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77-515: The history of the museum can be traced to 1471, when Pope Sixtus IV donated a collection of important ancient bronzes to the people of Rome and located them on the Capitoline Hill. Since then, the museums' collection has grown to include many ancient Roman statues, inscriptions, and other artifacts; a collection of medieval and Renaissance art; and collections of jewels , coins , and other items. The museums are owned and operated by

154-593: A clear difference in status between those who had converted and those who resisted. The ecclesiastical penalties were directed towards those who were enslaving the recent converts. As a civic patron in Rome, even the anti-papal chronicler Stefano Infessura agreed that Sixtus should be admired. The dedicatory inscription in the fresco by Melozzo da Forlì in the Vatican Palace records: "You gave your city temples, streets, squares, fortifications, bridges and restored

231-544: A hereditary ally and champion of the papacy. The angered Italian princes allied to force Sixtus IV to make peace to his great annoyance. For refusing to desist from the very hostilities that he himself had instigated and for being a dangerous rival to Della Rovere dynastic ambitions in the Marche , Sixtus placed Venice under interdict in 1483. He also lined the coffers of the state by unscrupulously selling high offices and privileges. In ecclesiastical affairs, Sixtus promoted

308-418: A lack of fuel. 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 and would exit through a drain within the pool. The water from the pool was thought to have been reused to flush latrines within the complex. The frigidarium was used mainly as a swimming pool or a cold-water bath, depending on

385-748: A line of Della Rovere dukes of Urbino that lasted until the line expired, in 1631. Six of the thirty-four cardinals that he created were his nephews. In his territorial aggrandizement of the Papal States , his niece's son, Cardinal Raffaele Riario (for whom the Palazzo della Cancelleria was constructed) was suspected of colluding in the failed Pazzi conspiracy of 1478 to assassinate both Lorenzo de' Medici and his brother Giuliano and replace them in Florence with Sixtus IV's other nephew, Girolamo Riario . Francesco Salviati , Archbishop of Pisa and

462-609: A main organizer of the plot, was hanged on the walls of the Florentine Palazzo della Signoria . Sixtus IV replied with an interdict and two years of war with Florence. However, Infessura had partisan allegiances to the Colonna and so is not considered to be always reliable or impartial. The English churchman and Protestant polemicist John Bale , writing a century later, attributed to Sixtus "the authorisation to practice sodomy during periods of warm weather" to

539-631: A part of the set of Greek and Etruscan vases that was donated to the municipality of Rome by Augusto Castellani in the mid-19th century. The Centrale Montemartini is a former power station of Acea (active as a power-station between the 1890s and 1930s) in southern Rome, between the Pyramid of Cestius and the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls , close to the Metro station Garbatella . In 1997,

616-483: A patron of the arts, Sixtus was a patron of the sciences. Before he became pope, he had spent time at the very liberal and cosmopolitan University of Padua , which maintained considerable independence from the Church and had a very international character. As Pope, he issued a papal bull allowing local bishops to give the bodies of executed criminals and unidentified corpses to physicians and artists for dissection. It

693-525: A pope" and "true flood of corresponding lampoons, reviling poems, and fictional epitaphs" following his death are at the very least evidence for his contemporaries' opinions about the promotions of these young men. The secular fortunes of the Della Rovere family began when Sixtus invested his nephew Giovanni with the lordship of Senigallia and arranged his marriage to the daughter of Federico III da Montefeltro , duke of Urbino ; from that union came

770-466: Is by Antonio del Pollaiuolo ; it was completed by 1493. The top of the casket is a lifelike depiction of the Pope lying in state. Around the sides are bas-relief panels depicting allegorical female figures representing Grammar, Rhetoric, Arithmetic, Geometry, Music, Painting, Astronomy, Philosophy, and Theology—the classical liberal arts , with the addition of painting and theology. Each figure incorporates

847-470: Is disputed because Olympiodorus never described how he calculated this figure. 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 hot baths. This also could have been a result of the depletion of the surrounding forests, resulting in

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924-579: The Acqua Vergine as far as the Trevi ..." In addition to restoring the aqueduct that provided Rome an alternative to the river water, which had made the city famously unhealthy, he restored or rebuilt over 30 of Rome's dilapidated churches such as San Vitale (1475) and Santa Maria del Popolo , and he added seven new ones. The Sistine Chapel was sponsored by Sixtus IV, as was the Ponte Sisto ,

1001-821: The Gallican Church and could never be shifted as long as Louis XI manoeuvred to replace King Ferdinand I of Naples with a French prince. Louis was thus in conflict with the papacy, and Sixtus could not permit it. On 1 November 1478, Sixtus published the papal bull Exigit Sincerae Devotionis Affectus through which the Spanish Inquisition was established in the Kingdom of Castile . Sixtus consented under political pressure from Ferdinand of Aragon , who threatened to withhold military support from his kingdom of Sicily . Nevertheless, Sixtus IV quarrelled over protocol and prerogatives of jurisdiction; he

1078-599: The Sessorian bridge . The interior parts of the bath were supported by vaulting ceilings and arches to create curvilinear lines. The structure of the roof is a typical example of Classical design. Architects used sloped forms to cover curved extrados (the outer surface of the arch) of the vaulted halls. From the central structure were derived the plans for the Basilica of Constantine . The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History building in Washington, D.C. ,

1155-586: The Sistine Bridge (the first new bridge across the Tiber since Antiquity), and the building of Via Sistina (later named Borgo Sant'Angelo ), a road leading from Castel Sant'Angelo to Saint Peter. All of that was done to facilitate the integration of the Vatican Hill and Borgo with the heart of Old Rome. That was part of a broader scheme of urbanization carried out under Sixtus IV, who swept

1232-587: The "Cardinal of Santa Lucia". This prompted the noted historian of the Catholic Church, Ludwig von Pastor , to issue a firm rebuttal. Sixtus continued a dispute with King Louis XI of France , who upheld the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (1438), which held that papal decrees needed royal assent before they could be promulgated in France. That was a cornerstone of the privileges claimed for

1309-628: The 5th century. One of his first acts was to declare a renewed crusade against the Ottoman Turks in Smyrna . However, after the conquest of Smyrna, the fleet disbanded. Some fruitless attempts were made towards unification with the Greek Church . For the remainder of his pontificate, Sixtus turned to temporal issues and dynastic considerations. Sixtus IV sought to strengthen his position by surrounding himself with relatives and friends. In

1386-616: The Baths of Diocletian — where he lived and worked from 1879 to 1910, selling his works internationally including as commissions in the United States. Here in the vaulted thermae built in the days of Diocletian he had gathered together treasures from many lands and ages. Ancient marbles and alabasters, bronzes, costly metals and relics beautified with precious stones, medieval parchments and church ornaments, oriental ivories, velvets and silks hung on all sides, in alluring contrast to

1463-601: The Canary Islands, and in the spring of 1478, they sent Juan Rejon with sixty soldiers and thirty cavalry to the Grand Canary, where the natives retreated inland. Sixtus's earlier threats to excommunicate all captains or pirates who enslaved Christians in the bull Regimini Gregis of 1476 could have been intended to emphasise the need to convert the natives of the Canary Islands and Guinea and establish

1540-491: The Carthusian monastery as well as several halls south of the eastern palestra. The former main entrance hall of the museum connects the 16th-century outer garden around a large Krater used as a fountain with the cloister. The Epigraphic Museum is located in modern premises. The prehistoric exhibits are on the first floor of the cloister colonnade. The cloister itself exhibits numerous pieces of statuary. Other remains of

1617-679: The Centrale Montemartini was adapted to temporarily accommodate a part of the antique sculpture collection of the Capitoline museums, at that time closed for renovation; the temporary exhibition was so appreciated that the venue was eventually converted into a permanent museum. Its permanent collection comprises 400 ancient statues, moved here during the reorganisation of the Capitoline Museums in 1997, along with tombs, busts, and mosaics. Many of them were excavated in

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1694-727: 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 and British Museum Great Court . The 1996 design is by the architect Carlo Aymonino . Its volume recalls that of the oval space designed by Michelangelo for

1771-636: 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 . Also housed in this building are: The Galleria di Congiunzione is located beneath the Palazzo dei Conservatori and the piazza itself, and links the three palazzos sitting on the piazza. The gallery was constructed in the 1930s. It contains in situ 2nd century ruins of ancient Roman dwellings, and also houses

1848-593: The Italian historian Stefano Infessura , Diary of the City of Rome , Sixtus was a "lover of boys and a sodomite" ( Latin : puerorum amator et sodomita ) awarding benefices and bishoprics in return for sexual favours and nominating a number of young men as cardinals. Sexualised polemics, in truth concerned with politics and not the sexual lives of their victims, were not uncommon during this time; but as Pfisterer (sic) notes "the novel flood of accusations of sodomy against

1925-705: The Life of Probus mentions that part of the Bibliotheca Ulpia , was located in the Forum of Trajan , and part within the Baths of Trajan, although he later contradicts that statement when referring to the Bibliotheca Ulpia). The presence of similar spaces in the Baths of Caracalla and the Baths of Trajan therefore makes it not unreasonable to assume that the baths of Diocletian contained a library. Within

2002-606: The Palazzo dei Conservatori houses the Capitoline Art Gallery, housing the museums' painting and applied art galleries. 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

2079-491: The Piazza del Campidoglio and interlinked by an underground gallery beneath the piazza. The three main buildings of the Capitoline Museums are: In addition, the 16th century Palazzo Caffarelli-Clementino , located off the piazza 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 and Egyptian . Features

2156-527: The Portuguese the rights to acquire slaves along the African Coast by force or trade. Those concessions were confirmed by Sixtus in his own bull, Aeterni regis , of 21 June 1481. Arguably the "ideology of conquest" expounded in those texts became the means by which commerce and conversion were facilitated. In November 1476, Isabel and Fernando ordered an investigation into rights of conquest in

2233-530: The Viminal, Quirinal , and Esquiline quarters of the city. The Quadrigae Pisonis , a 2nd-century monument with various reliefs, some private homes, and a relief representing the temple of Quirinus once stood at the site but were demolished to build the baths. The water supply was provided by the Aqua Marcia , an aqueduct that had long served the city of Rome since the early 2nd century. To properly supply

2310-541: The ancient Roman horti (e.g. the Gardens of Sallust ) between the 1890s and 1930s, a fruitful period for Roman archaeology. Pope Sixtus IV Pope Sixtus IV (or Xystus IV , Italian : Sisto IV ; born Francesco della Rovere ; 21 July 1414 – 12 August 1484) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 August 1471 until his death. His accomplishments as pope included

2387-498: The archaeological remains of the tuff foundations of the temple of Capitoline Jupiter, with a model, drawn and computer reconstructions and finds dating from the earliest occupation on the site (in the mid Bronze Age: 17th-14th centuries B.C.) to the foundation of the temple (6th century BC). In the three halls adjacent to the Appartamento dei Conservatori are to be found the showcases of the famous Castellani Collection with

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2464-448: The bachelor's, master's, licentiate, and doctoral degrees. The archbishop of Uppsala was also named as the university's Chancellor , and was charged with maintaining the rights and privileges of the university and its members. This act of Sixtus IV had a profound long-term effect on the society and culture of Sweden, an effect which continues up to the present. Sixtus IV became ill on 8 August 1484; this illness worsened on 10 August while

2541-415: The bath complex took up 13 hectares (32 acres) of the district, about the same size as the Baths of Caracalla. The main entrance was to the northeast. To the southwest was a large exedra (now still visible as the outline of Piazza della Repubblica ). The exedra was flanked by two large buildings, likely libraries. These in turn connected to circular halls: one of them is now the church of San Bernardo ,

2618-684: The baths were converted into grain and oil stores for the city of Rome. After Rome became part of the Kingdom of Italy , its seat of government was moved to the city. In 1884, the Carthusians abandoned the charterhouse and the area around the baths was subject to substantial changes. Roma Termini station was built, the Ministry of the Economy moved to the area, and the Grand Hotel and Palazzo Massimo were constructed. Gaetano Koch designed

2695-513: The baths' construction, Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri . To this was attached a Carthusian charterhouse. Michelangelo was commissioned to design the church and he made use of both the frigidarium and tepidarium structures. He also planned the main cloister of the charterhouse. A small cloister next to the presbytery of the church was built, occupying part of the area where the baths' natatio had been located. After 1575, starting under Pope Gregory XIII , several remaining halls of

2772-528: 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 Caracalla's baths in the early 3rd century. The baths were commissioned by Maximian in honour of co-emperor Diocletian in AD 298, the same year he returned from Africa. Evidence of this can be found in bricks from

2849-544: The building were simple and give the impression of a vast amount of open space. The builders of the baths used different techniques to create this effect. The exterior walls of the bath were encrusted with stucco to give the impression of stonework. This technique was quite common within the structures built during the Imperial style of Roman architecture, e.g., the baths of Constantine, the Basilica Nova , and parts of

2926-438: The caldarium were a garden, lounging rooms, gymnasiums, and small halls and semicircular exedrae used as lecture and reading rooms. Rectangular halls connected to the hemicycle have been suggested to be libraries because of their similar set-up to those in the Baths of Caracalla. Historians, to support this theory, have demonstrated that these halls with their niches could properly house scrolls and/or codices. (The author of

3003-615: The collections of the Capitoline Museums . He also refounded, enriched and enlarged the Vatican Library . He had Regiomontanus attempt the first sanctioned reorganisation of the Julian calendar and increased the size and prestige of the papal chapel choir, bringing singers and some prominent composers ( Gaspar van Weerbeke , Marbrianus de Orto and Bertrandus Vaqueras ) to Rome from the north. In addition to being

3080-541: The construction of the Sistine Chapel and the creation of the Vatican Library . A patron of the arts, he brought together the group of artists who ushered the early Renaissance into Rome with the first masterpieces of the city's new artistic age. Sixtus founded the Spanish Inquisition through the bull Exigit sincerae devotionis affectus (1478), and he annulled the decrees of the Council of Constance . He

3157-514: The divine Maximin on his return from Africa ordered to be built and consecrated in the name of his brother Diocletian, having purchased the premises required for so huge and remarkable work and furnishing them with the most sumptuous refinement." Although only fragments of the inscription are extant today, a complete transcription was made by an 8th- or 9th-century pilgrim and was preserved at Einsiedeln Abbey in Switzerland. The enclosure of

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3234-541: The dogma of the Immaculate Conception , which had been confirmed at the Council of Basle in 1439, and he designated 8 December as its feastday. In 1476, he issued the apostolic constitution Cum Praeexcelsa , establishing a Mass and Office for the feast. He formally annulled the decrees of the Council of Constance in 1478. The two papal bulls issued by Pope Nicholas V , Dum Diversas of 1452 and Romanus Pontifex of 1455, had effectively given

3311-506: The early 5th century, the baths were restored. The baths remained in use until the siege of Rome in 537 when the Ostrogothic king Vitiges cut off the aqueducts. According to the medieval guidebook Mirabilia Urbis Romae , the baths were then known as "Palatium Diocletiani". In the 1560s, Pope Pius IV ordered the building of a basilica in some of the remains, to commemorate Christian martyrs who according to legend died during

3388-483: The fresco by Melozzo da Forlì , he is accompanied by his Della Rovere and Riario nephews, not all of whom were made cardinals; the protonotary apostolic Pietro Riario (on his right), the future Pope Julius II / Giuliano Della Rovere standing before him; and Girolamo Riario and Giovanni della Rovere , behind the kneeling Platina , author of the first humanist history of the popes. His nephew, Pietro Riario, possibly also benefited from his alleged nepotism. He

3465-440: The frigidarium with a cross-vaulted middle bay and three projecting apses. These architectural techniques created the feeling of a more open space for the patron. Dressing rooms, also known as apodyteria , were located on either side of the caldarium. Along the sides of the caldarium were private rooms that are believed to have had multiple functions, including private baths, poetry readings, rhetoricians, etc. Other areas attached to

3542-403: The frigidarium, the use of external buttresses for the cross vaults was considered by some to be the first example of the scientific system of thrusts and counter-thrusts in architecture. Concerning the baths as a whole, it has been described as evoking the Imperial style, or a "Classical" image, which is the style of "manipulation of space". To manipulate the space within this style, the forms of

3619-489: The government had not been informed of the matter in advance. Rouhani also denied asking Italian officials to cover up the artefacts but expressed his thanks to his hosts for making his visit "as pleasant as possible". 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

3696-693: The greatest talent". Visitors to his studio included: After 30 years, the government "demand[ed] the possession of this part of the ruins as an adjunct to the National Roman Museum ." One of the four inscriptions around the main entrance to the Baths of Diocletian reads, translated from Latin, "Our Lords Diocletian and Maximian, the elder and invincible Augusti, fathers of the Emperors and Caesars, our lords Constantius and Maximian and Severus and Maximum, noblest Caesars, dedicated to their beloved Romans these auspicious Baths of Diocletian, which

3773-429: The impression they left on his contemporaries as causal. Criticisms of Pietro 's meteoric rise were not constrained to the charge of benefiting from nepotism as Sixtus IV's nephew, nor to allegations of possibly having been Sixtus IV's illegitimate son. Indeed, Pietro and his brother Girolamo Riario were alleged to have been lovers of Sixtus IV in polemics against the latter. According to the later published chronicle of

3850-533: The largest of the imperial baths. The project was originally commissioned by Maximian upon his return to Rome in the autumn of 298 and was continued after his and Diocletian's abdication under Constantius , father of Constantine . The baths were open until c. 537, when the Ostrogoths cut off aqueducts to the city of Rome. The site houses the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri , built within

3927-588: The latter-day furniture and the twentieth-century grand piano, proclaiming the broad sympathies and the catholic tastes of this citizen of the world. American Jewish Yearbook , 1917 Ezekiel's studio was regarded as "one of the Show Places of the Eternal City, magnificent in proportions and stored with fine artworks." He held an open house there every Friday afternoon, in addition to hosting musicales, where could be heard "the finest music by

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4004-478: The long-established markets from the Campidoglio in 1477 and decreed in a bull of 1480 the widening of streets and the first post-Roman paving, the removal of porticoes and other post-classical impediments to free public passage. At the beginning of his papacy, in 1471, Sixtus had donated several historically important Roman sculptures that founded a papal collection of art, which would eventually develop into

4081-519: The main area of the baths, which distinctly show stamps of the Diocletianic period. This evidence shows the effect of the massive project on the brick industry in that all work by them was redirected and under the control of the emperor. Building took place between the year it was first commissioned and sometime between the abdication of Diocletian in 305 and the death of Constantius in July 306. In

4158-523: The most notable being Bonaventure (1482); he also beatified one person, John Buoni (1483). In 1477, Sixtus IV issued a papal bull authorizing the creation of Uppsala University – the first university in Sweden and in the whole of Scandinavia . The choice of this location for the university derived from the fact that the archbishopric of Uppsala had been one of the most important sees in Sweden proper since Christianity first spread to this region in

4235-421: The municipality of Rome . The statue of a mounted 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. Opened to the public in 1734 under Clement XII , the Capitoline Museums are considered one of the oldest museums in the world, understood as a place where art could be enjoyed by all and not only by the owners. In 2016,

4312-424: The museum enclosed several of its nude statues in white-colored wooden panels ahead of a meeting between Iranian president Hassan Rouhani and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi that it hosted. The move was criticized by Italian Culture Minister Dario Franceschini as "incomprehensible," while the museum said that it had done so following a request from the prime minister's office, although Franceschini said that

4389-543: The ninth century, as well as Uppsala being long-standing hub for regional trade. Uppsala's bull, which granted the university its corporate rights, established a number of provisions. Among the most important of these was that the university was officially given the same freedoms and privileges as the University of Bologna . This included the right to establish the four traditional faculties of theology , law ( Canon Law and Roman law ), medicine, and philosophy, and to award

4466-514: The oak tree ("rovere" in Italian), symbol of Sixtus IV. The overall program of the panels, their beauty, complex symbolism, classical references and their relative arrangement are compelling and comprehensive illustrations of the Renaissance worldview. None of them actually states how he died. Sixtus created an unusually large number of cardinals during his pontificate (23) who were drawn from

4543-417: The other is visible at the start of Via del Viminale. The central block of the baths was 280 (910 feet) by 160 meters (520 feet) or 10.85 acres (compared to the 6 acres of the Baths of Caracalla). The central block consisted of frigidarium , tepidarium and caldarium along a single axis, with other halls arranged symmetrically around them. Flanking the frigidarium were two open-air gymnasiums (remains of

4620-593: The palazzi fronting Piazza dell'Esedra (now Piazza della Repubblica), destroying part of the original exedra. Via Cernaia cut off the western gymnasium from the remains of the enclosure wall (the latter are now in Via Parigi). In 1889, the Italian government set up the Museo Nazionale Romano in the baths and in the charterhouse. Moses Jacob Ezekiel (October 28, 1844 – March 27, 1917) was an American sculptor who established an artist's studio in

4697-413: The piazza. 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. It also houses the remaining fragments of the bronze colossus of Constantine and

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4774-490: The pope was attending an event in Rome. He felt unwell that evening and was forced to cancel a meeting he was to hold with his cardinals the following morning. The Pope grew weaker during the night of 11 August and he was unable to sleep. Sixtus IV died the following evening – 12 August. The envoy of the Medici family summed up Sixtus' reign in the announcement to his master, "Today at 5 o'clock His Holiness Sixtus IV departed this life – may God forgive him!" Pope Sixtus's tomb

4851-469: The relief from the honorary monument to Marcus Aurelius . The second floor of the building is occupied by the Conservator's Apartment, a space now open to the public and housing such famous works as the bronze she-wolf nursing Romulus and Remus , which has become the emblem of Rome. The Conservator's Apartment is distinguished by elaborate interior decorations, including frescoes , stuccos , tapestries , and carved ceilings and doors. The third floor of

4928-423: The room forms the colossal transept section of the Basilica of St. Mary. The word caldarium comes from the Latin word caleo , meaning "to be hot". The purpose of the caldarium was that of the principal bath chamber within the baths. From its namesake, the room was used for a hot-water bath or for saunas or steam rooms. The room could have also been used for oiling before or after a bath, but, in most cases, this

5005-638: The roster of the princely houses of Italy, France and Spain, thus ensuring that many of his policies continued after his death: Pope Sixtus is portrayed by Raoul Bova in the second season, and John Lynch in the third season of the TV series Medici: Masters of Florence . Pope Sixtus is also portrayed by James Faulkner in all three seasons of the Starz TV series Da Vinci's Demons . Baths of Diocletian The Baths of Diocletian (Latin: Thermae Diocletiani , Italian: Terme di Diocleziano ) were public baths in ancient Rome . Named after emperor Diocletian and built from AD 298 to 306, they were

5082-406: The ruins in the 16th century, the Church of San Bernardo alle Terme , and part of the National Roman Museum . The baths occupy the high ground on the northeast summit of the Viminal , the smallest of the Seven hills of Rome , just inside the Agger of the Servian Wall (near what are today the Piazza della Repubblica and Termini rail station ). They served as baths for the people residing in

5159-421: The time. Normally, one would continue on to the frigidarium after using the hot-water baths or after exercising in the palaestra . Noting the massive size of the room, it was believed to have also been used as a social room. This idea is supported by the presence of statues and elaborate niches along the walls. On each end of the frigidarium are large shallow pools that were made to be open-air bathing pools. Today

5236-473: The western one are accessible at Via Cernaia). Two octagonal halls flanked the caldarium . Despite their similar size, 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 made larger than its predecessor in block size, which allowed more space and functionality. According to Olympiodorus , the baths were able to hold up to 3,000 people at one time. However, this claim

5313-410: Was destroyed in the Sack of Rome in 1527 . Today, his remains, along with the remains of his nephew Pope Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere), are interred in St. Peter's Basilica, in the floor in front of the monument to Pope Clement X. A marble tombstone marks the site. His bronze funerary monument, now in the basement Treasury of St. Peter's Basilica , made like a giant casket of goldsmith's work,

5390-413: Was moved to a separate room off of the caldarium. The caldarium, or cella caldaria , was rectangular in shape with many octagonal rooms found near it in the corner of the structure. The area seemed to be referencing the older Baths of Nero and Titus in its initial design. What set this caldarium apart was the sheer scale of the room compared to its predecessors. It continued a basilica-like theme from

5467-471: Was noted for his nepotism and was personally involved in the infamous Pazzi conspiracy , a plot to remove the Medici family from power in Florence . Francesco was a member of Della Rovere family, a son of Leonardo della Rovere and Luchina Monleoni. He was born in Celle Ligure , a town near Savona . As a young man, Della Rovere joined the Franciscan Order , an unlikely choice for a political career, and his intellectual qualities were revealed while he

5544-469: Was partially based on design elements from these baths, including its Diocletian windows . Parts of the structure were converted to ecclesiastical or other use, including: A part was, for many years, starting in the 1870s, the studio of the sculptor Moses Jacob Ezekiel . The "Octagonal hall" served as the planetarium of Rome from 1928 until 1983. The museum is located in what is known as "Michelangelo's Cloister" and other buildings that were part of

5621-569: Was renowned for his unworldliness and had written learned treatises, including On the Blood of Christ and On the Power of God . His reputation for piety was one of the deciding factors that prompted the College of Cardinals to elect him Pope upon the unexpected death of Paul II at the age of fifty-four. Upon being elected Pope , Della Rovere adopted the name Sixtus, which had not been used since

5698-534: Was studying philosophy and theology at the University of Pavia . He went on to lecture at Padua and many other Italian universities. In 1464, Della Rovere was elected Minister General of the Franciscan order at the age of 50. In 1467, he was appointed Cardinal by Pope Paul II with the titular church being the Basilica of San Pietro in Vincoli . Before his papal election, Cardinal della Rovere

5775-689: Was successively promoted to be a cardinal, the bishop of Florence, the Patriarch of Constantinople and given some 45 additional benefices . Pietro became one of the richest men in Rome and was entrusted with Pope Sixtus IV's foreign policy, in addition to being given an unofficial post as the de facto ruler of Rome. He reportedly spent 200,000 gold ducats on foodstuffs and festivities during two years in office. Pietro died prematurely in 1474. Chroniclers of his life seem to regard his death as unnatural and thus connect his alleged grandiose spending habits and

5852-495: Was that access to corpses which allowed the anatomist Vesalius , along with Titian 's pupil Jan Stephen van Calcar , to complete the revolutionary medical/anatomical text De humani corporis fabrica . The Pope created 34 cardinals in eight consistories held during his reign, among them three nephews, one grandnephew and one other relative, thus continuing the practice of nepotism that he and his successors would engage in during this period. Sixtus IV named seven new saints, with

5929-697: Was unhappy with the excesses of the Inquisition and condemned the most flagrant abuses in 1482. As a temporal prince who constructed stout fortresses in the Papal States , he encouraged the Venetians to attack Ferrara , which he wished to obtain for another nephew. Ercole I d'Este , Duke of Ferrara , was allied with the Sforzas of Milan , the Medicis of Florence along with the King of Naples , normally

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