Rome Sculpture: Sublime and Singular

We have been to several museums showing sculptures, some as part of the gallery (Vatican Museum or Capitoline) and some specializing in it (Palazzo Altemps).  There are so many things to love and appreciate about sculpture.  I've already posted photos of the giant animal heads that we saw in the cloister gardens when we visited the Baths of Diocletian, but here is a sculpture I found so lovely, also in the Baths of Diocletian.

Draped Figure from 2nd-3rd C. AD

Just the way the fabric of the clothing drapes and looks so soft even though it is carved marble.
 I can't even begin to understand the skill and technique that something like this requires.  You can almost see her taking a step as she moves through the streets of the forum to do some shopping.








  

Moving on to the Chiaramonti Museum (located within the Vatican Museum labyrinth) is this long hallway filled with busts, reliefs, statuary - crammed full and confusingly displayed, but we had the all important Blue Guide, which did a great job of locating and describing the high points.  The one sculpture I took a photo of here is from the 2nd C. AD according to the Blue Guide.

Personification of Autumn

I love the headdress of grape vines with the bunches of grapes hanging down near her ears. How much fun is that.  I need to remember that in the fall and see if I can fashion head gear like that for myself!






 The 'New Wing' also contains a long hallway filled with sculpture and one that was was really outstanding was the Augustus of Prima Porta.  The defensive armor he wears over his toga is called a cuirass, a term I had not been familiar with (the Blue Guide is also a vocabulary builder).  This sculpture is based on a bronze original.  The detail in the cuirass is very impressive. 

Another thing I did not know is that most sculptures were highly colored, both painted and gilded.  The plain white marble we see and think of as 'classical' is really just the result of thousands of years of wear.  There was a picture of how this statue would have been looked painted and it was very odd, since it is so unlike what we have become accustomed to seeing.


The Capitoline Museum is located on the Capitoline hill, the first place people formed settlements (end of Bronze Age, 1300 BC).  The museum is composed of Palazzo Dei Conservatori, Palazzo Clemintino-Caffarelli (accessed from Conservatori) and Palazzo Nuovo.  We spent two visits in the Palazzo Dei Conservatori and did manage to at least scratch the surface.   The ruins of the Temple of Jupiter can be seen from inside the Palazzo Dei Conservatori and are quite impressive.

Section of Temple of Jupiter

There are more extensive ruins in an area opened to below the hall.  The temple was dedicated to Jupiter, Juno and Minerva in 509 BC although the temple was started in the 6th C. BC.  The temple was about 60m X 60m and I am including a picture of a model I found on line.  The model in the museum is lovely but made of a clear plastic.

Temple of Capitoline Triad

As you enter Palazzo dei Conservatori you step into a courtyard that has fragments of a giant statue of Constantine, found in the forum.  The original showed Constantine seated and was approximately 12m high (about 39 ft).  The main body was likely made of wood (and then covered) but the extremities were made of stone.  Look at the picture of the foot and how, even though it is huge, details like a vein were not overlooked. 

  















Once inside there are more wonderful sculptures to behold.  One of these is a bust of Medusa by Bernini.  If you look at it long enough I am sure you will see the snakes starting to writhe.

On our second visit to the Capitoline Museum we saw the famous restored statue of Marcus Aurelius, a large imposing bronze statue of the emperor astride his horse dating from the end of his reign (160-180 AD), possibly the year of his death.

The hall where it is now housed was built especially for that purpose.  Also in the same hall is the famed She-wolf of Rome, another bronze.  It shows the she-wolf barring her teeth to ward of danger as she suckles the twins Romulus and Remus.  It was thought to have been an Etruscan sculpture (5th C BC), but recent restoration has lead some to believe it actually dates from the medieval period. 

Just in case someone does not know the legend, allow me to provide a synopsis.  Romulus and Remus were placed in a basket and set in the Tiber River.  A she-wolf found them and suckled them until a shepherd came along, took the twins home and raised them.  Once grown they decided to found a city where the she-wolf had found them and saved their lives.  They argued abut the spot, Romulus killed Remus and Romulus went on to found Rome.

Alan and friend

Near the hall of Marcus Aurelius, there are galleries containing statues unearthed in the 19th C.  The extensive collections were found in what is believed to be the gardens of villas occupied by the wealthiest and most important Romans.  The sculpture that Alan is standing next to is made of a rare green Egyptian marble.
 








This statue of a young woman also shows the amazing detail achievable by expert sculptors.  I am particularly struck by the slight smile the woman wears, as well as her intricate headpiece.




The final few photos I will include here are of a sarcophagus.  As you can see from the heads on the couple, the sarcophagus was never completed, but it has a most impressive scene of a wild boar hunt.