Relief of a Roman Province

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This Roman relief is an embodiment of the Province. The Palazzo dei Conservatori ("Palace of the Conservators") was constructed during the Middle Ages for the local magistrate atop a sixth-century BC temple dedicated to Jupiter "Maximus Capitolinus". Michelangelo's renovation incorporated the first use of a giant order spanning two storeys, here featuring a range of Corinthian pilasters and subsidiary Ionic columns flanking ground-floor loggia openings and second-floor windows. Michelangelo’s new portico is an innovative reinterpretation of older ideas. The portico contains entablatures and a flat, coffered ceiling. The entablatures rest on columns positioned at the front of each bay, while matching half-columns stand against the back wall. Each pilaster forms a composite unit with the pier and column on either side of it. Colossal pilasters set on large bases join the portico and upper story. All windows are capped with segmental pediments. A balustrade fringing the roof emphasizes the pronounced horizontality of the entire structure against which the vertical lines of the orders rise in striking contrast. The verticality of the colossal order creates a sense of self-contained space while the horizontality of the entablatures and balustrades accentuate the longitudinal axis of the piazza. The palazzo’s facade was updated by Michelangelo in the 1530s and again later numerous times. In Rome, the portico of the Palazzo dei Conservatori housed offices for various guilds. Here disputes arising from business transactions were resolved unless they were significant enough to be heard by a communal tribunal such as that of the conservatori. It was a natural location for such activity. Until the 1470s, the main market of the city took place on and around the campidoglio, while cattle continued to be taxed and sold in the ancient forum located just south of there.