1.
Good Shepherd
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The Good Shepherd is an image used in the pericope of John 10, 1-21, in which Jesus Christ is depicted as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. Similar imagery is used in Psalm 23, in the Gospel of John, Jesus states I am the good shepherd in two verses, John 10,11 and 10,14. From John 10, 11-18, I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hand, and not a shepherd, who doesnt own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep. The wolf snatches the sheep, and scatters them, the hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesnt care for the sheep. I know my own, and Im known by my own, even as the Father knows me, I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold, I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd, therefore the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it away from me, but I lay it down by myself, I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. I received this commandment from my Father and this passage is one of several sections of Johns Gospel which generate division among the Jews, There was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings. Many of them said, He has a demon and is mad, why do you listen to Him. Others said, These are not the words of one who has a demon, several authors such as Barbara Reid, Arland Hultgren or Donald Griggs comment that parables are noticeably absent from the Gospel of John. These sources all suggest that the passage is described as a metaphor than a parable. The image of the Good Shepherd is the most common of the representations of Christ found in Early Christian art in the Catacombs of Rome. The image continued to be used in the centuries after Christianity was legalized in 313, images of the Good Shepherd often include a sheep on his shoulders, as in the Lukan version of the Parable of the Lost Sheep. Online IMAGE Collection of the Good Shepherd
2.
Vatican Museums
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The Vatican Museums are the museums of the Vatican City and are located within the citys boundaries. The museums contain roughly 70,000 works, of which 20,000 are on display, and currently employ 640 people who work in 40 different administrative, scholarly, Pope Julius II founded the museums in the early 16th century. The Sistine Chapel, with its ceiling decorated by Michelangelo and the Stanze di Raffaello decorated by Raphael, are on the route through the Vatican Museums. In 2013, they were visited by 6 million people, which combined makes it the 6th most visited art museum in the world, there are 54 galleries, or sale, in total, with the Sistine Chapel, notably, being the very last sala within the Museum. It is one of the largest museums in the world, in 2017, the Museums official website and social media presence was completely redone, in accord with current standards and appearances for modern websites. Pope Julius II sent Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo Buonarroti, who were working at the Vatican, on their recommendation, the pope immediately purchased the sculpture from the vineyard owner. The pope put the sculpture of Laocoön and his sons on public display at the Vatican exactly one month after its discovery, the Museum Christianum was founded by Benedict XIV, and some of the Vatican collections formed the Lateran Museum, which Pius IX founded by decree in 1854. The Museums celebrated their 500th anniversary in October 2006 by permanently opening the excavations of a Vatican Hill necropolis to the public, on 1 January 2017 Barbara Jatta became the Director of the Vatican Museums, replacing Antonio Paolucci who had been director since 2007. The art gallery was housed in the Borgia Apartment until Pope Pius XI ordered construction of a proper building, the new building, designed by Luca Beltrami, was inaugurated on 27 October 1932. The museum has paintings including, Giottos Stefaneschi Triptych Olivuccio di Ciccarello, Opere di Misericordia Raphaels Madonna of Foligno, Oddi Altarpiece, the group of museums includes several sculpture museums surrounding the Cortile del Belvedere. The museum takes its name from two popes, Clement XIV and Pius VI, the pope who brought the museum to completion, Clement XIV came up with the idea of creating a new museum in Innocent VIIIs Belvedere palace and started the refurbishment work. Pope Clement XIV founded the Pio-Clementino museum in 1771, and originally it contained the Renaissance, the museum and collection were enlarged by Clements successor Pius VI. Today, the museum works of Greek and Roman sculpture. Some notable galleries are, Greek Cross Gallery, with the porphyri sarcophagi of Constance and Saint Helen, daughter and mother of Constantine the Great. Sala Rotonda, shaped like a miniature Pantheon, the room has impressive ancient mosaics on the floors, Gallery of the Statues, as its name implies, holds various important statues, including Sleeping Ariadne and the bust of Menander. It also contains the Barberini Candelabra, Gallery of the Busts, Many ancient busts are displayed. Cabinet of the Masks, The name comes from the mosaic on the floor of the gallery, found in Villa Adriana, along the walls, several famous statues are shown including the Three Graces. One wove the thread of life, second nurtured it, third cut it. The center piece is Belvedere Torso, revered by Michelangelo and other Renaissance men, sala degli Animali, So named because of the many ancient statues of animals
3.
Pope Pius IX
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Pope Pius IX, born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, reigned as Pope from 16 June 1846 to his death in 1878. He was the elected pope in the history of the Catholic Church. During his pontificate Pius IX convened the First Vatican Council, which decreed papal infallibility and he was also the last pope to rule as the Sovereign of the Papal States, which fell completely to the Italian Army in 1870 and were incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy. After this, he was referred to—chiefly by himself—as the Prisoner of the Vatican, after his death in 1878, his canonization process was opened on 11 February 1907 by Pope Pius X and it drew considerable controversy over the years. It was closed on several occasions during the pontificates of Pope Benedict XV, Pope Pius XII re-opened the cause on 7 December 1954, and Pope John Paul II proclaimed him Venerable on 6 July 1985. Together with Pope John XXIII, he was beatified on 3 September 2000 after the recognition of a miracle, Pius IX was assigned the liturgical feast day of February 7, the date of his death. Europe, including the Italian peninsula, was in the midst of political ferment when the bishop of Spoleto. He took the name Pius, after his generous patron and the prisoner of Napoleon Bonaparte. Through the 1850s and 1860s, Italian nationalists made military gains against the Papal States, however, concordats were concluded with numerous states such as Austria-Hungary, Portugal, Spain, Canada, Tuscany, Ecuador, Venezuela, Honduras, El Salvador and Haiti. Many contemporary Church historians and journalists question his approaches, in his Syllabus of Errors, still highly controversial, Pius IX condemned the heresies of secular society, especially modernism. He was a Marian pope, who in his encyclical Ubi primum described Mary as a Mediatrix of salvation, in 1854, he promulgated the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, articulating a long-held Catholic belief that Mary, the Mother of God, was conceived without original sin. In 1862, he convened 300 bishops to the Vatican for the canonization of Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan and his most important legacy is the First Vatican Council, which convened in 1869. The council is considered to have contributed to a centralization of the Church in the Vatican, Pius IX was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 3 September 2000. His Feast Day is 7 February, Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti was born on May 13,1792. He was educated at the Piarist College in Volterra and in Rome, as a theology student in his hometown Sinigaglia, in 1814 he met Pope Pius VII, who had returned from French captivity. In 1815, he entered the Papal Noble Guard but was dismissed after an epileptic seizure. He threw himself at the feet of Pius VII, who elevated him, the pope originally insisted that another priest should assist Mastai during Holy Mass, a stipulation that was later rescinded, after the seizure attacks became less frequent. Mastai was ordained priest on April 10,1819 and he initially worked as the rector of the Tata Giovanni Institute in Rome
4.
Galleria Borghese
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The Galleria Borghese is an art gallery in Rome, Italy, housed in the former Villa Borghese Pinciana. At the outset, the building was integrated with its gardens. The Galleria Borghese houses a part of the Borghese collection of paintings, sculpture and antiquities, begun by Cardinal Scipione Borghese. The Villa was built by the architect Flaminio Ponzio, developing sketches by Scipione Borghese himself, who used it as a villa suburbana, other paintings of note include Titians Sacred and Profane Love, Raphaels Entombment of Christ and works by Peter Paul Rubens and Federico Barocci. The Casina Borghese lies on the outskirts of seventeenth-century Rome, by 1644, John Evelyn described it as an Elysium of delight with Fountains of sundry inventions, Groves and small Rivulets of Water. Evelyn also described the Vivarium that housed ostriches, peacocks, swans and cranes, in 1808, Prince Camillo Borghese, Napoleons brother-in-law, was forced to sell the Borghese Roman sculptures and antiquities to the Emperor. The result is that the Borghese Gladiator, renowned since the 1620s as the most admired single sculpture in Villa Borghese, the Borghese Hermaphroditus is also now in the Louvre. The Borghese villa was modified and extended down the years, eventually being sold to the Italian government in 1902, along with the entire Borghese estate and surrounding gardens, the Galleria Borghese includes twenty rooms across two floors. The main floor is devoted to classical antiquities of the 1st–3rd centuries AD. In addition, several portrait busts are included in the gallery, including one of Pope Paul V, the second Scipione Borghese portrait was produced after a large crack was discovered in the marble of the first version during its creation. Official website Amor sacro e amor profano Description of the painting, Roman Map of the area with related services
5.
Galleria Spada
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The Galleria Spada is a museum in Rome, which is housed in the Palazzo Spada of the same name, located in the Piazza Capo di Ferro. The palazzo is also famous for its façade and for the forced perspective gallery by Francesco Borromini, the gallery exhibits paintings from the 16th and 17th century. A State Museum, the Galleria Spadas run by the Polo Museale del Lazio, the Museum hours of operation are as follows, Tuesday - Saturday,9,00 a. m. to 7,00 p. m. Sundays and holidays from 9,00 a. m. to 1,00 p. m and it was originally built in 1540 for Cardinal Girolamo Capodiferro. Bartolomeo Baronino, of Casale Monferrato, was the architect, while Giulio Mazzoni, the palazzo was purchased by Cardinal Spada in 1632. Borromini was aided in his perspective trick by a mathematician, the building was purchased in November 1926 by the Italian State to house the gallery and the State Council. The Galleria was opened in 1927 in the Palazzo Spada and it closed during the 1940s, but reopened in 1951 thanks to the efforts of the Conservator of the Galleries of Rome, Anchille Bertini Calosso and the Director, Frederico Zeri. Most of the artwork comes predominantly from the private collection of Bernardino Spada. The museum is located on the first floor of Palazzo Spada, the Cardinal had built the museum over the historical remains of his familys former home that had been established in 1548. Room I The room is called the Room of the Popes because of its fifty inscriptions describing the lives of select pontiffs, as commissioned by Cardinal Bernardino. It is also known as the Room with the Azure Ceiling because the ceiling is covered with a turquoise canvas divided into many little compartments marked camerini da verno, the ceiling coffers decorations date back to 1777. Room II This room was created along with Room III, the upper part of the walls were decorated with friezes in tempera on canvas by Perino del Vaga. The other parts of the walls that were painted with paneling are now missing. Room III It is called the Gallery of the Cardinal and it was designed by Paolo Maruscelli in 1636 and 1637 along with Room II to house the art collection of Bernardino Spada. The ceiling is beamed and French windows lead into one of which has an iron railing overlooking the big garden. Room IV This final room was built over a gallery overlooking the big garden. The Room houses paintings by Caravaggisti, list of museums in Italy Palazzo Spada
6.
MAXXI
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The museum is managed by a foundation created by the Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali, the Italian ministry of cultural heritage. It was designed as a space by Zaha Hadid and committed to experimentation and innovation in the arts. The project was first announced in 2000 and took over 10 years to complete, the design of Zaha Hadid was the winner of an international design competition. The site of the new museum was that of a military compound. The competition proposal by Zaha Hadid envisaged the construction of five new structures, the art installation and the opening of MAXXI, in 2010, were photographed by Simone Cecchetti, who was chosen from national photography competition. The Royal Institute of British Architect’s 2010 Stirling Prize for architecture has been awarded to MAXXI, the building is a composition of bending oblong tubes, overlapping, intersecting and piling over each other, resembling a piece of massive transport infrastructure. The MAXXI consists of two museums, MAXXI art and MAXXI architecture, the large public square designed in front of the museum is planned to host art works and live events. The MAXXI has been acclaimed by The Guardian as Hadids finest built work to date, the outdoor courtyard surrounding the museum provides a venue for large-scale works of art. The permanent collections of two museums grow through direct acquisitions, as well as through commissions, thematic competitions, awards for young artists, donations. Media related to MAXXI at Wikimedia Commons
7.
Palazzo Barberini
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The Palazzo Barberini is a 17th-century palace in Rome, facing the Piazza Barberini in Rione Trevi. It houses the Galleria Nazionale dArte Antica, the sloping site had formerly been occupied by a garden-vineyard of the Sforza family, in which a palazzetto had been built in 1549. The sloping site passed from one cardinal to another during the sixteenth century, when Cardinal Alessandro Sforza met financial hardships, the still semi-urban site was purchased in 1625 by Maffeo Barberini, of the Barberini family, who became Pope Urban VIII. Three great architects worked to create the Palazzo, each contributing his own style, Maderno began in 1627, assisted by his nephew Francesco Borromini. When Maderno died in 1629, Borromini was passed over and the commission was awarded to Bernini, Borromini stayed on regardless and the two architects worked together, albeit briefly, on this project and at the Palazzo Spada. Works were completed by Bernini in 1633, after the Wars of Castro and the death of Urban VIII, the palace was confiscated by Pamphili Pope Innocent X and was only returned to the Barberini in 1653. The palazzo is disposed around a forecourt centered on Berninis grand two-storey hall backed by an oval salone, with an extended wing dominating the piazza, which lies on a lower level. At the rear, a long wing protected the garden from the piazza below, the main block presents three tiers of great arch-headed windows, like glazed arcades, a formula that was more Venetian than Roman. On the uppermost floor, Borrominis windows are set in a perspective that suggests extra depth. Flanking the hall, two sets of stairs lead to the piano nobile, a large squared staircase by Bernini to the left, the salon ceiling is graced by Pietro da Cortonas masterpiece, the Baroque fresco of the Allegory of Divine Providence and Barberini Power. Also in the palace is a masterpiece by Andrea Sacchi, a critic of the Cortona style. The garden is known as a giardino segreto, for its concealment from an outsiders view and it houses a monument to Bertel Thorwaldsen, who had a studio in the nearby Teatro delle Quattro Fontane in 1822-1834. Today, Palazzo Barberini houses the Galleria Nazionale dArte Antica, one of the most important painting collections in Italy and it includes Raphaels portrait La fornarina, Caravaggios Judith Beheading Holofernes and a Hans Holbein portrait of Henry VIII. The palace also houses the Italian Institute of Numismatics, the European Convention on Human Rights, which created the European Court of Human Rights, was signed here on 4 November 1950, a milestone in the protection of human rights. Hidden in the cellars of the part of the building. Blunt, Anthony, The Palazzo Barberini, Journal of the Warburg, il palazzo Barberini, official site Rome Art-Lover, Palazzo Barberini Palazzo Barberini and Veneto Rome guide Italian army ends museum stand-off, BBC News, Friday,13 October 2006 Google Maps. The complex constituting the Palazzo Barberini is in the center, set back from the road on all sides, on the lower side of the image are the start of the Quirinal Palace gardens. Below, and in the first corner on the right, is the San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane, diagonally opposite and above is the triangular Piazza Barberini with the Triton Fountain
8.
National Roman Museum
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The National Roman Museum is a museum, with several branches in separate buildings throughout the city of Rome, Italy. Founded in 1889 and inaugurated in 1890, the museums first aim was to collect, the collection was appropriated by the state in 1874, after the suppression of the Society of Jesus. Renamed initially as the Royal Museum, the collection was intended to be moved to a Museo Tiberino, in 1901 the State granted the National Roman Museum the recently acquired Collection Ludovisi as well as the important national collection of Ancient Sculpture. Findings during the renewal of the late 19th century added to the collections. The palace was built on the site occupied by the Villa Montalto-Peretti, named after Pope Sixtus V. The present building was commissioned by Prince Massimiliano Massimo, so as to give a seat to the Jesuit Collegio Romano, originally within the convent of the church of SantIgnazio. In 1871, the Collegio had been ousted from the convent by the State which converted it into the Liceo Visconti, erected between 1883 and 1887 by the architect Camillo Pistrucci in a neo-cinquecentesco style, it was one of the most prestigious schools of Rome until 1960. During World War II, it was used as a military hospital, but it then returned to scholastic functions until the 60s. In 1981, lying in a state of neglect, the Italian State acquired it for 19 billion lire, the museum houses the Ancient Art as well as the Numismatic Collection, housed in the Medagliere, i. e. the Coin Cabinet. One room is devoted to the mummy that was found in 1964 on the Via Cassia, inside a richly decorated sarcophagus with several artefacts in amber. It begins with the triclinium of Livias Villa “ad Gallinas Albas”. The frescoes, discovered in 1863 and dating back to the 1st century BC, show a garden with ornamental plants. The Museums numismatic collection is the largest in Italy, among the coins on exhibit are Theodoric’s medallion, the four ducats of Pope Paul II with the navicella of St Peter, and the silver piastre of the Pontifical State with views of the city of Rome. The Palazzo Altemps is located in the modern rione Ponte, part of the Campus Martius, in the ancient Rome, this site was only 160 meters from the Ponte Elio, and was one of the two main marble ports on the Tiber River in Rome. The other was located in what is now Testaccio, in 1891, during the construction works to build the embankments that now hold back the Tiber River, the remains of this dock were uncovered. A few of these ancient shops bear signs of hasty abandonment after the time of the emperor Trajan, tools, there was also likely a temple to Apollo located in this area, over which has been built the church of SantApollinare. The division was abandoned after the Great Schism in the 15th century. The building was designed in the 15th century by Melozzo da Forlì for Girolamo Riario, when the Soderini family fell on hard times, he in turn sold it in 1568 to the Austrian-born cardinal Mark Sittich von Hohenems Altemps, the son of the sister of Pope Pius IV
9.
Baths of Diocletian
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The Baths of Diocletian were public baths in Rome, in what is now Italy. Named after emperor Diocletians Baths and built from 298 to in 306, the project was originally commissioned by Maximian upon his return to Rome in the autumn of 298 and was continued after his and Diocletians abdication under Constantius, father of Constantine. The Baths occupy the high-ground on the northeast summit of the Viminal and they served as a bath for the people residing in the Viminal, Quirinal, and Esquiline quarters of the city. The Quadrigae Pisonis, a 2nd-century monument with various reliefs, some homes. The water supply was provided by the Aqua Marcia, an aqueduct that had served the city of Rome since the early 2nd century. To properly supply the baths, the supply of water to the city was increased under the order of Diocletian, the baths may have also been supplied by the Aqua Antoniniana, which was originally positioned to supply Caracallas baths in the early 3rd century. The Baths were commissioned by Maximian in honor of co-Emperor Diocletian in 298, evidence of this can be found in bricks from the main area of the baths, which distinctly show stamps of the Diocletianic period. These, according to the ancient guidebook Mirabilia Urbis Romae, were known as Palatium Diocletiani and this evidence shows the effect of the massive project on the brick industry in that all work by them was redirected and under control of the emperor. Building took place between the year it was first commissioned and was finished sometime between the abdication of Diocletian in 305 c. e. and the death of Constantius in July 306 AD. The Baths remained in use until the siege of Rome in 537 when the Ostrogothic king Vitiges cut off the aqueducts. ”The bath complex took up 120,000 square metres or 30 acres of the district, about the same size as the Baths of Caracalla. The central block of the baths was 280 by 160 meters or 10.85 acres, however, the capacity of the Baths of Diocletian was said to be much greater than the Baths of Caracalla. This could be because the entrance and rooms were larger than its predecessor in block size. According to Olympiodorus, the baths were able to hold up to 3,000 people at one time, however, this claim is disputed because Olympiodorus never mentioned how he came about this figure in the first place. The word frigidarium originates from the Latin word frigeo, which means to be cold, the prominence of the room and its conjoining rooms showed the increase in popularity cold baths had during the early 4th century compared to the hot baths. This also could have been a result of the depletion of the surrounding forests, the frigidarium, or Cella frigidaria consisted of a pool and a host of smaller baths connected to the main room. Water entering the room would come from a pipe or cistern, the water from the pool was thought to have been reused to flush latrines within the complex. The frigidarium was used mainly as a pool or a cold-water bath. Normally, one would continue on to the frigidarium after using the baths or after exercising in the palaestra
10.
Capitoline Museums
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The Capitoline Museums are a single museum containing a group of art and archeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The history of the museums can be traced to 1471, when Pope Sixtus IV donated a collection of important ancient bronzes to the people of Rome, the museums are owned and operated by the municipality of Rome. The statue of a rider in the centre of the piazza is of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. It is a copy, the original being housed on-site in the Capitoline museum. Open to the public in 1734 under Clement XII, the Capitoline Museums are considered the first museum in the world, understood as a place where art could be enjoyed by all and this section contains collections sorted by building, and brief information on the buildings themselves. For the history of their design and construction, see Capitoline Hill#Michelangelo, the Capitoline Museums are composed of three main buildings surrounding the Piazza del Campidoglio and interlinked by an underground gallery beneath the piazza. In addition, the 16th century Palazzo Caffarelli-Clementino, located off the adjacent to the Palazzo dei Conservatori, was added to the museum complex in the early 20th century. The collections here are ancient sculpture, mostly Roman but also Greek, the Conservators Apartment is distinguished by elaborate interior decorations, including frescoes, stuccos, tapestries, and carved ceilings and doors. The third floor of the Palazzo dei Conservatori houses the Capitoline Art Gallery, housing the museums painting, the Capitoline Coin Cabinet, containing collections of coins, medals, jewels, and jewelry, is located in the attached Palazzo Caffarelli-Clementino. Statues, inscriptions, sarcophagi, busts, mosaics, and other ancient Roman artifacts occupy two floors of the Palazzo Nuovo, in the Hall of the Galatian can also be appreciated the marble statue of the Dying Gaul also called “Capitoline Gaul” and the statue of Cupid and Psyche. The gallery was constructed in the 1930s and it contains in situ 2nd century ruins of ancient Roman dwellings, and also houses the Galleria Lapidaria, which displays the Museums collection of epigraphs. The new great glass covered hall — the Sala Marco Aurelio — created by covering the Giardino Romano is similar to the one used for the Sala Ottagonale, the design is by the architect Carlo Aymonino. Its volume recalls that of the oval space designed by Michelangelo for the piazza and its centerpiece is the bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius, which was once in the centre of Piazza del Campidoglio and has been kept indoors ever since its modern restoration. Moving these statues out of the palazzo allows those sculptures temporarily moved to the Centrale Montemartini to be brought back. The Centrale Montemartini is a power station of Acea in southern Rome. Its permanent collection comprises 400 ancient statues, moved here during the reorganisation of the Capitoline Museums in 1997, along with tombs, busts, many of them were excavated in the ancient Roman horti between the 1890s and 1930s, a fruitful period for Roman archaeology. They are displayed there along the lines of Tate Modern, except that the machinery has not been moved out, Capitoline Brutus Capitoline Museums official website
11.
Museum of the Ara Pacis
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The Museum of the Ara Pacis belongs to the Sistema dei Musei in Comune of Rome, it houses the Ara Pacis of Augustus, an ancient monument that was initially inaugurated on January 30,9 B. C. It is a structure with a nature, clearly alluding to the style of imperial Rome. Wide glazed surfaces allow the viewer to admire the Ara Pacis with uniform lighting conditions, the challenging design of Meier wants to assert itself in the very hearth of the town, becoming a nerve and transit centre. The complex was intended to include a crosswalk with an underpass linking the museum to the Tiber river, the building, designed by architect Richard Meier, was inaugurated and opened to the public after seven years of works, on April 21,2006. On the night between May 31 and June 1,2009, unknown men stained the white wall with green and red paint. On December 12,2009, a group of activists of Earth First, during the Copenhagen Summit, colored the water of the fountain green and affixed on the side facing Via Tomacelli a banner saying Earth First. The officers and the employees of the museum intervened immediately removing the banner, the building has collected conflicting viewpoints. Nonetheless, the ruling was not unanimous at all and, for instance, in November 2013 a leaky roof led to unwanted water in the new museum building during heavy rain. Staff members had to use buckets to remove water from the top of the altar, during one of his first declarations after being elected Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno announced his purpose to remove Meiers case, that the Roman right wing always disapproved. However, Alemanno himself later pointed out that the removal was not a priority of his administration, war and Peace, Housing the Ara Pacis in the Eternal City. American Journal of Archaeology 113.2 Official website Musei in Comune official website Photographic documentation about the Museum of the Ara Pacis
12.
Ara Pacis
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The Ara Pacis Augustae is an altar in Rome dedicated to Pax, the Roman goddess of Peace. The monument was commissioned by the Roman Senate on July 4,13 BC to honor the return of Augustus to Rome after three years in Hispania and Gaul, and consecrated on January 30,9 BC and it was reassembled in its current location in 1938. The altar reflects the Augustan vision of Roman civil religion, within the enclosing precinct walls, the altar itself was carved with images illustrating the lex aria, the law governing the ritual performed at the altar. What remains of the altar is otherwise fragmentary, but it appears to have been largely functional with less emphasis on art, the interior of the precinct walls are carved with bucrania, ox skulls, from which carved garlands hang. The garlands bear fruits from various types of plants, all displayed on a garland as allegorical representations of plenty. The bucrania in turn evoke the idea of sacrificial piety, appropriate motifs for the interior of the altar precinct. The upper register of the northern and southern walls depict scenes of the emperor, his family, various togate figures are shown with their heads covered, signifying their role as both priests and sacrificiants. Other figures wear laurel crowns, traditional Roman symbols of victory, members of individual priestly colleges are depicted in traditional garb appropriate to their office, while lictors can be identified by their iconographic fasces. The western and eastern walls are pierced by entryways to the altar, although the interior would only have been accessed by a stairway on the western side. The entryways were flanked by panels depicting allegorical or mythological scenes evocative of peace, piety, the identity of these various figures has been a point of some controversy over the years, relying heavily on interpretation of fragmentary remains, discussed below. The sculpture of the Ara Pacis is primarily symbolic rather than decorative, peter Holliday suggested that the Altars imagery of the Golden Age, usually discussed as mere poetic allusion, appealed to a significant component of the Roman populace. The East and West walls each contain two panels, one well preserved and one represented only in fragments and this scene has been reconstructed, based on coins that depict such a seated Roma. When the monument was being reconstructed at its present site, Edmund Buchner and other scholars sketched what the panel may have looked like and this interpretation, although widely accepted, can not be proved correct, as so little of the original panel survives. The other panel is more controversial in its subject, but far better preserved, a goddess sits amid a scene of fertility and prosperity with twins on her lap. Scholars have variously suggested that the goddess is Italia, Tellus, Venus, due to the widespread depiction around the sculpture of scenes of peace, and because the Altar is named for peace, the favoured conclusion is that the goddess is Pax. The West Wall also contains two panels, the fragmentary Lupercal Panel apparently preserves the moment when Romulus and Remus were discovered by Faustulus the shepherd, while Mars looks on. Again this panel is a drawing without much evidence. Marble fragments of the tree and the head and shoulder of Mars and part of a second individual survive, but the addition of the she-wolf, Romulus, the better preserved scene depicts the sacrifice of a pig by an old priest and two attendants
