Rome: Vatican Museum - Statues Part 3

Now, let's move on to some of the better statues in the collection.

 A view from the museum to the surrounding city.

 Ceiling in one of the rooms.
.

 When we approached this statue, I said it looked like it had been altered: the helmet did not look as if it should be a part of the original artist's intent. Sure enough when we read the plaque, the statue had been modified and the helmet added

 Love this room and it's furnishings.

 The metal in this floor really made it shine, literally. If I had an appropriate foyer, I would copy this design.

 Beautiful ceiling work.

 This statue is attributed to the Greek sculptor Apollonios in the 1st century BC. It is absolutely fabulous, perhaps the best statue in the collection. If you'll remember in my Colosseum Views post, Hadrian disliked Apollonios' comments about Hadrian's temple and banished him.

 Another fabulous room with great statues. Pay particular attention to what appears to be a bronze statue on the right. Notice how the head appears to be way too wide? I think this is because the artist never intended for the statue to be viewed from this angle. He likely planned for viewing from almost directly beneath the statue.

 The ceiling in that room. Spectacular!

 A little closer view of the statue. Head still appears way too wide.

 Unfortunately I did not snap a photo of the tag for this absolutely enormous bowl/dish/fountain, but I am extremely curious about it now.

 I believe this is the Statue of Ceres, though I could be wrong.

 Many of the tags said that the heads of the statues had been replace/reworked in antiquity as times change. It appears to me to be the case with this one, too.

Bust of the emporer Hadrian.

 Now I'm guessing THIS is the angle the artist intended for viewing the statue! The head no longer appears disproportionally wide. This is the Statue of Hercules. It was found near Campo dei Fiori (see my Rome at Night post) under a slab of travertine. The inscription stated that the statue had been struck by lightning and buried immediately afterwards with a sacrificial lamb, as was Roman custom since they saw the lightning strike as a sign from the gods. Probably a part of the complex where the Theater of Pompey stood, it is believed to be from the end of the 1st century AD.

 Statue of the emporer Galba. The head has very obviously been redone.

 Emporer Claudius. It is believed that this was originally a portrait of emporer Caligula (37-41 AD), but was reworked once he fell from power. They state that the large neck size compared to the head reflects the removal of marble from the head to rework the face.

 It is about at this point where the museum REALLY started to get busy. The crowds really picked up, tour groups where one after another and could not be avoided.