Courtyard of Belvedere

The octagonal Courtyard of Belvedere was the center of the villa, built by Bramante for Pope Innocent VIII at the end of the fifteenth century. In one corner is the Group of Laocoon; it was found in the Baths of Titus, near the Colosseum in the XVI century. The sculpture represents the Trojan priest, punished by the gods, for the warning he gave his townsmen about the horse of Troy. The legend says that two serpents came from the sea and killed Laocoon; and his two children. This is a remarkable work by Agesandros and his sons, Athenodoros and Polidoros of Rhodes, from the first century B.C. Rhodes was, with Alexandria in Egypt and Ephesus in Turkey, one of the three great centers of art around the Mediterranean during the first century B.C. The art of this period is extremely realistic and the Laocoon; group is most representative of it, with the desperate struggle of the priest, in the moment of agony, his muscles exaggerately tense, his sons, one already dying, the other turning his head hopelessly towards his father. Nearby is a plaster copy of the Laocoon, the way you remember it from old pictures, before the first restoration a few years ago was removed, because the right arm of Laocoon, was found later proving the restoration to be incorrect. In another corner is the Apollo Belvedere, a statue believed to be a copy from a bronze masterpiece by the Greek sculptor Leochares of the IV century B.C. The figure of the god is tall, athletic and slender; he steps forward to see if the arrow he has just thrown has met its mark. Apollo was also the god defender and bringer of peace. This statue was found at Grottaferrata in the fifteenth century.

From the courtyard of Belvedere to the Stanzas

We are going to omit entirely the other sculpture galleries, and, returning the same way we came, we reach the Sala della Biga, (the room of the Chariot), so called from a chariot with two horses, a marble work probably of the II century A.D., reconstructed from ancient fragments. In the same room are copies of Greek statues, the Discus Thrower (Discobulus), by Myron, V century B.C. The original was in bronze and does not exist any more; the best copy we have in Rome is the Lancellotti copy, in the Thermae Museum. We cross the Gallery of the Candelabra, where you find some more interesting copies of Greek originals, mainly from the Hellenistic period, several urns and coffins from old Roman graves and the beautiful candelabra.

Then we pass into the Gallery of the Tapestries which houses a fine collection of original Gobelines, woven in Brussels in the XVI century. The cartoons were drawn by the disciples of Raphael and represent scenes from the life of Christ. On the opposite wall are the tapestries woven in Rome in the XVII century, depicting events from the life of Pope Urban VIII.

The Gallery of the Geographical Maps was decorated by A. Danti in 1581 showing the various districts of Italy and detailed plans and views of Italian cities. The ceiling is by Muziano and his disciples, at the end of the XVI century. We won't spend much time in a couple of rooms containing modern paintings of the XIX century.

In the Room of the Immaculate Conception are the frescoes by Podesti, XIX century, commemorating the promulgation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX in 1854. There are many real portraits of the clergy.

We enter the Stanze by Raphael.

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