However at the time the Giardino

However, at the time, the Giardino Romano served as the pivot of the new irregular trapezoidal plan, with its southern side bordering the remains of the Palazzo Caffarelli and its passageway leading to the stables. Such geometric irregularity hides a historical continuity as shown by the stratigraphy of the site. This side of the Palazzo Caffarelli is, in fact, aligned with the foundation wall of the Temple Capitoline Jupiter, as reported in Lanciani׳s map and highlighted during the recent excavations coordinated by the Archaeological Superintendence (Figure 4).Given this retinoid x receptor finding, the southern side of the Giardino Romano attained strategic importance in the design of the new Hall of Marcus Aurelius. The Giardino Romano was at the beginning an open space with orange and cypress trees and was then unexpectedly transformed into an exhibition area in the 19th century. In 1876, a glass and wooden octagon-shaped, floreal-style pavilion was designed by the architect Virgilio Vespignani to showcase the marbles brought to light during the construction of the new districts of Rome, which had then become the capital of the new Italian state. This pavilion had a central role during the redevelopment into a museum of the Palazzo dei Conservatori, which was the previous seat of the municipal judiciary. However, Vespignani׳s pavilion was demolished in the early 20th century in view of an ambitious renovation plan promoted by Rodolfo Lanciani, who had envisaged extending the Capitoline Museums byreshaping this space into new exhibition halls lit from above. The project was never achieved because of the lack of financial resources. Thus, without the pavilion, the courtyard was re-organized as a garden and, on Lanciani׳s initiative, the original Forma Urbis Severiana was displayed on its Northern wall. The Palazzo Caffarelli suffered the same fate of Vespignani׳s pavilion, albeit worse, as the structure was abandoned by the Prussians at the end of the First World War and then destined for demolition to bring the remains of the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter back to light. This overtly ambitious plan was unsuccessful and caused the destruction of valuable architectural structures. In 1924, the Palazzo Caffarelli was purchased by the Italian government, which decided to spare the wing leading to the Palazzo dei Conservatori from demolition. Carlo Aymonino dedicated much effort to include the temple within the landscape of the Capitolium while designing a new solution. Between the 1990s and the first decade after year 2000, the design for a new Hall on the site of the Giardino Romano had a two fold intent that affected the implementation of the project. Most Italian museums lack suitable halls for large statuary given that Locus are often created within historical buildings and are originally meant for different functions. As mentioned, the Palazzo dei Conservatori previously housed the Magistracy. Therefore, the idea of achieving a great hall in the Giardino Romano and placing great and huge marbles in the hall seemed very inviting. The first idea then was to display the pieces of the Temple of Apollo Sosianus, which was temporarily exhibited at the Palazzo dei Conservatori in 1985. The exhibition programme, which is an integral part of the redevelopment of the Capitoline Museums, was entrusted to Costantino Dardi, who started working in the early 1990s but passed away soon after. Aymonino became Dardi׳s inevitable successor because of his professional prestige, capacity as Councillor of Rome׳s Historic Center, and experience in the redevelopment project of the Capitoline Museums. The “Great Capitoline Hill Project” envisaged to transform the Capitolium into a museum given that many of its buildings formerly housed administrative offices that appeared out of place in view of the historical and artistic importance of the site.
Modifications to the display programme and Carlo Aymonino׳s first project for the new Hall: 1993–1995