Capitoline Museums Picture Gallery: Where to Find, Description, Works

Have you ever heard of the Picture Gallery of the Capitoline Museums? It is one of the oldest public collections of paintings in the world, with extraordinary works by artists such as Caravaggio, Titian, Rubens , and Guido Reni.

A veritable treasure chest of art that tells centuries of history through its priceless masterpieces. But where exactly is it located? What masterpieces does it house? And how to arrange a visit?

In this article, we will guide you to discover the Pinacoteca Capitolina, explaining its history, the main works , and all the practical tips to best organize your visit.Read on to find out everything you need to know about the Capitoline Museums Pinacoteca and how to admire its masterpieces live.

ALT! Remember that the Capitoline Museums are home to one of the most important painting collections in Italy. Every day hundreds, but what am I saying, thousands of visitors line up to admire it! And you, don’t waste precious time! Book your skip-the-line ticket now and visit the Pinacoteca without waiting.

History of the Capitoline Picture Gallery

The Capitoline Picture Gallery represents the oldest public collection of paintings in the world.

This wonderful collection was established between 1748 and 1750 with the purchase of works from the 16th and 17th centuries from the prestigious Sacchetti and Pio di Savoia collections.

Its holdings were then enriched over time, including, among others, the bequest of Count Francesco Cini in 1881, who donated a splendid collection of porcelain.

Over the centuries, the Pinacoteca has assumed a central role in the preservation and promotion of Italian and European art, a true point of reference for scholars and enthusiasts from all over the world. Are you curious to see it with your own eyes? Continue reading to find out where it is located!

Where is the Pinacoteca of the Capitoline Museums located?

Steps of the Palazzo dei Conservatori

The Pinacoteca Capitolina is located on the second floor of Palazzo dei Conservatori, one of the main buildings of the Capitoline Museums, overlooking the splendid Piazza del Campidoglio.

To reach the Pinacoteca, it is advisable to follow the route suggested by the museum, which allows you to pass through the main exhibition rooms before reaching the pictorial collection.

Access is included in the Capitoline Museums ticket, and the exhibition route is designed to provide an immersive experience among sculpture and painting from different periods.

Are you curious about what you can see when you visit the Pinacoteca? Read on to discover all the wonders of the collection, room by room!

The Capitoline Picture Gallery: full tour

Room I – Central Italy from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance

The Madonna and Child with Angels by Giovanni Antonio Sogliani

Room I houses a selection of sacred paintings made between the late fourteenth and early sixteenth centuries, all on a wooden support.

The works on display show the stylistic evolution from the rigidity of the late Middle Ages to the expressive maturity of the Renaissance.

Among the most representative works are the half-figures of St. Bartholomew and St. Magdalene by Bartolomeo Bulgarini (c. 1350), characterized by a strong devotional iconicity.

The Master of Campli, active between Abruzzo and Lazio, is present with five panels depicting episodes from the Infancy of Christ (1378), an example of the spread of Giotto’s art even in smaller centers.

Another major work is The Trinity by Niccolò di Pietro Gerini (1405-1410), commissioned by merchant Francesco Datini, portrayed with his family at the foot of the sacred scene.

The shift toward a more mature Renaissance sensibility can be seen in the altarpieces on display, including the Madonna and Child Enthroned with Saints by Agostino Marti (1513), an expression of the Tuscan school, and the Madonna Enthroned with Saints Nicholas of Bari and Martin of Tours by Macrino d’Alba (1495-96), which reflects influences from central Italian painting.

Of great impact is The Death and Assumption of the Virgin by Cola dell’Amatrice (1515-16), originally from the convent of San Domenico in Ascoli Piceno and inspired by Raphaelesque art. The scene is divided into two registers: at the bottom, the Apostles mourn the deceased Virgin, while at the top the Madonna is lifted into heaven by angels.

Finally, the tondo with the Madonna and Child with Angels by Giovanni Antonio Sogliani testifies to the persistence of a 15th-century style in Tuscany at the time, while the Presentation in the Temple reveals a double authorship: begun by Francesco Francia in 1514, it was completed by Bartolomeo Passerotti with some modifications.

Room II – The Sixteenth Century in Ferrara

The Holy Family by Dosso Dossi

Room II is devoted to 16th-century Ferrara painting, a period when the city, ruled by the Este family, established itself as a refined cultural center.

Located between Venice, Padua and Bologna, Ferrara assimilated artistic influences from these cities, developing a school of painting characterized by formal elegance and chromatic refinement.

After its annexation to the Church State in 1598, many works were transferred to Roman collections.

Among the masterpieces on display , Benvenuto Tisi’sAnnunciation, known as Garofalo (1528), stands out for its contrast between the humble pose of the Virgin and the richness of the Archangel Gabriel, with domestic details such as a lit fireplace and a cat. The bouquet of carnations in the center is an allusion to the artist’s nickname.

Garofalo, who was highly regarded in Ferrara, used numerous collaborators to carry out his commissions, mainly of religious subjects. From his early period is the Madonna and Child (1512-13), which shows the influence of Raphael’s Roman works.

Another central work is Dosso Dossi’s Holy Family (1527-28), originally intended for a church altar. The Virgin, elegantly dressed, interrupts the reading of an illuminated codex to address the infant Jesus, supported by St. Joseph.

Dosso Dossi, the most eclectic painter of the Ferrara Renaissance, distinguished himself by his ability to range from religious to mythological themes with great originality.

Marking the final phase of the Ferrarese school is Scarsellino’s Escape to Egypt (c. 1595), where the colors are more muted than in earlier works. While maintaining the elegance typical of Ferrara painting, the scene loses the decorative pomp that had characterized the works of the past.

Scarsellino is also the author of two delicate versions of theAdoration of the Magi, in which the Holy Family is set among striking monumental ruins.

Room III – Venice and its territory: the 16th century

The Penitent Magdalene by Domenico Tintoretto

This room houses works from Venice, one of the major centers of the Italian Renaissance and home to some of the greatest artists of any era.

The capital of a powerful and prosperous republic, ruled by the Doges, Venice developed an autonomous style of painting, an alternative to the Umbrian-Tuscan style that dominated the Italian art scene.

For centuries the Most Serene Republic of Venice had kept itself outside the political and cultural affairs of the peninsula, concentrating its interests on trade routes that stretched from the East to China.

However, the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the Ottoman advance pushed the city to turn inland, extending its dominion as far as Lombardy and drawing closer to the artistic trends of northern Italy.

As early as the second half of the 15th century, Venice became one of the main centers of the Renaissance, developing a painting style that favored color and light over the rigid perspective and drawing schemes of central Italy.

The first great interpreter of this innovation was Giovanni Bellini, whose influence was decisive for later generations. A Portrait of a Young Man by him is preserved in the Cini Gallery.

His lesson, combined with the work of Giorgione – an artist who died prematurely in 1510 – laid the foundation for Titian’s extraordinary pictorial production.

In this room you can admire one of his early panels, the Baptism of Christ, commissioned by the Spanish merchant Giovanni Ram. The sacred scene is enhanced by a delicate landscape, while the color scheme focuses attention on the central elements.

A contemporary of Titian, Lorenzo Lotto was a restless and brilliant artist, active in several Italian centers and often misunderstood by his contemporaries.

The Portrait of a Crossbowman, identified as “Mastro Battista di Rocca Contrada” (now Arcevia), is a work of his maturity, created during a period of economic and moral hardship. The work highlights his extraordinary talent for portraying his subjects with psychological introspection.

Lotto’s influence is also perceptible in Portrait of a Woman by Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo, a Brescian active in Venice, whose naturalistic style would influence Caravaggio in later decades.

Another key figure in Venetian painting was Paolo Caliari, known as Veronese, who combined extraordinary formal elegance with an innovative use of color.

His large canvas with the Rape of Europa, shown here, is an autograph replica of a work preserved in the Doge’s Palace in Venice. The composition emphasizes the sensuality of the magnificently clothed figure of Europa, while the mythological scene is narrated at every stage.

Finally, the room presents works by Domenico Tintoretto, son of Jacopo, who took years to break away from his father’s style.

His works on display include three large paintings with episodes from the life of Christ (Baptism, Flagellation, Coronation of Thorns), as well as the Penitent Magdalene, in which the symbols of devotion blend with the poignant beauty of the saint.

Room IV – Artistic trends in Rome in the seventeenth century

The Saint Cecilia of Giovanni Francesco Romanelli

This room brings together works by artists from different geographical areas who were active in Rome during the seventeenth century.

Indeed, the city, the heart of Christianity and a major cultural center, attracted painters from all over Italy and Europe, who were attracted by the opportunity to obtain prestigious commissions and to study the great artistic evidence of the past.

Among the most significant works in the room are:

• Erminia among the Shepherds (1633-1637) by Giovanni Lanfranco, a Parma painter known for his ability to combine Baroque dynamism with an extraordinary chromatic sensitivity.
• Adoration of the Golden Calf (1642) by François Perrier, a French artist who worked in Rome and contributed to the spread of the Baroque style in France.
• Landscape with Flocks (1621-22) by Pietro Paolo Bonzi, a painter known for his idyllic, pastoral landscapes influenced by the Nordic tradition.
• Saint Cecilia (1640) by Giovanni Francesco Romanelli, from Viterbo, trained in the circle of Pietro da Cortona, famous for his refined and decorative style.

Room V – Between the 16th and 17th centuries: Emilia and Rome

Cavalier d’Arpino’s Diana the Huntress

Rome and Bologna were the two main cities of the Church State. Their cultural relations developed from the early sixteenth century, consolidating over time.

Bolognese artists maintained a consistent focus on a formal elegance of the classical type, while in Rome they sought to break out of the limitations of late Mannerism.

Among the most appreciated paintings in this room:

• Dispute of St. Catherine – Prospero Fontana (Bologna 1512 – 1597), 1551
• Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine – Pietro Faccini (Bologna 1575/76 – 1602), 1598-1599
• Diana the Huntress – Cavalier d’Arpino (Giuseppe Cesari, Arpino 1568 – Rome 1640), 1602-1603

Room VI – Painting in Bologna from the Carraccis to Guido Reni

Detail of Guido Reni’s Saint Sebastian

Annibale Carracci-alongwith his cousin, Ludovico, and his brother, Agostino-imparted a fundamental turning point in Italian and European pictorial research, combining the formal elements of classicism with a refined pictorial poetry, capable of telling and moving minds.

With him was born the great Bolognese school, of which Guido Reni was to be the absolute protagonist in the first half of the 17th century.

Among the most appreciated paintings in this room:

• Saint Francis Penitent – Annibale Carracci (Bologna 1560 – Rome 1609), 1585
• Allegory of Providence – Ludovico Carracci (Bologna 1555 – Bologna 1619), 1604-1605
• Saint Sebastian – Guido Reni (Bologna 1575 – 1642), 1615-1616
• Blessed soul – Guido Reni (Bologna 1575 – 1642), 1640-1642

Hall of Santa Petronilla – The great painting of the seventeenth century in Rome

The Good Fortune of Caravaggio

From the last years of the 16th century, Rome once again became the European capital of painting, the main place of artistic research.

All the greatest artists of the day stop in Rome to learn, to work, to seek patrons.

Caravaggio’s long stay, from the mid-1690s until 1606, marked a profound revolution in the history of painting.

Among the most appreciated paintings in the room:

• La Buona Ventura – Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi, Milan 1571 – Porto Ercole 1610), 1596-1597
• Saint John the Baptist – Caravaggio (Michelangelo Merisi, Milan 1571 – Porto Ercole 1610), 1602
• Burial of St. Petronilla – Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, Cento 1591 – Bologna 1666), 1621-1623
• Romulus and Remus – Peter Paul Rubens (Siegen, Westphalia 1577 – Antwerp 1640), 1612
• Sibilla Cumana – Domenichino (Domenico Zampieri, Bologna 1581 – Naples 1641), 1622

Pietro da Cortona Hall – Baroque Painting: Pietro da Cortona and the Cortonese

Detail of Pietro da Cortona’s Portrait of Urban VIII

The great season of Baroque art began in the 1720s, coinciding with the early days of the pontificate of Pope Urban VIII Barberini.

Pietro da Cortona became the first great protagonist of painting in this new epoch because of his ability to elaborate grandiose settings.

The artist was also the point of reference for an entire generation of painters.

Among the most appreciated paintings in the room:

• Portrait of Urban VIII – Pietro da Cortona (Pietro Berrettini, Cortona 1597 – Rome 1669), 1627
• Rape of the Sabine Women – Pietro da Cortona (Pietro Berrettini, Cortona 1597 – Rome 1669), 1630
• David – Giovanni Francesco Romanelli (Viterbo 1610 – 1662), 1638
• The Allumiere of Tolfa – Pietro da Cortona (Pietro Berrettini, Cortona 1597 – Rome 1669), 1630

Cini Gallery – European and Oriental Porcelain

Detail of The Painters Lucas and Cornelis de Wael by Anton Van Dyck

The Cini Gallery houses the precious collection of porcelain donated to the Capitoline Museums by Count Francesco Cini in 1881, augmented over time by other donations of European and Oriental porcelain.

On the walls are European paintings from the 16th-18th centuries and the series of Antwerp tapestries with the Stories of Semiramis.

Among the most appreciated works in the room:

The Concert – Sculpture, Meissen Manufacture, circa 1737-1740 based on a model by Johann Joachim Kändler and Johann Gottlieb Ehder, 1737-1740

Painters Lucas and Cornelis de Wael – Anton Van Dyck (Antwerp 1599 – London 1641), 1627

View of Montecavallo – Watercolor, Gaspar Van Wittel (Amersfoort 1653 – Rome 1736), 1682

Pink family lidded vase – Pottery, China, Jingdezhen Manufacture, Jiangxi, last quarter of the 18th century

How to visit the Capitoline Picture Gallery

The Capitoline She-wolf of the Capitoline Museums

Opening hours

The Pinacoteca Capitolina is an integral part of the Capitoline Museums and, therefore, follows the general hours of the museum complex.

It is therefore open daily, generally from 9:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., with the ticket office closing an hour earlier.

Hours may vary during holidays, so it is always advisable to check our website before visiting.

Tickets and access arrangements

Access to the Pinacoteca Capitolina is always included in the Capitoline Museums ticket. There are several ticket options:

• Single ticket: allows access to the entire museum complex, including the Pinacoteca.
• Combined ticket: allows you to visit the Capitoline Museums and other civic museums in Rome with a single purchase.
• Guided tours: available by reservation, offer in-depth insights into the works on display with the accompaniment of art experts.

To learn more about the options available for online purchase, I recommend checking out this dedicated article of ours.

And if you are interested in free admissions, find all the options in this other article designed especially for you.

Practical tips for visiting

Available services: the museum has free checkroom, bookshop and cafeteria for a break during the visit.

Avoid crowds: the busiest times are on weekends and holidays. For a quieter experience, visit the museum on weekdays, preferably in the morning.

Length of visit: to enjoy the Pinacoteca without rushing, consider at least a couple of hours, especially if you want to delve into the most important works.

Online tickets: buying your ticket in advance on our website saves you so much time by avoiding the queues.

Capitoline Art Gallery: frequently asked questions

The Capitoline Picture Gallery: conclusion

Detail of the gypsy woman in Caravaggio’s Buona Ventura

Here we are at last at the end of this rich insight into the wonders of the Capitoline Picture Gallery.

As we have seen together, the Pinacoteca of the Capitoline Museums is a must-see for those who love great Italian and European painting.

In this article we have explored the history of its collection, with useful information on where to admire it.

We explored together the Capitoline Museums’ extremely rich collection, room by room, dwelling on its most important works.

I then gave you all the information you need to best organize your visit to the Pinacoteca, and concluded by answering frequently asked questions about this incredible tourist attraction.

Do you have any questions? Don’t hesitate to leave a comment below; we will be sure to get back to you as soon as possible.

Have you already visited the Capitoline Picture Gallery? Which work has impressed you the most? Leave a comment to tell us about your experience!

But if you haven’t yet seen for yourself the splendors of the Capitoline collection, don’t miss the chance to admire masterpieces by Caravaggio, Titian, and Rubens! Book your Capitoline Museums ticket now and visit the Pinacoteca without waiting.