Minerva Goddess Roma
Tiberinus God of the River Tiber
Piazza del Campidoglio
Rome Italy
2016

Michelangelo planned to place a large statue of Jupiter between the statues of the two rivers; eventually a standing statue of Minerva was placed in the niche, but when a fountain was built at the end of the XVIth century, it was replaced by a smaller seated statue of Minerva which was modified in order to portray a personification of Rome.

At the time the flow of water from Rome’s aqueducts did not reach the Capitoline Hill yet and it was not until 1588 that Matteo Bartolani won a competition that allowed him to change the construction into a fountain.

At the time the structure was known as “Senate Steps” or “Pallas Kidnapped”. Initially there was a huge statue of Minerva in the central niche, which was replaced with the present one of the Goddess Roma.

The two statues on either side of the niche represent the rivers Nile and Tigris, which were taken from the Baths of Constantine on the Quirinal Hill. The tiger representing the Tigris was later changed into the wolf with Romulus and Remus symbolizing Rome’s own river Tiber.

The colossal statue of Minerva itself can now be admired in the courtyard of the Capitoline Museums.

https://www.walksinrome.com/blog/statue-of-the-river-god-tiberinus-piazza-del-campidoglio-rome

The beautiful statue of Tiberinus, god of the river Tiber, which stands in Piazza del Campidoglio, started off life as a personification of an entirely different river god, that of the Tigris. It, like its neighbour, the god of the river Nile, once belonged to the Baths of Constantine, which were situated on the Quirinal Hill.

​Each river god holds a cornucopia, a horn of plenty, a reference to the wealth that water brings. The river Nile is identified by the sphinx, on which it rests its left arm, while the river Tigris originally rested his right arm on a tiger. The tiger has morphed into what is supposed to be a wolf, and the twins Romulus and Remus have been added in a bid to turn the statue into Tiberinus.

According to Vergil's Aeneid, Tiberinus was the river god who found the twins Romulus and Remus and gave them to the Lupa (the she-wolf who had just lost her own cubs) to suckle. He later rescued and married Rhea Silvia, the mother of the twins and a Vestal Virgin, who had been sentenced to death.

https://www.rome.net/piazza-campidoglio

The Piazza del Campidoglio was laid down on the summit of the Capitoline Hill, the most important of Rome’s seven hills. It is the first modern square to be designed in Rome.

The piazza came about because Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, organized a visit to Rome in 1536. Pope Paul III was so dismayed by the state of the sodden Capitoline Hill that he commissioned Michelangelo to design a square.
Michelangelo wanted the square to face St Peter’s Basilica, the political centre of Rome, instead of the Roman Forum. He also proposed the construction of another palace, Palazzo Nuovo, which would face Palazzo dei Conservatori. This palace, in its turn, would have a new façade. The Palazzo Senatorio’s front would also be redesigned so that all the buildings and the square would work harmoniously.

An imposing bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius was erected in the centre of the square. It is currently housed in the Palazzo dei Conservatori and in the square stands a replica of the Roman Emperor instead.
The execution of the plans took so long that Michelangelo didn’t live to see his work completed. Nevertheless, his designs were followed meticulously and finished several centuries later.

The Piazza del Campidoglio is one of the most beautiful squares in Rome, attracting millions of visitors every year. Its popularity is also due to its proximity to the Capitoline Museums and the legendary sculpture of the Capitoline Wolf, situated between the Palazzo Senatorio and Palazzo Nuovo.

The bronze she-wolf on top of the column is a replica. The original is housed in the Capitoline Museums.