Hall of the Emperors

The hall contains several portraits of the emperors and empresses of the Imperial Age. Among them is a bust of the brutal ruler Caracalla from the 3rd-century AD.

Dying Gaul

The collection’s most renowned piece conveys great pathos. It is probably a 1st-century AD Roman copy of a Hellenistic bronze from the 3rd century BC.

Capitoline Venus

The shimmering goddess of love gets a room of her own. This fine 1st-century BC copy of a Praxiteles’ Aphrodite from the 4th century BC shows her risen voluptuously from her bath, attempting to cover herself, as if reacting to someone’s arrival.

Mosaic of the Doves

Originally the centre-piece of a floor decoration in Hadrian’s Villa, this jewel-like composition uses tiny marble and glass chips (tesserae) to achieve a sense of texture and volume.

Marforio

This hirsute reclining giant was originally a river god, and is believed to come from the Forum of Augustus. A Renaissance sculptor added the attributes of the god Ocean and placed him here, as overseer of this courtyard fountain.

Resting Satyr

Used to adorn an ancient grove or fountain, this young mythological creature is a copy of a 4th-century BC original by Praxiteles. His pointed ears, panther-skin cape and flute are attributes of the nature-god Pan. The statue inspired Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Marble Faun (see Nathaniel Hawthorne).

Hall of the Philosophers

Roman copies of idealized Greek portrait busts of the greatest Hellenic poets and thinkers fill this room, including the blind epic poet Homer.

Cupid and Psyche

The god of love embracing the personification of the soul, the two lovers are eternally united. This Roman copy of a Hellenistic original has inspired many sentimental variations.

Mosaic of the Masks

This floor decoration of two Greek theatre masks is probably from the 2nd-century AD. The use of perspective, light and shadow is highly skilled, employing small squares of coloured marble to create dramatic effects.

Drunken Old Woman

This copy of a Hellenistic original from the 3rd-century BC is from a series of sculptures depicting the wages of vice.

Colossal Statue of Constantine Fragments

Found in the ruins of the Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine, these surreal outsized body parts (c.AD 313–24) formed the unclothed segments of an overwhelming seated effigy of the first Christian emperor, recognizable by his protuberant eyes. The rest of the sculpture was made of carved wood dressed in sheets of bronze.

Lo Spinario

One of the precious bronzes that comprised Sixtus IV’s donation to the people of Rome, this charming sculpture dates from the 1st century BC. Hellenistic in its everyday subject matter, the head recalls more archaic models. The boy’s unusual and graceful pose inspired many works during the Renaissance.

Caravaggio’s St John the Baptist

Shocking in its sensuality, the boy’s erotic pose, his arm around the ram, created an iconographic revolution when it was unveiled around 1600. Masterful chiaroscuro brought the holy image even more down to earth.

Bronze She-Wolf

The most ancient symbol of Rome, from the 5th century BC, of Etruscan or Greek workmanship. The she-wolf stands guard, at once a protectress and a nurturer, as the twins Romulus and Remus feed on her milk. This was also part of the 1471 donation of Pope Sixtus IV.

Guercino’s Burial of St Petronilla

The influence of Caravaggio is clearly evident in this huge altarpiece, executed for St Peter’s Basilica between 1621 and 1623. Powerful effects of light and dark combined with pronounced musculature and individuality of the figures bring the work directly into the viewer’s physical world.

Caravaggio’s Gypsy Fortune-Teller

An earlier work by Caravaggio, but just as revolutionary as his St John the Baptist. This subject is taken from everyday street life in late 16th-century Rome, which the painter knew intimately. Notice that the gypsy is slyly slipping the ring from the unsuspecting young dandy’s finger.

Bust of L. Junius Brutus

Dating from between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, this bronze bust is possibly the rarest object in the museum. Its identification as the first Roman consul is uncertain, because it also resembles Greek models of poets and philosophers. Its intense, inlaid glass eyes make it one of the most gripping portraits.

Pietro da Cortona’s Rape of the Sabines

Baroque painting is said to have begun with this work (c.1630), where symmetry is abandoned and all is twisting, dynamic movement. It depicts an early episode in Roman history: the new city had been founded but the population lacked women, so they stole those of the neighbouring Sabine tribe (see Rape of the Sabine Women).

Bust of Commodus as Hercules

The 2nd-century emperor, who loved to fight wild animals in the Colosseum, had himself represented as the demigod Hercules, to promote his own divinity. The club in his right hand, the lion’s mantle and the apples of the Hesperides in his left hand are all symbols of Hercules’ labours.

Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius

A copy of this 2nd-century AD bronze masterpiece stands in the centre of the Capitoline star; the original is displayed on the first floor of the Palazzo dei Conservatori.