Apartments in Rome

The Lapidaria Gallery which in reached from the ground floor of the Palazzo dei Conservatori, was excavated during the years 1939-40 to join up the three Palazzi Capitolini. It contains Greek, Roman Byzantine, Medieval and Modern inscriptions.

The LITTLE ENTRANCE COURT contains the grandiose remains of the statue of Costanti ne (head, arm, leg, hand and feet); the colossal acrolith was in the apse of the Basilica of Constantine. In the opposite PORTICO is the head of Costantius II, another colossal statue. On the left hand walls there are reliefs representing the provinces conquered by Rome, which come from the cella of the Temple of Hadrian in Piazza di Pietra.

On the first landing of the STAIRCASE there are four magnificent reliefs from the second century A.C. three of which (Marcus Aurelius sacrificing in front of the Capitoline Temple of Jupiter; Triumph of Marcus Aurelius, Marcus Aurelius pardoning his conquered enemies) come from the arch dedicated to Marcus Aurelius; the fourth depicts Hadrian’s entry into Rome and comes from the arch erected in this emperor’s honour. On the second landing there is another relief, from the Arch of Portugal, depicting Hadrian pronouncing a funeral eulogy on his wife Sabina, and the statue of Charles of Anjou, which is attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio.

From here one enters the Halls of the Conservators which make up an extremely rich complex. The first (HORATII AND CURIATII HALL), painted in fresco with the history of the origins of Rome by the Cavaliere d’Arbino, contains at either end two of the masterpieces of baroque sculpture: a marble statue of Urban VIII by Bernini and helpers, and Alessandro Algardi’s bronze statue of Innocent X. The second room HALL OF THE CAPTAINS, is adorned with frescoes portraying episodes from the history of republican Rome by Tommaso Laureti and contains five marble statues of modern Roman generals: Marcantonio Colonna, by Nicolò Pippi; Alessandro Farnese, with a head by Ippolito Buzio on an ancient statue. Carlo Barberini, with the head by Bernini and arms and legs by Algardi on an ancient torso; Gianfrancesco Aldobrandini and Tommaso Rospigliosi, by Ercole Ferrata. The HALL OF MARIO’S TRlUMPHS is named after the frieze by Michele Alberti and Giovan Paolo Rossetti. In the centre of the room there is the famous bronze Spio narius (boy with a thorn), a work of the late Hellenistic period. There is al so a statue of Camillus from the Augustan period, a bronze bust reputed to be of Junius Brutus and a bronze bowl with an inscription in Greek of Mythridates, loot from the Mythridatic War.

In the SHE - WOlF HAll which has frescoes of subjects trom Roman history by Giacomo Ripanda, there is the famous bronze Wolf of the Capitol, a sculpture from the sixth . fifth centuries B.C. derived from an lonian . Greek type and attributed to the school of Vulca di Veio, who decorated the Capitoline Temple of Jupiter; according to tradition the twins were added by Antonio del Pollaiolo. The Fasti Consulares fragments which came from the Arch of Augustus are displayed on the end wall.

After the WOLF HALL there follow the HALL OF THE GEES, with a delightful green dog; the HALL OF THE EAGLES, with a painting by G.F. Romanelli of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba; the HALL OF THE ARRAS with tapestries of Romulus and Remus (trom the painting by Rubens) the Vestal Tuzia, Camillus, the Dea Roma produced in the Roman factory of S. Michele between 1764 and 1768.

After the NEW CHAPEL and the HALL OF THE PUNIC WARS with frescoes by Jacopo Ripanda one passes into the OLD CHAPEL with a roof decorated with frescoes and stuccos by M. Alberti and G. P. Rossetti. On the walls there is a fresco by Antonio da Viterbo depicting the Madonna delle Scale; the four Evangelists by the school of Caravaggio; portraits of Saint Cecilia, Alessio, Eustachio and Ludovica Albertoni - by G. F. Romanelli.

In the corridor, together with sixteenth century Flemish tapestry of a feast at the Colosseum, there are some tempera views of Rome by Gaspare Vanvitelli. Ludovico Carracci: The Charity; Jacopo Bassano: Adoration of the three Magi; Guido Reni: Putto with torch; A. Carracci: St. Jerome.

(Open: 9-14, Tuesdays and Saturdays 17-20, holi­days 9-13, closed Mondays). Remodelled by Giacomo Della Porta from a design by Michelangelo, it served as model for the neighboring Palazzo Nuovo, which it matches. The facade is softened by the elegant rhythmic procession of large pilaster strips with large balconi ed windows and a charming portico set in front of the building. Particularly fine, on the attic, is the scenographic balustrade with its decorative marble statues. Important museums are )loused here: the Sale dei Conservatori, the Palazzo dei Conservatori, the Braccio Nuovo, the Museo Nuovo and the Pinacoteca.

Built by Girolamo Rainaldi for Pope lnnocent X, it is identi­cal to the neighboring Palazzo dei Conservatori and was al so originally designed by Michelangelo. The rhythmic procession of large pilaster strips lends grace to the facade and presents, on the attic, a scenography of marble statues “decorated” with a balustrade. The large balconi ed windows and the portico leading to the palace are particularly fine. lt houses the Capitoline Museum.

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.