A Tourist in Rome - Capitoline Museum
| Location:: | 41.89319, 12.48277 On the Campidoglio |
| Metro:: | Colosseo |
| Time:: | 2 hours - 2 days |
| Cost:: | €13 |
| Hours:: | Tuesday - Sunday, 9 AM to 8 PM |
| Audio guide:: | €5 audio guide is quite good; I'd recommend it. |
The Capitoline Museum is the oldest public collection of art in the world, began in 1471, and in my opinion, it is absolutely the best museum in Rome. If you are interested in artifacts and sculptures from ancient Rome up to the 1700s or so, you'll love it, too. It is filled with ancient Roman history and Roman copies of ancient Greek sculptures. To help you estimate how long you'll need to spend in this this museum, I'll tell you my experience. I spent about two hours in the museum the first time I went, and completely enjoyed the highlights (perhaps 50 objects) without having any prior background knowledge about Rome beside what I think most people have. After that trip to Rome I learned quite a bit of Roman history, so during my second visit to Rome I spent about 6 hours in the museum. After more study, my third visit was a full day. The more you understand and can appreciate, the more time you can spend in the museum. But if you understand nothing, still go and enjoy a few hours of beautiful sculptures.
The Capitoline Museum is made of 3 the buildings that surround the Piazza del Campidoglio on the Capitol Hill: The Palazzo dei Conservatori, the Palazzo Senatorio and the Palazzo Nuovo. You can get there from the Colosseo metro stop by walking down Via dei Fori Imperiali to the end of the Roman Forum, turning left at the street before you get to the huge white Victor Emmanuel Monument, and walking up the hill to the large piazza on the right. Or, if you're approaching from the other side of the Victor Emmanuel Monument, pass the stairway that leads to the church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli and climb the stairs (actually, more of a ramp) to the piazza. The ticket booth, audio guide rental and entrance are all in the Palazzo dei Conservatori (1st photo below), the building furthest from the huge white Victor Emmanuel Monument. This building also houses the most famous works in the museum. The building across the piazza (closest to the Victor Emmanuel Monument) is the Palazzo Nuovo, which houses sculptures, and will probably be the last part of the museum you see. The buildings are joined by an underground passage which runs under the third building in the piazza, the Palazzo Senatorio, and houses a huge collection of inscriptions. None of the museum is above ground in that building, but in the underground passageway is a side-branch that leads past an ancient temple to the Tabularium, the public records building of Ancient Rome, where you'll get a great view of the Roman Forum. (For completists, the Central Montemartini Museum, miles away, is also part of the Capitoline Museum)
In my tour of the Capitoline Museum here, I'll be following the room numbering and therefore ordering as was in my 2014 guide map given to me when I bought my ticket. I see that various web sites number the rooms differently, so you might prefer to use the room names I state after the room number, which won't change.
Google Maps has Street Views of
The Palazzo dei Conservatori is made of five sections:
When you enter the Capitoline Museum you'll find yourself in room 1, the courtyard with ancient artifacts displayed along the four walls. The wall you'll be drawn to is the one that displays the fragments of the Colossal Statue of Constantine discovered in 1486 in the western apse of the Basilica of Maxentius in the Roman Forum. The statue displayed the Emperor Constantine seated on a throne, and was created between 313 and 324 AD.
There is a lot more to see along these walls, though, such as some of the reliefs from the Temple of Hadrian found at the end of the 16th century and in 1883. These reliefs personified the various provinces subject to the Roman Empire at the time, and are called the Province Reliefs. Many are displayed here in the courtyard of the Capitoline Museum.
And more of them are on display in the Naples Archaeological Museum and the National Museum of Rome - Palazzo Massimo.
These objects are also in the courtyard (room 1) of the Capitoline Museum:
When you leave the courtyard, you'll be forced onto the grand staircase to go up one floor. The first half of the staircase is room 2, the second half room 3. At the first landing on that staircase, look for these three reliefs from the triumphal arch dedicated to Marcus Aurelius. Eleven reliefs still exist from that arch, the three here and another eight of them which were re-used on the Arch of Constantine and can still be seen on it.
The 'sacrifice' relief (1st photo below) shows Marcus Aurelius in his role as pontifex maximus or chief priest, one of the traditional roles of a Roman Emperor. Augustus is sculpted in this role in the Palazzo Massimo. Typically, sculptures of emperors in this role are wearing a toga with a hood covering their head, and are holding a patera, a dish used during sacrifice. Considering how important religion and tradition was to Roman people, it was important for the emperor to demonstrate his conviction to these ideals. The temple in the background of this relief might be the Jupiter Optimus Maximus Capitolinus located on top of the Capitoline Hill.
The 'conquest and clemency' relief (2nd photo below) shows Marcus Aurelius dressed in a cuirass, on horseback. The trees in the background suggest he is in reviewing the battlefield after a victory. Barbarians surrender at his feet and beg for mercy. Marcus Aurelius' pose in this relief is reminiscent of the emperor's equestrian statue in the Capitoline Museum.
The 'Triumph' relief (3rd photo below) shows Marcus Aurelius riding a four-horse chariot and being crowned by Nike, a representation of Victory. The chariot is decorated with reliefs showing the figures of Neptune and Minerva flanking the figure of Roma. A temple is shown in the background, and a triumphal arch is shown on the right, presumably the arch that the emperor's chariot has just passed through as his triumphal procession has just begun. Commodus was probably also in the chariot originally, as suggested by the large size of the chariot and the figure of Nike who was probably centered above the two characters and holding crowns for them both. After Commodus went crazy and became extremely unpopular and was assassinated, his memory was damned (damnatio memoriae) by the senate, causing him to be removed from all inscriptions, statues, friezes, etc, as if by doing this they could make him never exist.
The ceiling above the grand staircase, another relief on the landing of the Emperor Hadrian, and a portrait of Emperor Hadrian on the grand staircase are shown below:
When you reach the top of the staircase, you're in room 4, the Hall of the Horati and the Curiatii. The walls of this room are painted with beautiful murals of scenes from Rome's history.
These two famous statues are in the room.
Next pass into room 5, the Hall of the Captains.
Room 6 is the Hall of Hannibal.
Room 7 is the Chapel
Room 8 is the Hall of the Triumphs, with several famous bronzes. The Capitoline Brutus, shown in the 1st two photos below, is a bust of Junius Brutus that was copied in marble after ancient times.
Room 9 is the Hall of the She-Wolf is an incredibly important room, historically speaking. In the center is the very symbol of Rome, the She-Wolf suckling Romulus and Remus. The inscription known as the Capitoline Fasti is attached to one of the walls. The Consular and Triumphal Fasti is a historical document of significant value which lists on marble tables the names of the Consuls (co-presidents, two elected each year for a 1-year term) of the Roman Republic, and also the the names of Triumphal Victors (victorious war generals). This wall lists the Consuls from 483 BC to 19 BC, and the Triumphs from 753 BC to 19 BC. The base of another wall displays fragments of the Arch of Augustus, a Triumphal Arch dedicated to Augustus in the Roman Forum with only its foundation remaining in the Roman Forum today.
Room 10 is the Hall of the Geese, where Bernini's famous Bust of Medusa is located.
Room 11 is the Hall of Tapestries
Room 12 is the Hall of the Eagles
We now exit the original part (16th century Conservators' Apartment) of the Palazzo dei Conservatori
Rooms 13, 14, and 15, The Castellani Galleries
Room 21 Horti Lamiani Gallery
Room 16 Exedra of Marcus Aurelius (Google Street View)
Room 17 Area of the Temple of Jupiter
Room 18 Terracottas from the St. Omobono area
Room 20 and 19 Galleries of Maecenas's Gardens
Room 22 Horti Lamiani Galleries
Room 22 Horti Tauriani and Vettiani Galleries
Room 22 Rooms of the Modern Fasti
Room 23 Medieval Room
That finishes off the Palazzo dei Conservatori Museum of the Palazzo dei Conservatori
Return to the Grand Staircase and go upward. On the 3rd landing are several interesting works of art, including two works of Opus Sectile (3rd and 4th photos below), which is explained beside the more numerous examples of it in the National Museum of Rome - Palazzo Massimo:
Room 24 Hall I
Room 26 Hall III
Room 26a Hall V
Room 27 Hall VI
Room 28 Hall of St. Petronilla
Room 32 Pietro da Cortona Hall
Room 34 Anton van Dyck Room
And so ends the Pinacoteca (Picture Gallery) of Palazzo dei Conservatori
First, a coffee shop with a scenic terrace
Room 35, the Hall of the Pediment
Room 36, the Capitoline Coin and Medal Collection
And that's the end of the Palazzo Clementino - Caffarelli and also the entire Palazzo dei Conservatori
Your should now walk downstairs to the very bottom of the stairway, below ground level. This puts you in Room 38, a long hallway named the Epigraphic Gallery (Gallery of Inscriptions) containing lots of inscriptions in stone. If you go straight through the Epigraphic Gallery you'll end up in the Palazzo Nuovo, the third of three buildings in the Capitoline Museum, and my favorite place thus far in the entire world. But 2/3 of the way through that underground hallway called the Epigraphic Gallery is another hallway going off to the right, the only branch off the Epigraphic Gallery, and you will go into that hallway to see Room 39 - the Temple of Veiovis and Room 40 - the Tabularium Gallery, both of which are under the Palazzo Senatorio which is the City Hall of Rome, closed to the public. After you see those two rooms, you'll make your way back into the Epigraphic Gallery and continue on to the Palazzo Nuovo, a place you'll never forget.
Room 38 - the Epigraphic Gallery
Be sure to take the hallway to the right when it appears.
Room 39 - the Temple of Veiovis (in the hallway to the right)
The hallway begins with several interesting artefacts, then you arrive at the Temple of Veiovis on the right side of the hallway. This is a very confusing bit for me; I think that during my visits of 2012-2014 the temple was being excavated or restored, and that's why I couldn't make much sense of it.
Room 40 - the Tabularium Gallery
Let's start with a photo of the Tabularium from a few blocks away outside. The large yellow building in the center of the first photo below is the Palazzo Senatorio, viewed from the back. The 3 very large arches near the bottom are part of the ancient Tabularium, a storehouse for records and offices for city officials. You can read more about the Tabularium here. The second photo is a close-up of one of those arches, showing the people looking out over the forum from behind the railing, and giving a hint of the arches running across the length of the Tabularium.
Now we switch to the view inside the Tabularium Gallery in the Capitoline Museum and looking out over the Roman Forum.
There are a few interesting things to see within the Tabularium Gallery in addition to the view outside. The first 6 photos below are of artefacts on display here, and the others are looking down into two dungeon-like rooms on the non-Forum-side of the gallery. One of these rooms is called the Executioner's Room. Sorry for the difficult-to-interpret angles - most of those are shot nearly straight down, the only angle that was available with the lighting.
Now return through that same hallway back to Room 38, the Epigraphic Gallery, and turn right to continue on into the Palazzo Nuovo. Near the exit to the Palazzo Nuovo, be sure to see the fragment of
The 18th century Palazzo Nuovo retains much of its original charm and decoration. It was opened to the public as a museum in 1734, under Pope Clement XII. It consists of 3 sections:
Room 41, the Courtyard (Google Street View)
Room 42, Egyptian Collection
Room 43, Atrium and Ground Floor Rooms
All my photos are from the Atrium, I either missed the 3 small Ground Floor Rooms or maybe they were closed (for all three of my visits?)
Grand Staircase
Now go up the Grand Staircase, being sure to see the objects on the landing, photographed below.
Room 44, Gallery (Google Street View)
Once you reach the top, your view straight ahead is of the 1st photo below. Save this "best room" for last, though. We'll start with the Calyx Krater on your left (2nd and 3rd photos below), and work our way down this long main corridor (called the Gallery) to your right (4th photo below), stopping off at the rooms on the right side of that corridor. Then we'll make our way back by going through the interconnected rooms on the left side of this corridor and ending up in the room at the top of the Grand Staircase in the 1st photo below. The gallery (corridor) itself has more than 100 sculptures on display of various sizes, subjects, polish and character, offering a unique overview of art handed down to us from antiquity. You are now in a special place on Earth, from here to the end of the museum, my favorite place in the world. The arrangement of the works was decided by the Marquis Alessandro Capponi, commisioned by Pope Clement XII, which led to the opening of the Museum in 1734. I hope you enjoy the sculpture as much as I do.
Room 45, Hall of the Doves
The hall is named after the magnificent Mosaic of the Doves, but also holds a mosaic of a theater scene, the beautiful statue of the Young Girl with Dove, who is defending the dove from the attack of a dog, and fragments of the Tabula Illica, a slab which represents episodes of the Trojan War, and also bronze tablets with inscriptions, such as the Decree of Pompeo Strabone, which granted Roman citizenship to Hispanic knights who had fought with the Romans in Ascoll.
Back out to Room 44, Gallery
Room 47, Capitoline Venus
Back out to Room 44, Gallery
Room 48, Hall of the Emperors
The Hall of the Emperors is organized as a seated woman in the center of the room, surrounded on all sides by shelves filled with the busts of Roman Emperors and a few of their wives. For more information about the Emperors, see my Emperors and Other Famous People page.
Details of the Emperors follow:
Above the Emperors are several reliefs, some of which are shown below
Room 49, Hall of the Philosophers
Room 50, Great Hall
Room 51, Hunter with Hare (this is the right half of the Great Hall)
Room 52, Room of the Faun
Room 53, Hall of the Gladiator
Here's one final photo I made inside the Palazzo Nuovo, but I can't remember from exactly where. Maybe the center outdoor-facing window in the Gallery was opened? Anyhow, here is Marforio, downstairs in the Palazzo Nuovo courtyard, through the net that keeps birds out of the courtyard.
And here's one final photo I made of Cupid and Psyche's embrace, through an open window of the Palazzo Nuovo during a warm Roman evening on the Piazza del Campidoglio.
See also:
