Beyond the Roman Forum's final arch, the pathway climbs the Capitoline hill. The Capitoline Museum is housed in 2 separate buildings, sitting across from each other on the Piazza del Campidoglio. As usual, wikipedia has an informative article, with more pictures here The museum houses primarily statues. The main thing to remember is, should you ever visit, despite the fact that there are 2 buildings, with nothing noticeable connecting them, you do not leave the first to enter the second. Instead, you must take the stairwell down, and follow an underground tunnel to connect. If you try to enter the second museum through the exit, you will only be turned away with vague pointing at the first museum, and no explanation of the mystery of reaching building 1 from building 2 when they clearly do not connect.
Upon first entering the main museum entrance, you are met with the broken pieces of a once giant statue
It is of some note that, having been palaces, the museums are quite beatiful in and of themselves.
The works of the museum are primarily statues, though there are a few notable paintings as well, including a painting by Caravaggio of St. John the Baptist, and The Rape of the Sabine Women by Pietro da Cortona
There is a nice statue of Hercules, who is easily identifible by the club, the golden apples, and the skin, all representing the labors of Hercules. As an interesting side not, Hercules is actually the Roman name for Heracles, though this name is often used in modern times in conjuntion with the Greek names of gods, such as Aries and Aphrodite, rather than the Roman counterparts, such as Mars and Venus.
In another section of the museum stands the original statue of Marcus Aurelius astride a horse, which used to stand in the courtyard between the palaces. The statue is larger than life, and still bears remnants of its gold covering, over the bronze.
Among my favorites is the Capitoline Venus. The details of the body on this statue are incredibly realistic.
My absolute favorite is the Dying Gaul. This piece stands our sharply from the traditional statues of gods and emporers, and depicts a defeated Gaul in the moment of death. The extreme detail of this statue is captivating. Veins are visible in the hands and legs, the foot with curled toes leaves wrinkles on the underside of the foot, and in all aspects excepting the stylized wound and blood are so realistic as to have the details of an actual person.
There are many many more statues in the museums, here are photos of just a few, including a child (probably Hercules) playing with a snake, a rather disturbing cherubic faced adult Hercules, a statue using the natural colored marble to mimic the bruised body of a saint, as well as some wonderful examples of the detail given to hair and fabric in the sculptures throughout the museums.
And a final picture of that elusive underground passageway connecting the 2 museums
After spending a great deal of time at the museum, we emerged back into the sunlight, and head for a quick view from the Tarpeian rock, which is back towards the path down to the forum, but to the left. From this rock were thrown traitors and the physically deformed. Today, it affords a nice view of much of the excavated ancient Rome. From this point we wound our way back through the forum, this time taking advantage of the free flowing fountains, and finally returned to our car, ready to rest our feet by taking a drive south to the town of Arpino.
Upon first entering the main museum entrance, you are met with the broken pieces of a once giant statue
It is of some note that, having been palaces, the museums are quite beatiful in and of themselves.
The works of the museum are primarily statues, though there are a few notable paintings as well, including a painting by Caravaggio of St. John the Baptist, and The Rape of the Sabine Women by Pietro da Cortona
There is a nice statue of Hercules, who is easily identifible by the club, the golden apples, and the skin, all representing the labors of Hercules. As an interesting side not, Hercules is actually the Roman name for Heracles, though this name is often used in modern times in conjuntion with the Greek names of gods, such as Aries and Aphrodite, rather than the Roman counterparts, such as Mars and Venus.
In another section of the museum stands the original statue of Marcus Aurelius astride a horse, which used to stand in the courtyard between the palaces. The statue is larger than life, and still bears remnants of its gold covering, over the bronze.
Among my favorites is the Capitoline Venus. The details of the body on this statue are incredibly realistic.
My absolute favorite is the Dying Gaul. This piece stands our sharply from the traditional statues of gods and emporers, and depicts a defeated Gaul in the moment of death. The extreme detail of this statue is captivating. Veins are visible in the hands and legs, the foot with curled toes leaves wrinkles on the underside of the foot, and in all aspects excepting the stylized wound and blood are so realistic as to have the details of an actual person.
There are many many more statues in the museums, here are photos of just a few, including a child (probably Hercules) playing with a snake, a rather disturbing cherubic faced adult Hercules, a statue using the natural colored marble to mimic the bruised body of a saint, as well as some wonderful examples of the detail given to hair and fabric in the sculptures throughout the museums.
And a final picture of that elusive underground passageway connecting the 2 museums
After spending a great deal of time at the museum, we emerged back into the sunlight, and head for a quick view from the Tarpeian rock, which is back towards the path down to the forum, but to the left. From this rock were thrown traitors and the physically deformed. Today, it affords a nice view of much of the excavated ancient Rome. From this point we wound our way back through the forum, this time taking advantage of the free flowing fountains, and finally returned to our car, ready to rest our feet by taking a drive south to the town of Arpino.
2 comments:
I always inspired by you, your views and way of thinking, again, appreciate for this nice post.
- Thomas
Just keep posting good posts.
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