Hall of the Muses
Pio Clementino Museum
Vatican City
Rome Italy
2016


Hall of the Muses
This Hall, opened to the public in 1784, was intended for the display of a series of sculptures which had been found in the so-called Villa of Cassius near Tivoli, and which included many statues of the Muses, an Apollo as holding the lyre, an Athena, herms and portraits of famous Greek men, all dating from the time of the Emperor Hadrian.
The statues were greatly modified by 18th century restorers: some of them did not originally depict muses and were modified in order to complete the full number of nine personifications of the arts. The frescoes by Tommaso Conca on the vaulted ceiling represent Apollo and the Muses as the inspirers of the arts. In the 1800s the Pompeian red paint was used to cover landscapes which had previously provided backgrounds for the various statues.


The picture shows the frescoes on the ceiling vault in the Sala delle Muse in the Museo Pio-Clementino in the Vatican. They represent Apollo scenes and ancient Greek poets, in the centre panel The Contest between Apollo and Marsyas.

In 1770, the museum for the Vatican's antiquities was founded under Pope Clement XIV. In it is the last great hall painted with an elaborate fresco program in Rome in the eighteenth century. The ceiling of the Sala delle Muse, painted by Tommaso Conca between 1782 and 1787, alludes to the statues installed in this space, among them, in addition to the Apollo with Muses discovered in Tivoli in 1774, sculptures of philosophers and poets.



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.