THE CAPITOLINE MUSEUMS (Musei Capitolini) IN ROME; ITALY.The creation of the Capitoline Museums has been traced back to 1471; when Pope Sixtus IV donated a group of bronze statues of great symbolic value to the People of Rome. The collections are closely linked to the city of Rome; and most of the exhibits come from the city itself.BUST OF COMMODUS AS HERCULES in the hall of the Horti LamaniRoman Emperor from AD 180 to 192 AD Sculpture Marble cm 133The bust of COMMODUS is one of the most famous masterpieces of Roman portraiture and depicts the emperor in the guise of Hercules; whose attributes he has been given: the lion's skin over his head; the club in this right hand; and the golden apples of Hesperides in his left hand as a reminder of the Greek hero's feats. The incredibily well-preserved bust is placed on a complex allegorical composition: two kneeling Amazons (only one is well-preserved) besige a globe decorated with the signs of the zodiac hold aloft a cornucopia; which is entwined with a pelta; the Amazons' characteristic shield. The celebratory intent that; through a wealth of symbols; imposes the divine cult of the emperor; is further underlined by the two marine Tritons flanking the central figure to express his apotheosis. The group was recovered in an underground room of the Horti Lamiani complex; where it had probably been hidden.