The Capitoline Museums are housed in the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the Palazzo Nuovo or del Museo, which face each other across the Piazza del Campidoglio; they were built in the Campidoglio and included in the design of the Square drawn up by Michelangelo.
The two buildings are characterised by the use of, enormous orders of Corinthian pilasters which divide the façades and a portico trabeated with columns backing onto the pilasters; both are adorned with a balustrade and marble statues.
The Palazzo dei Conservatori, which was built in 1568 by Giacomo della Porta to the design of Michelangelo, contains the Sale dei Conservatori, the Museo del Palazzo dei Conservatori, the Braccio Nuovo, the Museo Nuovo, the Pinacoteca Capitolina and the Medagliere. The Palazzo detto Nuovo, or del Museo, also to a design by Michelangelo, was built by Girolamo Rainaldi in 1655 and houses the Capitoline Museum. The Raccolta Lapidaria is situated in the gallery which connects the three buildings under the Square. Going up the stairs on the left of the Palazzo dei Conservatori one reaches the Protomoteca and then through the Portico del Vignola, the Palazzo Caffarelli, which contains the Antiquarium Comunale.
The foundation of the Capitoline Museums dates back to 1471, when Sixtus IV donated certain works in bronze to the Roman People. There is therefore good reason to consider them the oldest existing public collection in the world. This collection was constantly added to over the centuries by donations, acquisitions and above ali as a result of discoveries made in Roman territory, until this latter privilege passed to the Museo Pio-Clementino, set up in the Vatican in 1772.
The Sala Lapidaria (1816] and the Pinacoteca (1818) were added during the nineteenth century following the, recovery of sculptures which had been carried off in the Napoleonic period (among others the Dying Gaul, Brutus, the Venus of the Capitol and Spinarius). At a later date the Protomoteca and the Medagliere were added and, following the return of other sculptures, the Museo del Palazzo dei Conservatori was set up next to the apartment of the Conservatori. The museums were continually reorganized and developed as new rooms were added at the end of the nineteenth century and during this century up to the recent reorganization completed in 1971 to mark the first centenery of the Capitoline Museums.
Tags:
Capitoline Museums,
Girolamo Rainaldi,
Michelangelo,
Museo Pio-Clementino,
Palazzo Caffarelli,
Palazzo dei Conservatori,
Palazzo Nuovo,
Raccolta Lapidaria,
Sixtus IV
