4: caravaggio and capitoline

329 words, 2 minutes read time.

Starting with the HUGE, I definitely found the many statues and replicas of Marcus Aurelius to be in a vast and HUGE amount. For example, I really liked the statue of Marcus Aurelius on a horse in the conservatory. It was interesting to see how they rode with no stirrups, which is quite dangerous imo. And also how there were two bows on his shoes to show his high status. In Claridge, page 266, it talks about Marcus Aurelius and this specific equestrian statue, which even miraculously survived a bomb attack in 1979. However, originally “under the raised right hoof of the horse there was once a small figure of a kneeling barbarian” (pg. 266). That would’ve been a cool thing to see, and it makes me wonder how many other statues we saw that also had additions that are now gone.

For average, I really like the small statue of a boy taking a thorn out of his foot. The professor talked about how the Romans liked voyeurism and depicting that in their statues. I feel like the statue should be placed in a garden to really complete that atmosphere. And for small, I saw more jewelry in the Capitoline museum that were pretty tiny but beautiful. This time I learned my lesson from not taking pictures of the jewelry at the Villa Giulia and now I have included them below. The jewelry was also made of thin gold metal and they used colorful stones like amethyst.

Nothing was messy and confusing today, it was all clean. What reminded me of NYC was actually something I accidentally stumbled upon today. I walked into Church of San Luigi dei Francesi and saw Caravaggio’s “Calling of St. Matthew.” This was a painting I extensively learned about in NYC in my art history class from high school, and it is one of my favorites, so it was pretty great that I accidentally saw it today.

3 responses to “4: caravaggio and capitoline”

rachel19281

June 5, 2025

Seeing the jewelry makes me think about how life was. I like to imagine a woman getting ready for an event, putting on her jewelry and going out, not much different from us. With lots of it I also feel like I would love to wear it today and it gives me a connection to the past.

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mazlinwhite43

June 5, 2025

I know, how magical to walk through such a beautiful church, then bam!, like an old friend, a painting you’ve known for so long – that just happens to be more beautiful in person. I feel silly feeling so lucky over it, as it’s known to be housed there, but it feels so charmed and serendipidious that we unknowingly stumbled onto it. I agree about housing the thorn picker in the garden. At the Rodin museum in Paris, a lot of his sculptures are placed in the gardens and it totally completes the ambiance of reflection. So you’re totally onto something there.

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moussatonicisse

June 10, 2025

Great post!

Marcus Aurelius! He has been disgustingly misinterpreted and commodified for monetary gain. I was overwhelmed by the amount of statues that were dedicated to him. They show him in such a preversely grandiose way. This is a very big contrast from his Meditations. In his writings he hated the idea of idolization, epistemic preservation for an individual, and memorialization. He believed that all this was for naught. We all die and are but a spec in time. He both idolized but also hated and rejected the likes of Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Alexander the Great. He also was extremely focused on the telos of humanity. He claims that the telos of everyone should be the other person. Essentially the goal of ethics should be focused on the collective, a common good.

One of the most fascinating things about Marcus Aurelius was that he never wanted to be emperor and even when he was, he was known as one of the kindest ones. He wanted to fully focus on Stoicism and philosophy but he had an obligation to his city. There is something sad about it because throughout his Meditations he reminds himself that he may very well hate his position but he must keep going. This is something uniquely Stoic.

It is safe to say that he would have hated–whether internally or publicly is up for debate–these statues.

Great read and great writer keep it up. And sorry for nerding out!

–Moussa Toni Cisse

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