Tour the Capitoline Museums
Tour the Capitoline Museums!
Is a private tour of the Capitoline Museums really a good idea? Absolutely! An expert guide will help you understand the Museums’ masterpieces and their greater significance. And that’s important, given that the Capitoline collections are as dusty and unending as those at the Vatican. Actually, they’re even dustier and more unending because… guess what? They have been around longer. And guess what? Not only are the Capitoline Museums older than those of the Vatican, they are also the oldest museums in contemporary Europe. So, see? You’ve learned something about them already!
Are the Capitoline Museums Truly the Oldest Museums in Contemporary Europe?
Yes. But first, let’s take a step back. Imperial Romans had museums. An example of one is the Temple of Concordia. It was dual function. Built in honor of Goddess Harmony, the temple showcased the art and extravagance that the successful Roman empire had reaped and decided to share with its inhabitants.
Ancient encyclopedic writer Pliny lists the Temple’s contents: sculptures by famous ancient and contemporary Greek artists; Guinness Book of World Record-sized gems and the marvelous signet rings of conquered kings and despots; frescoes obtained Getty-style (or Scipio Borghese-style — not to slander anyone in particular) hung on the walls… So, imperial Romans with a day off could go for a stroll and admire the Temple/Museum of Concordia.
With the decline of the empire and the rise of the middle ages, the idea of a museum was a sleeping beauty that hoped to be woken from its slumber by prince. Instead, it was woken up by a pope.
Pope Sixtus IV (della Rovere) Fathers the Capitoline Museums
Pope Sixtus IV reinvented the idea of art for the public good in 1471. He donated several ancient bronze statues to the Senate and People of Rome, to be displayed on the Capitoline Hill. These statues are the core of the Capitoline collection. And you’ll see them in the photo that I pirated from the Italian Ministry of Culture’s website on the Capitoline.
Two things motivated Sixtus IV to donate the statues that had originally decorated the Papal Palace near the Church of Saint John in Lateran. That Palace was now being abandoned in favor of the new one at the Vatican, near Saint Peter’s Basilica. You know how it is when you move. Especially when you own a lot of stuff… You give some of it away to look generous! And that’s what Pope Sixtus IV did.
But politics motivated him too. Centuries earlier, the City of Rome had tried to create a secular government, and the Papacy was never too wild about the idea. By donating these ancient bronzes to the Senate and People of Rome, the papacy was rubbing the senators’ collective noses in their inadequacy and poverty of spirit. What had they given Rome? Certainly, nothing as potent as the Lupa, i.e. the She-Wolf! The mighty talisman that had been legendary for centuries prior and would continue to be legendary for centuries to come. The papacy had given Rome that statue!
Clearly, part of our visit will concentrate on the bronze statues that make up the initial 1471 donation – without which, the birth of the Capitoline Museums would have been delayed or never occurred at all. But before we visit them, we’ll read the marble plaque, written in Latin, with which the pope claimed credit for his generous gift. OB IMMENSAM BENIGNITATEM (on account of the Immense Goodness of His Heart), he modestly states, as you’ll see in the second line of the picture.
Skipping Forward to a More Modern Era
In the 1530s, Pope Paul III had the bronze Marcus Aurelius and his mount moved to the Campidoglio as its centerpiece. And, shortly after that, Pope Sixtus IV’s statues were slowly moved from outside into a building that Michelangelo was renovating. Meanwhile, aristocrats were enlarging the initial donation by contributing more ancient statues. The centuries passed and…
And then Italy became a nation in 1870, and the relatively small city of Rome became its capital. Rome attracted government officials from northern Italy, unemployed southern Italians hoping to find a job, and artisans from all over. Rome’s population quickly quadrupled, quintupled, and hit the one-million mark in a surprisingly short time. Immigrants scrambled for housing. And building contractors were only too happy to provide them with it. And… excuse me. What does this have to do with the Capitoline Museums?
Well, anytime a construction company dug to build foundations for an apartment building, a ministry, or a school, it uncovered antiquities. Had a pope still been the mayor of Rome, those antiquities would have flowed into the Vatican Museums. But Rome was now a secular capital of a secular state. (Not exactly – but that was the idea.) And it had a secular museum: the Capitoline! So, from 1870 on, unbelievable finds were stockpiled in the Capitoline Museums and in their storage units. Those ancient pieces would become the content for new museums like Altemps and Palazzo Massimo. In other words, Rome’s population and the Capitoline Museums’ collections grew contemporaneously – and astronomically fast!
What Marvels Will We See?
Well, right off the bat, in the courtyard, there’s Emperor Constantine’s big head. (Did I say “big head”? Oh geez, I meant “colossal.”) The gargantuan statue that it once belonged too stood in a nearby law court, looming like a huge poster of Mao in a Communist post office. And, to understand Constantine and his statue, we’ll have to talk about the civil war he waged against Emperor Maxentius.
Nearby Constantine’s fragmentary colossus are thick marble friezes sporting provinciae fideles, the obedient provinces. Emperor Trajan defeated many of them in battle as he pushed the empire’s boundaries to their maximum extent. Hadrian, who “made bureaucracy, not war”, toured those provinces to verify that they were being governed justly. And his successor, Antoninus Pius, erected a temple in Hadrian’s honor (that is still partially standing in Piazza di Pietra). Sure, the provinciae fideles (one of which you’ll see in the photo) were part of the temple’s beautiful artwork. But more importantly, they advertised the power of Rome’s one-two punch: that is, its military and bureaucracy.
But there’s more — both must-sees and surprises! Like…
Horsin’ Around
You didn’t expect that goofy sort of subtitle, did you? And yet it fits! Because the Capitoline Museums contain two horses, one of which is undeservingly more famous than the other.
You probably recognize Marcus Aurelius’s equestrian statue as seen in the photo. It has called the Capitoline Museums its home since 1981. That was the year when authorities finally decided to substitute the original with a copy and to move the original inside. We’ll smile tolerantly at the historic fake as we stroll across the piazza to the Museums’ entrance. The number of visitors to Rome, who believe the replica in the piazza is the original, stuns me. But to be fair, no signage exists to the contrary.
So, why is Marcus Aurelius’s equestrian statue so important. Well, it is the only imperial equestrian statue to have survived the centuries – for reasons that we will discuss (in front of the original). So, it gives us a glimpse into the imperial grandeur of the city of Rome at its apex and the weird historical plot twists that can save a work of art (and propaganda) like this.
But around the corner from Marcus Aurelius and his clunky mount is a bronze beauty. Smallish and without his rider, this sexy Ferrari outclasses the emperor’s Panzer. Restrained by imaginary reins, the horse leans back into its trembling haunches with a raw power that it will unleash as soon as the word is given.
This nervous purebred is poorly illuminated and atrociously displayed. And that’s unfortunate, because it’s easily one of the Capitoline Museums most important pieces. Why? Because its history is far more interesting than that of the Marcus Aurelius bronze. Because? Well, first of all, it was ancient when Marcus Aurelius’s equestrian statue was being made. How ancient? We’ll discuss that when we tour the Capitoline Museums together!
The So-Called Dying Gaul: One of the Capitoline Museums’ More Incredible Marble Statues
Why is the Capitoline Museum’s So-Called Dying Gaul a gobstopper? Perhaps it’s the eros/thanatos theme that the statue exudes? Or maybe it’s the statue’s backstory. To talk about that, we need to clear up a small mistranslation that occurs in English. While we call him the Dying Gaul, his conventional name in Italian is Galata Morente, i.e. the Dying Galatian. And you’re thinking, “Gaul, Galatian, toe-may-toe, toe-mah-toe.” And you’re sort of right.
But the Gauls and the Galatians were actually two expressions of the same ethnic group. The Gauls lived in the West (think France and environs), while the Galatians were in the East (i.e. Turkey). Both were famous for their raiding parties and for the fact that they were so comfortable in their gargantuan, heroic nudity, that they willingly fought naked. At least, ancient Greek historians relate the fact with a mixture of awe and ridicule.
Toward the end of the third century B.C., King Attalus I of Pergamon stove off marauding Galatians. No mean feat! So, he memorialized his victory with a monument. And he heroicized the Galatian losers. The more valiant the Galatian warriors appeared, the more decisive King Attalus’s victory became. So, he paid his court artist to create roughly half a dozen bronze sculptures, showing the wild and free-spirited Galatians in their final moments of life.
Those bronze statues no longer exist. But the one in the Capitoline Museums is an ancient marble copy of one of those Galatians. When was it made and for whom? What happened to the statues over the centuries? Want to know more? Let’s visit him in real life!
Tips and Observations to Help You Organize Your Private Tour of the Capitoline Museums:
First, the Capitoline collection is huge and it embraces ancient sculptures, painting from the 1700s, and everything in between. (Heads up, Caravaggio fans: This is your chance to see both his Fortune Teller and the So-Called John the Baptist with your own eyes!) Although we’ll focus on the highlights, expect a standard visit to last roughly four hours. And, if there are works that you feel strongly about seeing, you may want to double-check with Daniella that they’re on the itinerary. If they’re not, she’s probably willing to add them!
Second, there are places to sit down in the Capitoline Museums. But they’re usually already occupied! So, please plan on showing up well-rested and wear comfortable shoes. Daniella will do her best to find you places to sit and enjoy the artwork. (And she even offers a rent-a-chair service for no more than two people. So, if having access to a place to sit sounds good, please inquire!)
For more information about the Capitoline Museums, its opening hours, and/or its temporary exhibits, please see its official website or write to Daniella!
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