Day 5, Rome [Capitolini Museum]– September 22, 2017

Although this is the first of two free days in Rome, we had a full day with our visit to the Capitolini Museum, 

which houses sculptures from antiquity, famous paintings, and archeological finds from Rome in two buildings – Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazzo Nuovo.  These two buildings are linked by an underground tunnel which houses the Epigraphic Gallery and leads into the Tabularium.  Palazzo dei Conservatori is the larger of the two buildings and the one in which we spent the most time.  The Palazzo Nuovo houses the collections of ancient sculptures of Roman nobility. 

Eleven of us made the trip together.  What a difference in terms of crowds.  There were very few people encountered throughout the museum and with our tablet audio/visual guides, we had a most enjoyable day in this outstanding museum.  We had lunch at mid-day in the dining area adjacent to the terrace, which gave excellent views of Rome.   

The pictures below give you an idea of the holdings we saw.

Remnants of colossal Constantine Statue

Spinaro – boy removing thorn from foot

The She Wolf

Bronze Geese (actually ducks)

Chariot

Bronze Horse

Marcus Aurelius Equestrian Statue

Bronze Head of Constantine

 .

Gilded Hercules

Dying Gaul

Capitoline Venus

The Hunter

The Faun

We finished at 3:30 pm and caught the bus back to the convent for our traditional Happy Hour (6:00 pm) 

and dinner with Ken, Wayne, Joe, and Sondra at a neighborhood restaurant.  They had excellent veal scaloppini.  Tomorrow is our last day in Rome and we plan to visit the Priscilla Catacombs with several others in the morning.