Musei Capitolini

where: Piazza del Campidoglio
getting there: bus to Piazza Venezia, short walk to the Capitoline Hill
open: 9:30- 19:30 daily, closed Christmas Day
cost: €11.50
information: free cloakroom. Audio-guides available €6

Surrounding Michelangelo's square on the Campidoglio are the buildings that house the Capitoline Museums.

The origin of the museum dates back to the 15th century when Pope Sixtus IV donated to the people of Rome the bronze Wolf, Head of Constantine, and the Boy with Thorn. 

In 1734 Pope Clement XII opened the museum to the public for the first time. Then in 1750 Pope Benedetto XIV opened the Capitoline Pinacoteca, one of the earliest public picture galleries, with the collections from the Sacchetti and Pio di Savola families.

The two buildings are connected by a tunnel directly underneath the piazza.

Many of the rooms in the museum are beautifully frescoed, including the large room, the Hall of the Horatii and Curiatti, painted by Giuseppe Cesari (Cavaliere d'Arpino) depicting the ancient history of Rome, completed in 1640.

Giuseppe Cesari 

The museum's collection includes ancient Roman, Egyptian and Etruscan sculptures, artifacts, jewels, coins, mosaics and tapestries.

The Pinacoteca (picture gallery) is on the second floor. The huge collection dates from the 15th to 17th centuries and include Caravaggio's Saint John the Baptist and the Portrait of Urban VIII by Pietro da Cortona.

Pompeo Batoni

Carlo Maratta

Giullaume Courtois

Caravaggio

Caravaggio

Guercino

Giovanni Baglione

Guercino

Artists in the Capitoline Pinacoteca

Caravaggio

Titian

Tintoretto

Giovanni Lanfranco

Cavaliere d'Arpino

Annibale Carracci

Lorenzo Lotto

Dosso Dossi

Pietro da Cortona

Guido Reni

Guercino