The Rotunda Hall. Pio-Clementino

Описание: The Rotunda Hall (Sala Rotonda in Italian) was constructed by Michelangelo Simonetti between 1780 and 1782, embodying the ideals of 18th-century Neoclassicism.

At the center of the hall stands an enormous monolithic porphyry basin (measuring 13 meters in circumference), originally from the Golden House of Emperor Nero. Within the niches around the hall are 18 statues and busts of Roman and Greek gods and heroes, including:

A statue of Antinous, the beloved companion (and lover) of Emperor Hadrian, depicted as the god Dionysus-Osiris.

A portrait of Emperor Hadrian portrayed as Dionysus.

A gilded bronze statue of Hercules (2nd century AD, discovered near the Theatre of Pompey) — the only surviving gilded bronze statue from antiquity.

A colossal head of Jupiter from Otricoli (4th century AD).

Hera Barberini — a Roman marble copy of a Greek original (2nd century AD).

A white marble statue of Emperor Claudius in the guise of Jupiter, crowned with an oak-leaf wreath.

The floor is adorned with a Roman mosaic (3rd century AD) from the baths of Otricoli (in Umbria), depicting a vivid battle between Greeks, centaurs, tritons, and nereids.

To be continued...