The Capitoline Museums are the oldest public museums in the world, and their collections are something you can return to admire at every time you come to Rome. Starting in the 15th century and continuing until the Vatican Museums came along, the Capitoline Museums benefited from a long line of Popes who gave sculptures and later Renaissance and post-Renaissance art in abundance.
The Museums are positioned on either side of a square – the Piazza dei Campidogli. We visited the Palazzo Nuovo first which you approach on a gentle ascending ramp designed by Michaelangelo. This wing houses sculptures of all shapes and sizes, but for this viewer it was the enormity of some and the fantastic detail and execution of others that remain a vivid impression. In the size department, there’s the statue of Oceano to confront you with its massiveness in the courtyard as you enter. This prepares you somewhat for what’s to come inside on the ground floor: a gigantic statue of the god Mars, and a gilded bronze equestrian statue of the great Emperor Marcus Aurelius (which was fortunately mistaken by the early Christians as being Constantine the Great, otherwise it might not have survived). If the Roman Emperors interest you, then their likenesses in the Emperors’ Room are something not to miss out: there are 65 imperial busts here ranging from the more noble (Hadrian) to the more infamous (Commodus) of the Empire’s many rulers. As to statuary that captures a range of the dramatic and lifelike, visit the Dove Room and admire some of the statues of children, including one of a small girl protecting a bird from a snake; or in the Gladiators Hall, the very moving marble statue of the Dying Gaul; nor should you miss the Capitoline Venus standing in her own chamber, or the Discobulus—a Greek statue of a discus thrower. Every room, however, contains renditions in marble that will leave you awestruck.
The Museo del Palazzo dei Conservatori (Conservators' Palace Museum) on the other side of the square does not lack for massive form either. In the courtyard are pieces of a colossal statue of Constantine (actually, what’s left of his foot) that once was in the Basilica of Maxentius (Constantine). At the top of the stairs are sculpted panels in low relief commemorating the victories of Marcus Aurelius. Although many of galleries are closed, you can still view the Spinario, a bronze of a young boy removing a thorn from his foot; the Esquiline Venus in marble; and the polished figure of Commodus as Hercules. Barely visible in the gloom is the famous bronze statue of the She-Wolf suckling Romulus and Remus—marvel at the mythical birth of a truly great city! If you’re ready for mere mortal refreshment after this visual feast, the outdoor terrace of the onsite Caffe Capitolino provides a pleasant view of the square.
The Museums’ official website: www.museicapitolini.org/en