Capitoline Museums
Route: THE AGE OF CONTRASTS. TRIUMPH AND HUMILTY
You are along the route: IN HOC SIGNO VINCES. CONSTANTINE CHRISTIAN EMPEROR
Piazza del Campidoglio
www.museicapitolini.org
Every day 09:30-19:30, 24th and 31st December 09:30-14:00. The ticket office closes one hour before closing time. Closed on 1st January, 1st May, 25th December. Addmission fee.
The birth of the Capitoline Museums can be dated to 1471, when Pope Sixtus IV donated a group of bronze statues preserved in the Lateran Palace and considered of high symbolic value to the people of Rome. These included the famous she-wolf, and the bronze elements of the head, almost 180 cm high, one hand and the globe from a colossal statue of Constantine. The emperor, between 10 and 12 metres tall, had been depicted standing, holding a sceptre surmounted by a globe, the symbol of universal power. The work is located in the exedra of Marcus Aurelius, in the Palace of the Conservatives.
Foto ©Roma Capitale-Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali
In 1486, in the Basilica of Maxentius in the Roman Forum, the remains of a grandiose marble colossal statue of Constantine were discovered. In addition to extraordinary head of 2.60 m, the right hand and arm, feet, right knee and hip and the left calf remain, located in the courtyard of the Palace of the Conservatives. The statue was made using the acrolith technique, in which precious materials coated the surface of a supporting structure in wood and brick. The emperor, his face illuminated by an aura of holiness even at that time, had probably been portrayed seating on his throne with a sceptre, with an overall height of about 12 m.
Foto ©Roma Capitale-Sovrintendenza Capitolina ai Beni Culturali
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