Hall of Busts
Pio Clementino Museum
Vatican City
Rome Italy
2016


Gallery of Statues and the Hall of Busts
This area, which today holds many of the masterpieces of the Pio Clementino Museum, was once part of the loggia of the Palazzetto of Innocent VIII Cybo (1484-1492) in Belvedere. The walls were once covered with frescoes showing landscapes and cities and in the lunettes there were small cupids painted by Pinturicchio and his assistants which are still visible today. In the year 1771-1772 Clement XIV decided to include 1400s architecture in the museum he was setting up; the loggia was closed by walls with windows and at the end of the gallery the Hall of Busts was created. Between 1776 and 1778 Pius VI had the museum space extended towards the west entrusting the decoration of the vaulted ceiling of the new gallery to the painter Cristoforo Unterperger.



Pio Clementino Museum
The nucleus of the pontifical collections of classical sculpture dates back to the original collection of pope Julius II (1503-1513) which was housed in the Cortile delle Statue (today the Octagonal Court). During the second half of the 18th century the pontifical collections were enormously expanded both as a result of excavations being carried out in Rome and Lazio, and by donations from collectors and antiquaries. The influence of Enlightenment thinking resulted in the inauguration of a museum in the modern sense, open to the public and explicitly charged with the task of safeguarding antique works of art, and promoting the study and understanding of them. The Museum is called Pio Clementino after the two popes who oversaw its foundation, Clement XIV Ganganelli (1769-1774) and Pius VI Braschi (1775-1799). The museum fills several large exhibition halls which were obtained by adapting pre-existing rooms with new constructions both within and adjacent to the small Belvedere Palace of Innocent VIII (1484-92). Antique sculpture was brought here and ancient roman pieces have often had their missing parts completely restored. The neo-classical architecture was realised under the direction of Alessandro Dori, Michelangelo Simonetti, and Giuseppe Camporese and embellished by the work of a large number of painters and decorators.
With the Treaty of Tolentino (1797) the Papal States were forced to give up the principal masterpieces in the Museum to Napoleon and they were transported to Paris. Much later, following the defeat of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna (1815), and thanks to the diplomatic efforts of Antonio Canova, the greater part of the works were recovered.