Museo Capitolino

Next, a walk across the Piazza to another hill with a stairway called the Cordonata designed by Michelangelo (thanks Mike for the shallow steps) to get to the Capitolino Museum. The lowest floor houses information about the Romans that would have been interesting and useful such as construction, legal system etc but we ran out of time, The upper two contain notable pieces you see in guidebooks plus the foundation of an Etruscan building (they predate the Romans and were absorbed by them). Overall worthwhile but we were tired - it was almost too much to add on.

Pope Sixtus IV began the collection when he donated a number of bronze statues with strong ties to the city, like the bronze of Romulus and Remus being nursed by a she-wolf (Lupa Capitolina); the colossal head of Constantine and the Camillus. In the 16th century Pope Pius V ridded the Vatican of all art depicting pagan images and so the collection grew. It was in 1734 that the museum was opened to the public.

One of the museum's prized pieces is the statue of Marcus Aurelius on horseback; this is the only surviving bronze equestrian statue from Ancient Rome. The highlights of the museum include Lo Spinario; Caravaggio's Fortune Teller; Rubens' Romulus and Remus; Dying Gaul; Cupid and Psyche and the Capitoline Venus.

Article:
http://www.aviewoncities.com/rome/capitolinemus…
Official Site:
http://www.museicapitolini.org/en/mostre_ed_eve…En savoir plus