19. Dominque Vivant-Denon, The Colossi of Memnon on the plains
near Thebes, from Voyage dans la Basse et la. Haute Égypte,
(Paris 1802)
Editor's Notes
La nascita dei Musei Capitolini viene fatta risalire al 1471, quando il papa Sisto IV donò al popolo romano un gruppo di statue bronzee di grande valore simbolico.
Il papa Sisto IV donando solennemente al Popolo Romano nel 1471 alcune antiche statue in bronzo già conservate al Laterano (la Lupa, lo Spinario, il Camillo e la testa colossale di Costantino, con il globo e la mano) costituì il primo nucleo dei Musei Capitolini. La restituzione alla città delle vestigia della sua passata grandezza acquistava un più alto valore simbolico per la loro collocazione sul Campidoglio, centro della vita religiosa della Roma antica e sede delle magistrature civili cittadine a partire dal medioevo, dopo un lungo periodo di abbandono.
Le sculture furono in un primo tempo sistemate sulla facciata esterna e nel cortile del Palazzo dei Conservatori ed in breve il nucleo originario fu arricchito da successive acquisizioni di reperti provenienti dagli scavi urbani e strettamente collegati con la storia della Roma antica.
Alla metà del XVI secolo erano state collocate in Campidoglio, significative opere di scultura (tra le altre la statua di Ercole in bronzo dorato dal Foro Boario, i frammenti marmorei dell'acrolito di Costantino dalla Basilica di Massenzio, i tre pannelli a rilievo con le imprese di Marco Aurelio, il cd. Bruto Capitolino) ed importanti iscrizioni (tra cui i Fasti Capitolini, rinvenuti nel Foro Romano).
Le due colossali statue del Tevere e del Nilo, attualmente all'esterno del Palazzo Senatorio, furono trasferite negli stessi anni dal Quirinale, mentre la statua equestre di Marco Aurelio fu portata dal Laterano nel 1538 per volere del papa Paolo III.
Montagu House, around 1714
Opening in 2000, by Norman Foster
1778, by Michael Angelo Rooker
The first building on the site, begun c. 1190 by Philip- Augustus as a fortress and arsenal, held the royal treasures of jewels, armour, illuminated manuscripts, etc. It was enlarged and beautified by Charles V (reigned 1364- 80), and his successor Charles VI used it as a residence for visiting royalty. Francis I began to demolish it in the 1520s and in 1546 commissioned the architect Pierre Lescot to build a new palace of four wings around a square court, roughly of the same size as the old castle and on the same site. Only the west and half of the south wings were completed by Lescot, but his work forms the heart of the present vast structure, and his elegant and sophisticated classical style set the tone for all the future additions, which were made by virtually every French monarch up to Napoleon III. Under Louis XIV the royal collection increased from some 200 pictures to over 2,000. In support of the policy for state control of the arts and taste, some of the king's pictures were opened to public view in the Louvre from 1681 and the exhibitions of the new Académie were held there from 1673. The court had moved into the Louvre in 1652, but it transferred to Versailles in 1678. 84. Under Louis XVI the conversion of the Grande Galerie into a museum was begun and as a result of the democratic fervour incidental to the Revolution the Louvre was opened as the first national public gallery in 1793 (though as a public gallery it was preceded by others, including the Ashmolean in Oxford and the Vatican). Napoleon renamed the Louvre the Musée Napoléon in 1803 and exhibited there the works of art he had gathered from conquered territories.
late 18th centuryPhilibert-Louis Debucourt
Paris, Musée du Louvre
Detail of the Wedding Procession of Napoleon and Marie-Louise of Austria through the Grande Galerie, Louvre (1810) by Benjamin Zix. 172 x 24 cm; Pen, brown ink and brown wash; Musée du Louvre, Paris