Considered
to be one of the oldest museums in the
world, the Musei Capitolini was founded
in 1471 when Pope Sisto IV donated a number
of bronze statues to the City of Rome.
It was enriched by subsequent Popes and
opened to the public by Pope Clement XII
in 1734. Starting from that first donation
the Capitolini museums have contained
only local works. All of the things in
the two buildings on the site come from
Rome and the surrounding area, and are
part of the ancient history of the city.
The museum’s collection was constantly
added to by purchases, donations and findings.
A constant procession of material began
to appear after 1870. Many of the items
defined not only the development of some
of the facets of the city that is Rome,
but helped to fingerprint the very founding
of Western and European culture.
The
Capitolini Museums are situated in two
buildings placed one in front of the other
on either side of the piazza del Campidoglio:
the Palazzo dei Conservatori, to the right
and the Palazzo Nuovo, to the left. The
Palazzo dei Conservatori was built in
1568, with the Palazzo Nuovo finished
almost a century later. All buildings
that make up the Musei Capitolini contain
priceless statues, paintings, and other
artefacts whose histories stretch back
hundreds, even thousands of years. The
museum is constantly being enlarged to
handle new acquisitions, as well as to
receive tens of thousands of visitors
that arrive every year from all over the
world.
|
|
