) which was continued in 1564 by Guidetto Guidetti (about 1498/1564) and then by Giacomo Della Porta (1533/1602) until 1568
COURTYARD
In 1720 Alessandro Specchi (1668/1729) worked on the porch
The now embedded pointed arches still visible on the right side gave access to a large room, the STATUARIO (statuary), the first nucleus of the museum of ancient art
On the right end side "Colossal Head of Constantine" (306/337) found in 1486 with the other eight fragments of the body visible in the courtyard (one hand, two feet, parts of the arms) in the small apse on the west side of the Basilica of Maxentius
It was reshaped from an older portrait, maybe of the deified Hadrian in the Temple of Venus and Rome or of his rival Maxentius and it was part of a acrolith 12 m (40 feet) high
An acrolith was a massive statue with the trunk of the figure made of wood, and the head, hands, and feet made of marble. The wood was concealed either by drapery or by gilding and only the marble parts were exposed to view. Just like all of the statues of antiquity it was painted with bright colors
"The colossal dimension confirm the willingness to spread the image of a superhuman power, distant and unreachable, the details, even realistic, stiffen in a forced symmetry and the expression, the attitude is frozen in an immobility inert, almost hieratic , which recalls the ancient stillness of Eastern portraiture" (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
Under the portico "Statue of Rome" also known as Roma Cesi between "Barbarian kings prisoners" in grey morato marble dating back to the Hadrian period (117/138) from the Cesi collection, purchased for the museum by Clement XI Albani (1700/21)
"Reliefs of the provinces subject to Rome" from the cell of the Temple of Hadrian
Behind the reliefs of provinces "Hand with finger pointing up" similar to the one on the opposite side of the courtyard. It was found near the church of S. Maria della Consolazione and Filippo Coarelli believes it to be part of the acrolith of Augustus (27 BC/14 AD) in the temple dedicated to him. It is a right hand like that of Constantine with finer workmanship and it would be therefore the original imitated three hundred years later for Constantine's acrolith
Embedded in the wall "Dedicatory inscription of the Arch of Claudius" (41/54) originally on Via del Corso, which celebrates the conquest of Britain
STAIRCASE
Stuccos on the ceiling with panels "Stories of Rome" and "Stories of the Old and New testament"1575 di Luzio Luzi (about 1509/77) pupil of Perin del Vaga
In the FIRST LANDING
Two statues of muses: "Urania" muse of astronomy and geometry and "Talia" muse of comedy of the Augustan period from originals of the third century BC
"Portrait of a man" of the Hadrian period (117/138)
"Bust of Athena" from an original of the fourth century BC
Reliefs embedded in the years 1572/73:
"Three reliefs of Marcus Aurelius" (161/180) about 176/180. They probably come from an official monument, maybe an arch dedicated to Marcus Aurelius. Eight other reliefs from the same monument were reused for the Arch of Constantine. From left:
"Mercy" with a gesture of appeasement identical to that of the famous bronze monument
"Victory" with a woman representing Victory crowning him and the Temple of Fortuna. There's an empty space beside him on the chariot due to the cancellation of the image of his son Commodus, who was emperor associated with his father at the time but, after his death, would receive the damnatio memoriae or deletion of all his images
"Religiosity" religious ceremony at the end of the triumph in front of the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. On the left the man with the beard is the Genius of the Senate and on the right the building represented is maybe the Tensarium or"garage" for the tensae, a kind of sacred rickshaws used in religious ceremonies
"Entrance of Hadrian in Rome" one of the "Three reliefs of Hadrian" from the Arch of Portugal on Via del Corso. Two of these three reliefs were definitely reused for the Arch of Portugal, and maybe originally came from the arch near the entrance to the Temple of Hadrian, from which the third one definitely came
The other two reliefs of Hadrian are in the SECOND LANDING, "Address by Hadrian in the Forum" and, in the THIRD LANDING, "Apotheosis of Sabina"
Also in the third landing:
"Two inlaid marble panels with tigers" of 331 in opus sectile (inlaid marble) from the Basilica of Junius Bassus
"Youth Male Torso" in red marble from an original of the fifth century BC
"Sarcophagus with marine thiasos (Bacchus parade) and inscription of Promotus" first half of the third century AD
"Inscription" IV/V century AD
ROOM OF THE MIDDLE AGES
To the right of the entrance to the room "Inscription of Sixtus IV" Della Rovere (1471/84) with the act of foundation of the Capitoline Museums in 1471
"Monument to Charles of Anjou" about 1277 Arnolfo di Cambio (about 1245/1302) part of a complex architectural structure, perhaps an honorary monument
Worked as a relief and originally painted with bright colors and decorated with gilding, it was anchored to the wall about two meters (6,5 feet) off the ground, framed by a trefoil arch flanked by two figures in relief of trumpeters
Another fragment of the monument is in the room. Charles of Anjou sits on a faldistorio, a foldable throne without back and with lion heads
"The compact structure of volumes indicates the limit of assimilation of ancient culture by the artist, who comes to a noble archaic form, not separated by a tangible sense of concreteness" (Carlo Bertelli, Giuliano Briganti, Antonio Giuliano)
Four "Measures for wine, oil and grains" (called "congi") of the thirteenth century. They were found in Piazza del Campidoglio and they were originally used in the market that used to be held in the square
At the center of the room "Table with scenes from the life of Achilles" reused in the cosmatesque decoration of a pulpit of the church of St. Maria dell'Aracoeli: table of the fourth century AD, cosmatesque panel of the thirteenth century maybe by Lorenzo di Tebaldo with his son Jacopo
"Colossal head of Constantius II (337/361) or Constans" beginning of the fourth century. They were the sons of Costantine
First and most important of the boardrooms of the so-called APPARTAMENTO DEI CONSERVATORI (Conservatives' Apartment) for the judiciary of the Conservatives that had a central role in the municipal structure since mid-1300s
Here meetings were held of the Public Council and of the Secret Council
In this room on March 25, 1957 the TREATY OF ROME, the Treaty establishing the European Community, was signed by representatives from Italy, France, West Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg. It was the founding act of the European Union
In this room on October 29, 2004 the CONSTITUTION FOR EUROPE was also signed by representatives of 25 countries, abandoned in 2009 after the referendums in France and the Netherlands that have rejected it
Door with panels richly carved in 1643 with "Scenes of the foundation of Rome" by G.B. Olivieri and Giovanni Maria Giorgetti
Frescoes "Episodes of the beginnings of Rome":
They were designed as imitations of tapestries with in the lower part of the wall, monochrome medallions painted in faux marble representing "Stories of Rome" in connection with the frescoes above
"His painting, in its lovely and erotic-sentimental tendency is between Mannerism and Baroque, and at the same time, exemplary of the ceremonial-representative art at the time of Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1592/1605)" (Herwarth Roettgen - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)
"In the Battle against Veii and Fidenae with surprising self-confidence the artist manages to get the impression of scrums swaying here and there, while the design of the horses portrayed in so many different movements betrays the avid horseman - such was Cesari in the description of Baglione. The wall painting retains a well-structured character, eye-pleasing, in welcomed contrast with the inextricable tangle of the compositions of Vasari or Salviati in Palazzo Vecchio in Florence" (Hermann Voss)
Marble "Statue of Urban VIII" Barberini (1623/44) 1635/39 by Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598/1680) and assistants
"It was designed by making some significant variations to the model of the great bronze statue of the pontiff made, between 1628 and 1631, for the tomb in the Basilica of St. Peter. If the busy draping of the cope and the robe edged with lace recalls the bronze in the Vatican, the larger gesture with the ample movement of arms and hands, combined with the slight turn of the head, softens the peremptory gesture, returning the marble effigy to a warm aura of urbanity" (Guide to the Capitoline Museums - 2007 Electa)
Bronze "Statue of Innocent X" Pamphilj (1644/55) 1645/50 by Alessandro Algardi (1598/1654)
"Instead of suppressing the detailed features as Bernini did, his pope was represented with meticulous care and it is, indeed, a masterpiece of portraiture. Algardi did not accept the hieratic frontality Bernini's Urban VIII. He turned the statue in a more benevolent attitude towards the left; he subsided considerably the long diagonal of the papal hood and turned an energetic and imperious gesture in a movement of countenance and rest. He weakened the power of the blessing arm with the decorative and linear folds of the mantle, while Bernini emphasized the gesture of blessing pushing the arm forward in the space of the spectator" (Rudolf Wittkower)
Coffered ceiling with painted canvas representing "Episodes of the poem La Gerusalemme Liberata (Jerusalem Delivered)" maybe by Francesco Allegrini (1587/1663). They were transferred here after 1930 from Palazzo Mattei Paganica before the destruction of the wing where they were originally located
In the center of the room "Basin of fountain" dating back to the imperial period in red marble from the Esquiline Hill
Frescoes on the walls with "Episodes of the Roman Republic":
"Justice of Brutus", "Horatius Cocles at the Sublicius Bridge", "Muzio Scaevola before Porsena" and "Battle of Lake Regillo" 1587/94 by the Sicilian Tommaso Laureti (about 1530/1602) pupil of Sebastiano del Piombo who also conceived with Giambologna, the Fountain of Neptune in Bologna
"Laureti composed here vast scenes inspired by theater, drawing on both the Raphael Rooms and the work of Giulio Romano and increasing the dynamism of the images with bold foreshortening and intense chromaticism. In 1593 the Laureti was among the artists who founded together with Federico Zuccari the Academy of St. Luke and he even succeeded in 1594 to Zuccari as the prince of the Academy. His teaching focused mainly on the tecnique of perspective" (Monica Grasso - Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani Treccani)
"Female Bust" about 390 AD
"Funerary Memorial of Virginio Cesarini" 1624 with a beautiful portrait attributed to Bernini or François Duquesnoy
Five statues of Captains of the Church:
"Marco Antonio Colonna" ancient statue restored in 1595 with the appearance of the winner of the Battle of Lepanto in 1571
"Alessandro Farnese" 1593 with head sculpted by Ippolito Buzio (1578/1659) and ancient body
"Gianfrancesco Aldobrandini" and "Tommaso Rospigliosi" by Ercole Ferrata (1610/86)
"Carlo Barberini" 1630 with head sculpted by Bernini, arms and legs by Algardi and ancient torso
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Wednesday, May 7, 2014

CAPITOLINE MUSEUMS

MUSEI CAPITOLINI
Since 1471, the oldest museum in the world open to the public
It was an idea of Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere (1471/84) who donated to the people four bronze statues and displayed them publicly. So the modern concept of "museum" was born
The museum expanded with Leo X Medici (1513/21) and Pius V Ghislieri (1566/72)
Clement XII Corsini (1730/40) in 1734 inaugurated the Palazzo Nuovo (New Palace) built specifically as a museum, another new thing: it was the first time a building was built to house works of art visible to everyone, not just to the private owners of the building and their guests
It was expanded again with Benedict XIV Lambertini (1740/58) and between 1748 and 1750 the Pinacoteca Capitolina (Art Gallery) was opened, the oldest public collection of paintings in the world. The British Museum in London was opened in 1753 and the Louvre in Paris only in 1793
There were other additions after 1870 when Rome became the capital of Italy
In 2005 the last renovation called "Grande Campidoglio" (Great Capitol Hill) was completed. It lasted nearly a decade and was designed by the Dardi and Einaudi Studios, and, for the Roman Garden, by Carlo Aymonino (1926/2010)
A very articulated museum was therefore created, with the acquisition of new exhibition spaces, the reorganization of some areas and the reopening of closed sections with new exhibitions
The museum was also enlarged with the public opening of the Tabularium, connected to the other buildings through the Gallery Junction, the restoration of Palazzo Caffarelli and the acquisition of Palazzo Clementino, formerly used for offices
With the latest additions the museum cover an area of about 10,000 m² (108,000 square feet)
In 2008 it was visited by 452,232 people, still too few for one of the most beautiful and exciting museums in the whole world
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Tuesday, May 6, 2014

WALLS ALONG THE BANKS OF THE RIVER TIBER

MURAGLIONI DEL TEVERE
17 m (56 feet) high
Built from 1875 until 1905 by Raffaele Canevari (1828/1900) and Angelo Vescovali (1826/95)
The last section, under the Aventine Hill, was only built in 1925
Most of the work took place around 1890
Giuseppe Garibaldi was among the ones who strongly lobbied to build the walls
There had been a large flood on December 28, 1870, just two months after the Breach of Porta Pia: the height of the River Tiber had reached 17.22 m (56.5 feet), the largest flood since 1637
The River Tiber has an average flow rate of about 240 m³/s, (8,500 cubic feet/s) significantly lower than the main rivers of the world (the Seine has a capacity of about 500 m³/s - 17,500 cubic feet/s - the Nile about 3,000 m³/s - 106,000 cubic feet/s) but it can also increase tenfold during major floods
It is estimated that in the flood of December 24, 1598, the largest ever recorded, the flow of the river reached 4,000 m³/s (141,000 cubic feet/s). On that occasion the Ponte S. Maria or Ponte Senatorio was destroyed and it has been known as the Ponte Rotto (Broken Bridge) ever since

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CROOKED WALL

MURO TORTO
Great wall of opus reticulatum (reticulated work) dating to the first century BC
It was a substructure of the HORTI ACILIORUM property of the gens Anicia included in the third century AD in the Aurelian Walls
It was also called Muro Malo (Bad Wall) because nearby were the burials of the dead unrepentant, the executed and the ones involved in dishonorable trades such as low-class prostitutes or actors
"In 1825 Leonida Montanari and Angelo Targhini were buried here. They were affiliated to the Carbonari (a secret revolutionary society) and were beheaded by the papal guillotine in Piazza del Popolo. It was said that every night their two ghosts would walk on the wall with the heads in their hands, compensating the passers-by who wouldn't fear their appearance, with the numbers to play in the lottery" (Domenico Augenti - www.portalidiroma.net)
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