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.Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) BUST OF MEDUSASculpture 1644-1648Marble cm 68In Greek mythology Medusa was a monster; a Gorgon; generally described as a winged human female with a hideous face and living venomous snakes in place of hair. She had the power to turn the stone anyone who looked directly at her. Medusa was beheaded by the hero Perseus; who thereafter used her head; which retained its ability to turn onlookers to stone; as a weapon until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield.