I started my second day in Roma with Musei Capitolini, an underrated, much less crowded but surprisingly good museum of Roman art and archeology.
The museum is located on a small hilltop, Capitoline Hill. Once you climb it up, you would see the Piazza del Campidoglio with a replica of the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in the center. I will show the picture of its original later. This Athena statue sits right in the center of the main building, Palazzo Senatorio.
Because Athena is the goddess of heroic endeavor, you would see her a lot in government and military buildings.
The entrance of the museum is in Palazzo dei Conservatori on the right of the Piazza. This time I didn't forget to ask for a floor plan. The first thing you see is the spacious courtyard.
The courtyard hosted a few pieces of a gigantic statue of Constantine.
You could take a really close look at these pieces, imaging the huge statue in its entirety.
The most impressive piece was, of course, the head.
Walking through the courtyard, I entered the galleries inside. This statue of a pope struck me with its over-elaborated clothing. It was too much.
A great bronze horse statue took the center stage of one room.
The profile view of the same horse.
The gallery kept on room after room. This Head of Medusa was attributed to Bernini.
This Esquiline Venus was one of the most famous treasures of this museum. This view gave you an idea where it was placed.
Now the front view.
This was an amazing statue of one woman carrying another on her back. It reminded me the Winged Nike from Louvre.
As promised, I gave you the original bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius.
The Capitoline Wolf was one of the first objects you would encounter in any art history book about Roman art because it was based on an alleged story of the origin of Roma.
This was the only statue covered by gold.
I followed the floor plan to go through an underground passage connecting the three buildings of the museum. As I said, you would see Athena a lot around here.
Although the Roman Forum was not part of the museum, there was a great view of it from the back of Palazzo Senatorio. I discovered it totally by chance.
I enjoyed the amazing view and took several close-ups of major objects.
Thanks to Google and Wikipedia, I was able to identify some of the pictures I took. This was the Temple of Vespasian.
This was the Temple of Saturn.
And this was the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina.
This was the Arch of Septimius.
I couldn't identify the church on the left.
Following the underground passage, I came to the third building of the museum complex, Palazzo Nuovo. There were so many to see; it was overwhelming.
Among the hundreds of statues in the museum, my favorite was definitely the beautiful Capitoline Venus.
It was placed in a small octagon shrine. A dazzling display of the beauty of female body and great sculpturing skill to capture it.
However, my camera wasn't good enough to take pictures under such lighting condition.
Well, at least I tried.
The thrill went on. How about this scary head of a faun.
Yet another Athena, this time with a shield.
The Dyiing Gaul was another famous statue in this museum.
I enjoyed Musei Capitolini so much that I stopped whining about yesterday's mishap.
The museum is located on a small hilltop, Capitoline Hill. Once you climb it up, you would see the Piazza del Campidoglio with a replica of the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in the center. I will show the picture of its original later. This Athena statue sits right in the center of the main building, Palazzo Senatorio.
Because Athena is the goddess of heroic endeavor, you would see her a lot in government and military buildings.
The entrance of the museum is in Palazzo dei Conservatori on the right of the Piazza. This time I didn't forget to ask for a floor plan. The first thing you see is the spacious courtyard.
The courtyard hosted a few pieces of a gigantic statue of Constantine.
You could take a really close look at these pieces, imaging the huge statue in its entirety.
The most impressive piece was, of course, the head.
Walking through the courtyard, I entered the galleries inside. This statue of a pope struck me with its over-elaborated clothing. It was too much.
A great bronze horse statue took the center stage of one room.
The profile view of the same horse.
The gallery kept on room after room. This Head of Medusa was attributed to Bernini.
This Esquiline Venus was one of the most famous treasures of this museum. This view gave you an idea where it was placed.
Now the front view.
This was an amazing statue of one woman carrying another on her back. It reminded me the Winged Nike from Louvre.
As promised, I gave you the original bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius.
The Capitoline Wolf was one of the first objects you would encounter in any art history book about Roman art because it was based on an alleged story of the origin of Roma.
This was the only statue covered by gold.
I followed the floor plan to go through an underground passage connecting the three buildings of the museum. As I said, you would see Athena a lot around here.
Although the Roman Forum was not part of the museum, there was a great view of it from the back of Palazzo Senatorio. I discovered it totally by chance.
I enjoyed the amazing view and took several close-ups of major objects.
Thanks to Google and Wikipedia, I was able to identify some of the pictures I took. This was the Temple of Vespasian.
This was the Temple of Saturn.
And this was the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina.
This was the Arch of Septimius.
I couldn't identify the church on the left.
Following the underground passage, I came to the third building of the museum complex, Palazzo Nuovo. There were so many to see; it was overwhelming.
Among the hundreds of statues in the museum, my favorite was definitely the beautiful Capitoline Venus.
It was placed in a small octagon shrine. A dazzling display of the beauty of female body and great sculpturing skill to capture it.
However, my camera wasn't good enough to take pictures under such lighting condition.
Well, at least I tried.
The thrill went on. How about this scary head of a faun.
Yet another Athena, this time with a shield.
The Dyiing Gaul was another famous statue in this museum.
I enjoyed Musei Capitolini so much that I stopped whining about yesterday's mishap.
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