Lions and Griffins and David…oh my!

One of the things I enjoy about Rome's Capitoline Museums is that they offer a very eclectic blend of different forms of art, from different ages, as well as Roman history and archaeology.

I popped in on Saturday for a few hours -- it is only a 10-minute walk from my house if I cut through Trajan's Forum.

As it happened, the Museums were hosting a small Michelangelo exhibition that included a decent copy of his famous and spectacular statue of David, generally associated with the beautiful Republic of Florence.

So, in keeping with the vivid mix of art to be found in the Capitoline Museums, here are a few shots from my visit there.

At the top is, of course, the fake David in the courtyard of the museum with the giant head of a felled statue of Constantine in the background.

I must always visit Marcus Aurelius on his bronze horse, the original statue protected indoors with a copy placed outside in the Campidoglio (a piazza designed, of course, by Michelangelo).

Nearby, a small funerary marker with some dogs that I like very much:

A random shot of the Republican Forum.

Inside the Palazzo Nuovo, I find my favourite mythical creatures including a satyr and a griffin.

And a real, marble lion!

On the second floor of the Palazzo Nuovo, I was also able to get a decent shot of the beautiful mosaics over a side door of the splendid Santa Maria in Ara Coeli church, also on the capital hill.