Walks in RomeHare, Augustus J. C. (Augustus John Cuthbert)
History
Walks in Rome
Hare, Augustus J. C. (Augustus John Cuthbert)
Rome (Italy) -- Description and travel
The east side of the piazza--on the left as one stands at the head of
the steps--is the _Museo Capitolino_ (open daily from 9 to 4, for a
fee; and on Mondays and Thursdays gratis, from 2½ to 4½).
Above the fountain in the court, opposite the entrance, reclines the
colossal statue of a river-god, called Marforio, removed hither from the
end of the Via di Marforio (Forum Martis?) near the arch of Severus.
This figure, according to Roman fancy, was the friend and gossip of
Pasquin (at the Palazzo Braschi), and lively dialogues, merciless to the
follies of the government and the times, used to appear with early
morning, placarded on their respective pedestals, as passing between the
two. Thus, when Clement XI. mulcted Rome of numerous sums to send to his
native Urbino, Marforio asked, "What is Pasquino doing?" The next
morning Pasquin answered, "I am taking care of Rome, that it does not go
away to Urbino." In the desire of putting an end to such inconvenient
remarks, the government ordered the removal of one of the statues to the
Capitol, and, since Marforio has been shut up, Pasquino has lost his
spirits.
From the corridor on the ground floor open several rooms devoted to
ancient inscriptions and sarcophagi with bas-reliefs. The first room on
the left has some bronzes--in the centre a mutilated horse, found, 1849,
in the Trastevere.
"Calamis, venu un peu avant Phidias, n'eut point de rival pour les
chevaux. Calamis, qui fut fondeur en bronze, serait-il l'auteur du
cheval de bronze du Capitole, qui, en effet, semble plutôt un peu
antérieur que postérieur à Phidias?"--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii.
234.
At the foot of the staircase is a colossal statue of the Emperor
Hadrian, found on the Cœlian.
The _Staircase_ is lined with the fragments of the _Pianta Capitolina_,
a series of marble slabs of imperial date (found in the sixteenth
century under SS. Cosmo and Damian), inscribed with ground plans of
Rome, and exceedingly important from the light they throw upon the
ancient topography of the city.
The upper _Corridor_ is lined with statues and busts. Here and elsewhere
we will only notice those especially remarkable for beauty or historic
interest.[40]
L. 12. Satyr playing on a flute.
R. 13. Cupid bending his bow.
R. 20. Old woman intoxicated.
"Tout le monde a remarqué dans le musée du Capitole une vieille
femme serrant des deux mains une bouteille, la bouche entr'ouverte,
les yeux mourants tournés vers le ciel, comme si, dans la
jubilation de l'ivresse, elle savourait le vin qu'elle vient de
boire. Comment ne pas voir dans cette caricature en marbre une
reproduction de _la Vielle Femme ivre_ de Myron, qui passait pour
une des curiosités de Smyrne."--_Ampère, Hist. Rom._ iii. 272.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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