Rome

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Capitoline Museums

Flanking Michelangelo’s piazza del Campidoglio, the Capitoline Museums (Musei capitolini) are the oldest museums in the world, opened to the public in 1734, though the collection was begun in 1471 by Pope Sixtus IV. His successors continued to add ancient sculptures and, later, paintings.

Entry is through the Palazzo dei Conservatori (to the right at the top of the steps). The courtyard contains some parts of a colossal statue of Constantine that originally stood in the Basilica of Maxentius in the Roman Forum. Inside, ancient works – which include Rome’s famous symbol, the much-reproduced fourth-century BC Etruscan she-wolf and suckling twins (added in the Renaissance) – are mixed with statues by the baroque genius Gianlorenzo Bernini.

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