CAPITOLINE MUSEUMS TOUR – ROME

The “Capitoline Museums” were created in 1471, when “Pope Sixtus IV” donated a collection of bronze statues to the city of Rome. Among these bronze statues there was the “Lupa Capitolina”, the “Capitoline She-Wolf”, symbol of Rome. The museums were officially opened to the public by “Pope Clement XII” in 1734. They are located inside “Palazzo dei Conservatori” and “Palazzo Nuovo”, which are in front of the beautiful “Campidoglio Square”, designed by the renaissance artist “Michelangelo”.

The Capitoline Museums tour will guide you through the different halls of the museum and show you the most beautiful pieces exhibited here. In the “Pinacoteca”, a hall that houses a collection donated by two aristocratic Italian families, you will be able to see many beautiful paintings, like the “Baptism of Christ” by the Venetian artist “Titian”. During the tour you will also be able to see “Romulus and Remus”, by “Rubens”. This painting depicts a scene from the legend of the two twins, Romulus and Remus, who founded the city of Rome. The two boys are also depicted in another important piece in the Capitoline Museums, the “Lupa Capitolina”, a bronze statue that was probably made by the “Etruscans”, a people who lived in central Italy before the Romans. The statue and the painting both depict the famous scene of the she-wolf nursing Romulus and Remus. Another famous painter whose art is exhibited here is “Caravaggio”. He is known for the life-like expressions of the subjects of his paintings, and especially for his use of light, which makes the characters pop from dark backgrounds. “Caravaggio” had quite a troubled life. He was often arrested for taking part in brawls, and after killing a man he had to run away from Milan. When the law caught up with him in Rome, he went off the grid with the help of a nobleman friend of his.

You will see many beautiful statues during the Capitoline Museums tour, like the “Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius”, which is 13.9 feet tall and made of bronze, or the “Head of Medusa” by “Gian Lorenzo Bernini”. “Gian Lorenzo Bernini” is considered the protagonist of the baroque art movement. He worked for powerful aristocrats and Popes as both sculptor and architect.

There are so many important pieces of art in the Capitoline Museums: the “giant marble head of Emperor Constantine”, the two “colorful marble panels of a tiger attacking a calf”, the painting of “Saint Sebastian” by “Guido Reni” … The Capitoline Museums tour is ideal for people who want to experience the best of Italian art, from the Roman Empire to the renaissance and the baroque period.