For my archaeology class today, my class visited the Capitoline Museum (located on the Capitoline Hill in Campidoglio). This is by far my favourite class... I basically get to walk around a museum or archaeology site for 3 hours while my teacher (an archaeologist) explains the who-what-when-where-why-how of every important piece in the museum. Since I am obsessed with Ancient Rome I wrote all the important aspects down, so I'll share some of what I learned...
First some basic history. Rome was founded around 753 B.C. The famous myth goes as follows: Romulus and Remus (twin descendents of Aneas from Troy) were put into a basket and cast into a river (just like Moses from the Bible) by a rival in fear that they would grow to challenge his rule. They were found by a she-wolf who nurtured them until they were discovered by a shephard who raised them. They took revenge on their rival and started to build the walls of their new cities. However a feud broke out between the two so Romulus ended up killing Remus, hence why the city was named Rome. The twins suckling the she-wolf is the symbol of Rome, and I see it almost everywhere I go in the city (on garbage cans, etc.). However, this didn't become the symbol of Rome until around the 15th century. Before the Romans, Villanovans (early Etruscans) and Etruscans lived on the Palatine Hill where Rome was to later be founded. The symbol of the Etruscans was the wolf, and the Etruscans were forced to assimilate once the Romans conquered them. The Etruscans made a bronze statue of a she-wolf which was preserved, and in the 15th century the twins were cast and added to the statue and shown suckling on the wolf's teets, hence-forth becoming the symbol of Rome.
Some more history. When Rome was first founded it was ruled by kings, until the people revolted against an unpopular king (Tarquin) and formed a Republic in 509 BC. During the Republican period Rome was ruled by two consuls who performed the original duties of the king, and were responsible to the people via the senate. Julius Caesar killed his rival consul (Pompey) and was therefore assasinated, but his nephew and adopted son Octavian (Augustus) killed his main rival Mark Antony and all the senators who were involved in Caesars assassination, leaving him with virtually no enemies and an empire all to control for himself. The Empire officially began in 27 BC when Augusts was given the titled "the revered one" and several important honors by the senate. The Empire fluorished until around the 3rd century AD when Constantine changed the official language of the Empire from Paganism to Christianity and moved the headquarters to Constantinople (present day Instanbul).
I saw mainly marble statues in the Capitolie Museum, and learned how the Roman emperors would use statues (and other pieces of art) as propaganda to meet their political desires. Julius Caesar in particular was a master at propaganda and all the succeeding emperors emulated his techniques. Togas were originally worn by Greeks and the Roman Emperors wore togas over their armor to depict philosophy (or wisdom) with military strength. Statues of emperors often depicted them in imposing stances displaying confidence. When the Romans conquered a people they would often erect statues honoring the bravery of their opponents to help them assimilate. And after major victories emperors would erect tiumphal arches or columns with reliefs depicting the story of the battle, so the citizens would constantly be aware of and appreciate the emperor's achievements. The most obvious way to tell the difference between a Roman statue and Greek statue is that Roman statues often have tree trunks shown by the legs of a statue for either support or just the fact that the Romans wanted to show a difference between their work and the Greek's. I also learned today that Doric columns represent male, Ionic female, and Corinthian nature. Laws were written/carved on stone tablets and placed outide the Curia (senate house) for all the public to see. I also saw the statue of Mars which was placed in the Temple of Mars the Avenger in the Forum of Augusts (commissioned under Augustus). Augustus did this to depict himself as the avenger for killing all the senators who were involved with Caesar's assassination. Augustus (and all the later Roman emperors) took the name of Pontifex Maximus (or High Priest) which was the highest religious position in Rome. When ultimate power was eventually transferred over to the popes, they took on the title and have kept it to this day. On one of Augustus' statues he is shown with longer hair than a normal Roman soldier to show likeness to the greatness of Alexander the great (who was also young with long hair). And Marcus Aurelius was known as the peace-keeper so he is often shown with a peaceful hand gesture (middle and ring fingers bent inward with thumb curled. As you can see virtually every roman piece of art had a purpose (usually to serve as propaganda for politcial needs). I learned a lot more about how to tell the differences between differenct sculptures, although this was the most interesting information. I will write more later. Ciao!
VILLA D'ESTE
View from central rear loggia of the Villa d'Este
Fontana della Rometta (Fountain of the Little Rome) with the city of Tivoli in distance.
More of the Fontana della Rometta.
Le Cento Fontane (The 100 fountains)
Fontana dell'Ovato (The Oval Fountain)
Stone bench and table near the Fontana dell'Ovato
Fontana dell'Organo (The Water Organ Fountain, from which music is played every few hours)
Beautiful vine-covered mosaic walkway.CAPITOLINE MUSEUM
Colossal Statue of Constantine. Emperor Constantine is known for popularizing and legalizing Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. This man is essentially the reason why Christianity is a major religion today. His eyes are unrealistic, marking the departure from realistic towards representative/symbolic art of the Christian era. His left hand is pointing upwards towards God, symbolizing his Christian faith. Most of the statue (the non-naked parts) was made of bronze, and only his head and limbs were made of marble.
Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius. This is the oldest bronze equestrian statue of a Roman emperor surviving, due to the fact that it was originally mistaken to be a statue of Constantine, and the Catholic Church wanted to melt down non-Christian bronze statues. It was originally placed outside of the museum in the Campidoglio square, but it was placed in here to protect it from pollution and humidity, and a copy is now placed outside where it originally stood.
Statue of Emperor Commodus (The evil emperor in the movie "Gladiator," and the son of Marcus Aurelius). In real life he was a bit crazy because wanted to be like Hercules and emulated him by wearing a lion's hide, carrying a club and carrying a few apples (to signify the 3 feats of Hercules). The bearded and long-haired started with emperor Hadrian who loved everything Greek and wanted to copy the look of Greek Philosophers to set himsel apart from previous emperors and be known as the "philosopher."
Drawing of what the Capitoline Hill looked like during the period of the Etruscan kings. The large temple is the Temple of Jupiter. The remains of parts of its foundation can be seen inside the Capitoline Museum.
Remains of a young Etruscan girl found on the Capitoline hill. Etruscans would bury their young in large ceramic pots with smaller ceramic pots with food inside for them to have during the afterlife. This grave dates from around the Bronze Age.
Il Spinaro (statue of a boy pulling a splinter out of his foot).
La Lupa (The She-Wolf). The she-wolf itself dates from Etruscan times. The twins (Romulus and Remus) were added during the Renaissance (around 1500), during which this statue became the new symbol of Rome. This symbol as well as S.P.Q.R. can be found branded all over Rome on trash cans, sewer gratings, etc.
Statue of the Dying Gaul. This statue depicts a Gaul defeated after battle and contemplating suicide. The Roman emperor who commissioned it used it for political purposes to show the emperor's power for defeating the Gauls but also to give them honor at the same time for their bravery, thus helping the Gauls to assimilate into the Roman Empire. It is a Roman copy of a Greek statue depicting a dying Celt.
Marte (Mars, the Roman god of war)
Hermes
Marcus Aurelius
Venere Capitoline (Venus of the Capitoline). This statues is important due to the fact that it was the first Roman statue that displayed female nudity. Before it was made, it was never considered proper in Roman art for women to be shown naked. One reason why the artist got away with it is because the godess, Venus, is shown at the instant when she comes out of the bath and is surprised so is trying to cover herself up. It is a Roman copy of a Greek original which no longer exists.
Statue of Mars (the Roman god of war). The god from which the Marrs family descends. =)
Equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, located in the center of Campidoglio. This is the copy. The original (shown a few pictures above) is located inside the Capitoline Museum.
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