The 10 highlights of… the Capitoline Museums (Palazzo Nuovo)

In a previous post, I have already explained that the Palazzo Nuovo was designed by Michelangelo but only built in the second half of the seventeenth century by father Girolamo and son Carlo Rainaldi. The palazzo currently serves as the left wing of the Capitoline Museums. The entrance to the museums is on the other side of the piazza in the Palazzo dei Conservatori. Visitors then use the underground passageway beneath the Palazzo Senatorio to get to the Palazzo Nuovo. Here they can mostly admire Roman sculptures, an abundance of Roman sculptures. Among the most famous rooms are that of the Roman emperors and that of the philosophers. In these rooms I took many photos of busts of famous men (and the odd woman) that I could use for my posts about the history of the Roman Empire. In this post I will focus on a number of other objects and discuss my ten personal highlights.

1. The dying Gaul

This beautiful statue of a defeated Celtic or Galatian warrior comes from the collection of the Ludovisi family. Like its counterpart, the Ludovisi Gaul in the Palazzo Altemps, the statue was found in the Horti Sallustiani north of Rome. It is therefore rather plausible that both statues were part of the same group. However, that still does not tell us anything about when or why they were made. Estimates regarding the dating range from the first century BCE to the second century CE. One popular theory is still that the dying Gaul too is a Roman copy in marble after a Greek original in bronze that was part of a monument erected by King Attalos I of Pergamum (241-197 BCE). Attalos had crushed a horde of migrating Celts and earned himself the nickname Soter (‘Saviour’) in the process. Whether or not the theory of the Roman copy has any merit, the statue of the dying Gaul is very moving. Note beautiful details such as the tormented face, the moustache, the remarkable haircut and the torque around the man’s neck.

2. The discobolus (or Monnot gladiator)

A statue that is certainly a copy of a Greek original is the discobolus or discus thrower. The original was made around 460-450 BCE in bronze by the sculptor Myron of Eleutherae, and then copied dozens of times. Nowadays that would be considered plagiarism but in Antiquity the copying of famous works was seen as a test of competence. In Rome we may admire another copy, the so-called Discobolo Lancellotti, in the Palazzo Massimo. The copy from the first century in the Palazzo Nuovo is a bit odd. In the eighteenth century the statue was restored by the sculptor Pierre-Étienne Monnot (1657-1733), who transformed the discus thrower into a wounded warrior or gladiator. Monnot for instance added the shield and broken sword. The work is therefore alternatively known as the Monnot gladiator.

3. Hadrianus as pontifex maximus

The emperor Hadrianus ruled over the immense Roman Empire from 117 until his death in 138. Whereas the pontifex maximus or supreme pontiff was elected by the people during the Republican era, the office had become the prerogative of the emperors in the Imperial age. The statue in the Palazzo Nuovo shows us Hadrianus with his head veiled (capite velato), a scroll in his left hand and a dish for libations (patera) in his right. The emperor is also wearing the typical shoes of a Roman patrician. We may assume that the statue was made during the emperor’s own reign. It stands 2.35 metres tall and was found near the church of Santo Stefano Rotondo.

4. Statue of Mars Ultor

This beautiful statue of the god of war was long erroneously identified as a statue of King Pyrrhus of Epirus, one of the greatest generals of Antiquity. Pyrrhus was the king who crossed the sea and invaded Italy to help the Greek city states of Magna Graecia against the advancing Romans. Twice the king defeated them, at Heraclea in 280 BCE and at Asculum in 279 BCE. However, on both occasions Pyrrhus suffered casualties that were so horrific that the victory he had won basically amounted to a defeat: the famous Pyrrhic victory. After a defeat in 275 BCE the king was forced to withdraw to Epirus. In 272 BCE he was killed dishonourably during fighting in the streets of Argos. Back to the statue in the Palazzo Nuovo: nowadays we know that this beautiful sculpture that stands 3.60 metres tall does not represent Pyrrhus but Mars. It is likely that it is in fact a copy of the statue of Mars Ultor that the emperor Augustus had set up in the year 2 BCE in the temple dedicated to this deity in his own forum. The details of the statue are, in any case, magnificent, from the Corinthian helmet with the sphinx to the cuirass with two griffins and the head of Medusa.

5. Marforio

Marforio is a statue of the sea god Oceanus from the first century CE in the courtyard (Cortile) of the Palazzo Nuovo. Back in the days when there were no social media yet, Rome had a number of so-called “talking statues”. During the night anonymous pamphlets were stuck to these statues, with texts that were usually critical of the papal authorities. Sometimes the statues even held discussions, with one statue responding to a pamphlet that had been stuck to another. The most famous statue is probably Pasquino in the vicinity of the Piazza Navona, which originally seems to have been a Roman statue of Menelaos holding the dead Patroklos in his arms. Abbot Luigi, Il Babuino and Il Facchino are the remaining male statues, while Madama Lucrezia next to the church of San Marco is the only female one. The name Maforio likely derives from Martis Forum, the Forum of Mars. That is the alternative name of the Forum of Augustus. Marforio was found next to Augustus’ temple of Mars Ultor (see under 4.).

6. The Amendola Sarcophagus

The beautiful Amendola Sarcophagus is one of several “battle sarcophagi” from the second and third century. The Portonaccio Sarcophagus and Grand Ludovisi Sarcophagus also belong to the series. Admittedly these latter two are of much greater quality than the Amendola Sarcophagus, which was found on an estate along the Via Appia. We do not know for whom the sarcophagus was made. On the front we see a battle between Greek or Roman soldiers and barbarians. Of course the barbarians are utterly crushed. They are either killed or led away in chains (the lid consists almost entirely of prisoners). In the large battle scene many of the barbarians are depicted naked. Some are wearing the characteristic Celtic torques. Although the sarcophagus is evidently Roman, the soldiers are wearing equipment – cuirasses and Thracian helmets – that is Greek rather than Roman. It is possible the makers were once again inspired by examples from Pergamum (see under 1.).

7. Sarcophagus with scenes from the life of Achilles

Another sarcophagus that warrants closer inspection is a third-century sarcophagus with scenes from the life of the Greek hero Achilles. This sarcophagus was discovered in 1582 in the mausoleum of Monte del Grano near the Via Tuscolana. The mausoleum is also known as the tomb of the emperor Severus Alexander (222-235). When Alexander became emperor in the year 222, he was just thirteen years old. He was therefore strongly influenced by his mother Julia Mamaea and grandmother Julia Maesa. Maesa died early in the reign of her grandson, while Severus Alexander and Julia Mamaea were murdered in 235 by their own soldiers during a campaign in Germania. It must have been small comfort that the emperor, who was aged just 26 at the time of the murder, was later deified by the Senate.

The tradition that the sarcophagus discussed here was the final resting place of Alexander and his mother is not yet generally accepted.[1] In fact, the museum does not even mention this theory. Admittedly the woman on the lid has the same hairdo that we know from busts of Julia Mamaea but that may merely indicate that this style was popular in the first half of the third century. And why would the man and woman represent a son and his mother rather than – as was much more common – two spouses? Instead of focussing on unproven theories, it is better to just enjoy the beautiful scenes on the sarcophagus. Achilles is depicted in the middle with two daughters of King Lykomedes of Skyros. Lykomedes is the bearded figure sitting on the left. The figure sitting on the right is King Agamemnon, leader of the Greek expedition against Troy. Achilles had been dressed up as a girl by his mother Thetis and hidden at the court of Lykomedes. In this way she hoped he could avoid being drafted for the Trojan War. Thanks to a clever ruse by Odysseus he was discovered after all. Achilles joined the expedition and died under the walls of Troy.

8. Statue of an inebriated old woman

The marble statue of an inebriated old woman dates from the second century. Once again we are dealing with a Roman copy of a Greek original, that this time dates from the third century BCE. We know that the statue represents an old woman from the deftly carved wrinkles in her face, and her lack of sobriety is fairly evident. The woman is clutching the large jug of wine in her lap like it is her most prized possession. The statue, now heavily restored, was found in 1620 at the church of Sant’Agnese fuori le Mura on the Via Nomentana.

9. Pigeon mosaic from Tivoli

The emperor Hadrianus, mentioned under 3., had a beautiful villa at Tibur, which is now called Tivoli. From this villa comes a mosaic featuring four pigeons perched on the edge of a bowl of water. One of the birds is drinking, a second waits for its turn and two pigeons look behind them to see if any danger is lurking. The mosaic has been executed in opus vermiculatum, a style of mosaic making that employs tiny tesserae to make extremely detailed images. We know this style from the famous Nile mosaic in Palestrina. The pigeon mosaic served as an emblema – decorative centrepiece – of a floor somewhere in the villa complex. The prevailing theory is that we are looking at a copy of a work by the Greek mosaicist Sosus of Pergamum, who lived in the second century BCE. So once again we are dealing with a Roman copy of a Greek original, and once again there appears to be a link with Pergamum. This should not really come as a surprise, as Rome and Pergamum had been allies since the late third century BCE.

10. The red faun

The red faun of the Palazzo Nuovo was made of rosso antico marble. It too came from the Villa of Hadrianus. The emperor was known for his love of everything Greek, so this work from the second century is a copy of a Greek original as well. The faun – a mythological creature that is often equated with a satyr – is a follower of the wine god Dionysus or Bacchus. This is evident from the two large bunches of grapes. I think the faun would get along very well with the inebriated old woman under 8. To the left of the faun we see a tree trunk with a pan flute hanging from a branch. On the right are a goat and a wicker basket. The red faun was donated to the Capitoline Museums in 1746 by Pope Benedictus XIV (1740-1758), an event mentioned on the pedestal. Several parts of the statue are additions by the sculptors who restored it in the eighteenth century.

Note

[1] There is another sarcophagus, originally from Lebanon and now in the United States, that some see as the final resting place of mother and son. That sarcophagus even has the name Julia Mamaea written on it but her age at the time of her death (30) cannot be correct. As Mary Beard has rightly pointed out, there were many more women called Julia Mamaea.