The Vatican Museums:
Braccio Nuovo

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Braccio Nuovo

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In order to accommodate the Vatican's growing collection of ancient sculptures, Pope Pius VII (r. 1800-1823) employed the Roman architect Raffaele Stern (1774-1820) to build what is now called the Braccio Nuovo (New Wing) of the Chiaramonti Museum. After Stern's death the work was continued by Pasquale Belli. It opened in February 1822. 

Statue of Emperor Augustus

One of the most celebrated statues in the Braccio Nuovo is that of the emperor Augustus, which was found in the ruins of the Villa of Livia, at Prima Porta, on the via Flaminia. The statue, which is thought to be a copy of a bronze original, was unearthed on April 20th 1863. 
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Augustus was Rome's first and longest-reigning emperor (r. 27 BCE - 14 CE). The statue honours Augustus for his success in persuading the Parthians to return the legionary standards that had been lost by Marcus Licinius Crassus at the Battle of Carrhae, in 53 BCE. This event is depicted on the cuirass, where we see the Parthian king returning one of the standards to a representative of Rome. 

The emperor's bare feet associate him with heroes or even gods, while the image of Cupid astride a dolphin designates him as a descendant of the goddess Venus (as the adopted son of Julius Caesar).   

Although Augustus (63 BCE - 14 CE) lived until the grand old age of seventy-six, he was always portrayed as a young man, forever in the prime of life. 

The River Nile

The colossal statue of the river Nile was unearthed in 1513 in the Campo Marzio, where it may have formed part of the Iseum Campense, a twin temple that was dedicated to the Egyptian deities Isis and Serapis. 
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The Nile is personified as a muscular and bearded figure, holding ears of wheat in his right hand. Egypt, who is symbolised by a sphinx, was seen as one of the bread baskets of the Roman empire. The scene is enlivened by sixteen putti, who allude to the sixteen cubits of water by which the Nile rises for its annual flood. 

To be continued...

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