Rome, Italy (Capitoline Museum)

 4 May 2024 - Rome, Italy (Capitoline Museum)

Took a guided tour of the Capitoline Museums. Just as we arrived, a downpour ensued and it was tricky finding the guide and then getting over to the accessible entrance.  But we got in, dried off, and the tour was fantastic! She had such enthusiasm for the exhibits and was very knowledgeable.  After she left, we stayed for a lunch in the museum cafe, then spent another 3 hours touring areas she didn’t get to.  The next day, Russ took a tour of the Colosseum underground that included a walk up Palatine Hill where the rich and famous of Rome lived. We met up after his tour and walked up a fairly big hill to the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore which is one of four major basilicas in Rome. The inside is spectacular with tombs of several popes and famous people as well as beautiful artwork and sculptures. After a couple days of rainy, windy weather, we had a beautiful day and took advantage of it to visit Trajan's column, the Imperial Forum and a revisit of the Roman Forum.  

This sculpture of a she-wolf feeding the twins Romulus and Remus (founders of Rome) dates back to Etruscan times (5th century BC). The children were added in the 15th century.  The sculpture has been in this museum since the 1400s.  Considered the official symbol of Rome. 

This bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius stood out on the piazza from the 1500s until relatively recently when it was replaced with a copy and the original moved indoors.  It survived the medieval times, where so many pagan bronze sculptures were melted down, because it was mistaken as a statue of the Christian Emperor Constantine.

This 18th century tapestry is based on Rubens’ painting on the same subject.

Rubens’ famous painting

The frescos behind the pope statue is another example of the twin founders of Rome being found. 

The museum was having a special exhibition from Greece.  The items in the exhibit were from Ancient Greece and many had never left the country before.

Paint pigments survived the centuries on this bust.  Most busts had lost their color and the people who discovered them in later centuries assumed they were never painted.

A series of Amazon sculptures were in the exhibit.  

Minerva, one of the Greek goddesses.  Notice the medallion of Medusa on her dress. These were worn for protection. 

One of two surviving Greek status of Hercules from Ancient Greece.

A sarcophagus elaborately carved with scenes of a Greek legend.  Our guide speculated that it had been made to sell, but there were no buyers.  The faces have no detail - possibly to be finished once it had been purchased.  One reason it might not have sold - it was made for a couple to be entombed together.

This bust is one of a disgraced emperor.  Normally when an emperor is defeated or disgraced, all record of his existence is destroyed.  This bust managed to survive.

Bernini’s Medusa at the moment she turned into stone.  The face model was Bernini himself.

The individual tiles were about 1 cm square.  This is known as a meander design and is associated with water.  Many Roman bathhouses had the design on their floors.

From the 4th century BC. Sculptures were painted and had inlaid eyes, often from glass.  Nothing like we are used to seeing.

Down below the main floor of the Colosseum.  Narrow passages with lots of cells for prisoners and animals.

It would have been dark and hot when the floor above was there.  Passages were lit with burning torches on the walls.

The road from the Forum up to the homes on the Palatine Hill passed by a fountain.  The decorations have calcified over the years.

A view of the Roman Forum from atop Palatine Hill. Emperors built their home on the hill and, later, rich families from the Renaissance era built churches and homes on the ruins.

St. Mary Major Basilica is a UNESCO World Historic Site. It is one of four Papal Basilicas, not inside the Vatican, but considered by Italy as part of the Vatican. Building started in 432 AD and was completed in 1743 with lots of redesigns in between.

This Byzantine painting is Salus Populi Romani. Pope Francis visits here every time he goes on one of his major trips.

The relic of the Holy Crib, where Baby Jesus was supposedly laid to rest. The church is often called the Bethlehem of the West.

Many popes and influential rich people are buried in the Basilica.

Lots of side chapels with ornate sculptures and altars.

The roof and many other wooden areas were gilded in gold.

The columns and much of the stone decorations came from the Roman Forum and pagan temples. 

Just a couple blocks from our hotel, the column of Marco Aurelius. The column is carved with the stories of his conquests.  In the medieval ages, people were able to climb the internal stair case to the viewing platform on the top.  Not open to the public now.

Saturday was a busy shopping day on the Via Corso.  Many people were out with their dogs, including this young man and his Saint Bernard.

A distant view of the Spanish Steps.

At the end of Via Corso sits the Piazza Popolo.  It is a very large piazza with fountains on each end and a large arch that opens out into the more modern part of Rome.  When we were there, a temporary tennis center had been erected on part of the piazza and people were having a good time playing on the courts. The arch is a gate of the Aurelian Walls of Rome, built around 270 AD, replacing the previous wall that had been built in 4th century BC.

A view of the piazza facing toward the historic city center of Rome.  An Egyptian obelisk (the Flamingo obelisk, one of 11 ancient obelisks in Rome) sits in the middle, and twin churches mark the entrance to Via Corso.

Neptune is the subject of both water fountains.  The piazza was built in the 1800s at the completion of a new aqueduct into Rome. 

Down inside the Imperial Forum.  Trajen’s column is on the left.  On the right, archeologists are restoring a portion of a temple wall to illustrate the size of the temple.  Behind, at the current street level, is a church.

Close up of Trajan’s Column.  Thousand of figures were carved to document the battles Trajan won.

Passing through an underground passageway, we could see some of the archeologists’ work tools.

The laws of the land were carved into stone and displayed in the Forums.

Down in the Forum.

The Imperial Forum was built when there was no more room in the Rome Forum. Turned out it wasn’t big enough and a couple more forums had to be built.  An example of government growth.

It must have been magnificent to see all the buildings and temples at their prime.  Giant statues, flowing fountains and beautiful stonework everywhere.

This is a church.  The doors are original and the lock still works.

  The columns of a temple were integrated into the exterior of a church.