Conservators’ Apartment, Capitoline Museums

The rooms making up the apartment on the first floor of the Palazzo, were used by the Conservators, or magistrates, for activities connected to their office; they therefore form a single entity, both as regards their function and their ornamental features. The rooms were also used for Public and Private Council meetings.

The rich decoration of these reception rooms (frescoes, stuccoes, carved ceilings and doors, tapestries) has as its main theme the history of Ancient Rome, from its foundation to the Republican Age. The earliest cycle of frescoes goes back to the beginning of the XVI century.

Hall of the Horatii and Curiatii
The fresco decoration of this large room was carried out by Cavalier d’Arpino (Giuseppe Cesari) at the end XVI century and the beginning of the XVII century.

Originally conceived as tapestries to be hung along the walls, these frescoes portray historical episodes of Ancient Rome, which also inspire the monochrome medallions below.

Two monumental statues of popes face each other on the two smaller sides of the room: the one portraying Urban VIII is in marble and was carried out by Bernini and his pupils, while the bronze statue of Innocent X is the work of Algardi.

Hall of the Captains
The frescoes on the wall, by Tommaso Laureti, date back to the end of the XVI century. They refer to the early Republican Age and portray exemplary episodes of ancient Roman valour in the form of tapestries.

The Room also contains stone tablets and portrait statues commemorating famous men and Captains of the Pontifical Militia.

Hall of Hannibal
Of all the rooms in the fifteenth-century Palazzo dei Conservatori, this is the only room that has maintained its original proportions.

The frescoed decoration dating back to the first decade of the XVI century and traditionally attributed to Jacopo Ripanda celebrates episodes of the Punic Wars in four scenes; underneath runs a long frieze with niches containing busts of Roman generals.

he wooden ceiling, carried out a short time after the frescoed decoration, bears a carved image of the Capitoline She-Wolf at its centre.

Chapel
The chapel is dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul, patron saints of Rome, who are portrayed in the ceiling frescoes that were executed at the same time as the stucco decorations by Michele Alberti and Jacopo Rocchetti in the third decade of the XVI century.

The painting is on slate and shows Our Lady in glory between Saints Peter and Paul, who place the city of Rome under the protection of the Virgin. Paintings portraying the four Evangelists and other saints completed the decoration of the Chapel in the seventeenth century.

Hall of the Tapestries
The frescoed frieze, portraying scenes from the life of Scipio Africanus and embellished with reproductions of ancient statues, was carried out in the mid-XVI century at the same time as the gilded and carved wooden ceiling. In the XVIII century a throne was installed to be used during papal visits and the room was decorated with tapestries from the Roman factory of San Michele and richly carved furniture.

The cartoons of the tapestries by Domenico Corvi show historical and legendary episodes of ancient Rome, reproducing paintings by important artists, including Rubens and Poussin.

Hall of the Triumphs
The frescoed frieze which runs along the upper part of the walls was commissioned from Michele Alberti and Jacopo Rocchetti in 1569.

It portrays the Triumph of Lucius Aemilius Paullus over the King of Macedonia Perseus with the Capitoline and the Palazzo dei Conservatori in the background.

The coffered wooden ceiling is the only one left among those carried out in the Palazzo by Flaminio Bolonger.

This room also contains some large bronze sculptures: the Capitoline Brutus, the Spinario and the Camillus.

Hall of the She-wolf
Ever since the middle of the 16th century, when it was an open three-arched loggia, this room has contained the bronze Capitoline She-wolf, which has become the symbol of Rome.

Embedded in the walls are fragments of Consular and Triumphal Fasti, lists of magistrates and triumphal victors from the time of the republic to the Augustan Age discovered in the Roman Forum and part of an arch dedicated to Augustus.

The pictorial wall decoration, dating back to the first decade of the XVI century and traditionally attributed to Jacopo Ripanda, is rather fragmentary and difficult to decipher.

Hall of the Geese
The room’s pictorial decorations date back to the mid-XVI century, during the papacy of Pope Paul III

The frieze consists of small panels, with playful scenes set against a background of real or imaginary landscapes, alternating with military trophies and floral and fruit triumphs.

The two bronze geese that give the room its name were placed here in the XVIII century, together with a bronze vase in the shape of a bust of Isis and a head of Medusa by Bernini.

Hall of the Eagles
The fine wooden ceiling features painted landscapes alternating with carved gilded rosettes. The frieze below, of the same period as that in the Hall of the Geese, features a series of panels portraying views of Rome, and oval medallions showing minor episodes from the history of Republican Rome.

A small bronze and marble statue is a small-scale replica of the Hellenistic statue from the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus embellished with symbols of fertility and heads of animals. Two marble eagles give the room its name.

Capitoline Museums
The Musei Capitolini date back to 1471, when Pope Sixtus IV donated to the people of Rome a group of bronze statues that until then had been kept at the Lateran. These statues constituted its original core collection. Various popes subsequently expanded the collection with works taken from excavations around Rome; some were moved from the Vatican, some, such as the Albani collection, were bought specifically for the museum. Around the middle of the eighteenth century, Pope Benedict XIV created a picture gallery. A considerable quantity of archaeological material was also added at the end of the nineteenth century when Rome became the capital of Italy and new excavations were carried out whilst creating two completely new districts were created for the expanding city.

The Museums’ collections are displayed in the two of the three buildings that together enclose the Piazza del Campidoglio: Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazzo Nuovo, the third being the Palazzo Senatorio. These two buildings are linked by an underground tunnel, which contains the Galleria Lapidaria and leads to the ancient Tabularium, whose monumental arches overlook the Forum.

The Palazzo Nuovo houses the collections of ancient sculpture made by the great noble families of the past. Their charming arrangement has remained substantially unchanged since the eighteenth century. They include the famous collections of busts of Roman philosophers and emperors, the statue of Capitoline Gaul, the Capitoline Venus, and the imposing statue of Marforio that dominates the courtyard.

The Conservators’ Apartment contains the original architectural nucleus of the building, decorated with splendid frescoes portraying the history of Rome. The ancient Capitoline bronzes on display here add to the noble atmosphere: the Capitoline She-wolf, Spinario and the Capitoline Brutus.

On the first floor of the palace, a huge glass room, recently built, contains the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, which once stood in the Piazza del Campidoglio, and the imposing remains of the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter. A section is also dedicated to the most ancient part of the Campidoglio’s history, from its first inhabitation until the construction of the sacred building, displaying the results of recent excavations. The halls that overlook the room contain works from the Horti of the Esquiline; the hall which connects the room to the apartments of the Palazzo dei Conservatori contains the Castellani collection, testimony to nineteenth century collecting practices.

On the second floor, the Capitoline Picture Gallery contains many important works, arranged in chronological order from late mediaeval times to the eighteenth century. The collection includes paintings by Caravaggio (Good Luck and St. John the Baptist), a massive canvas by Guercino (Burial of Saint Petronilla) and numerous paintings by Guido Reni and Pietro da Cortona.

The Palazzo Caffarelli-Clementino holds the numismatic collection, known as the Medagliere Capitolino. On display are many rare coins, medals, gems and jewels, as well as an area dedicated to temporary exhibitions.