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The Capitoline Museums
were established, in 1471 when Sistus IV donated to
the people of Rome a collection of bronze statues. From
the very beginning, they were thought for keeping material
discovered in Rome and its surrounding areas. Additional
statues were added to the collection by Paul III and
Pius IV during the 16th century, as well as by Clemens
XII and Benedict XIV during the 18th century. Over the
years the museum was constantly enriched by new donations,
acquisitions and archaeological finds, while a consistent
amount of new material reached the museums following
the urbanistic works carried out after 1870, when Rome
became the capital of Italy. The Museums are housed
in two separate palaces, facing each other on the Piazza
del Campidoglio: Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazzo
Nuovo. The first was built in 1560, but only after one
century, the Palazzo Nuovo was finished by Girolamo
Rinaldi. With the Palazzo Senatorio, they form the architectural
composition of Piazza del Campidoglio, with its distinctive
trapezoid shape, originally designed by Michelangelo.
Since its foundation, the museum has exclusively been
devoted to ancient statuary. The famous equestrian statue
of Marcus Aurelius, a bronze original dating back to
175 AD, has recently been relocated inside the museums
in order to preserve it from pollution , the one outside,
is in fact a copy. One of the most famous pieces on
display is the Galata Morente (the Dying Gaul), copy
of an original bronze statue donated to the temple of
Athena by Attalus I after his victory on the Gauls.
Also remarkable are the Capitoline Venus, and the Wounded
Amazon, from an original by Phydias dating back to the
5th century BC. The museum also houses a collection
of busts portraying the Roman emperors from Augustus
to Constantine, and some empresses while the Hall of
the Philosophers exhibits a number of portraits of famous
Greek men as Homer, Socrates, Demosthenes, Epicurus.
The two Centaurs and a Satyr, coloured statues from
Villa Adriana, as well as the famous Mosaic of the Doves
(picturing two doves watering from a vase) are also
particularly remarkable.
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