Built in the 1840s in the Bavarian town of Aschaffenburg, the Pompeiianum (called Pompejanum in German) is an idealized reconstruction of a Roman house based on excavations in Pompeii. It is picturesquely located high on a terrace ridge overlooking the River Main. Now a unique tourist attraction, the building is a testimony to the enthusiasm for Antiquities… Continue reading The Pompeiianum, a reconstructed Roman Villa in the German town of Aschaffenburg
Category: Museum
Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Mosaic of the Doves
This month's masterpiece from Hadrian's Villa is a mosaic depicting a group of doves around an ornate bowl, known as the Capitoline Doves. - The mosaic is made of thousands of tiny tesserae in a dazzling range of colours called opus vermiculatum, the most sophisticated mosaic technique. It depicts four doves on the rim of… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Mosaic of the Doves
The Hadrianic reliefs from the Arch of Portugal (Arco di Portogallo), Rome
About halfway along today’s Via del Corso, once known as Via Lata, a large Roman arch used to span the street until the mid-17th century. Originally called the Arcus Hadriani, the arch was renamed Arco di Portogallo (Arch of Portugal) in the 16th century because it was located near the residence of the Portuguese ambassador, the… Continue reading The Hadrianic reliefs from the Arch of Portugal (Arco di Portogallo), Rome
Exhibition: ‘Hadrian and Greece’ at Villa Adriana, from 9 April to 2 November 2014
From today, the Villa Adriana's Antiquarium is hosting an important new exhibition: "Hadrian and Greece. Hadrian's Villa between Classicism and Hellenism". Fifty masterpieces have arrived at Villa Adriana on loan from Greek museums (from Athens, Marathon, Piraeus and Corinth and Villa of Herodes Atticus in Loukou), many of them never exhibited in Italy before. The… Continue reading Exhibition: ‘Hadrian and Greece’ at Villa Adriana, from 9 April to 2 November 2014
Artefact: The so-called Trivulzio Diatreta Cup, a late Roman luxury glass
A splendid example of highly prized workmanship from the 4th century AD, the Trivulzio Diatreta Cup (known by the name of the collector who brought it to Milan in the 18th century) is a luxury cup consisting of an inner beaker and an outer cage of decoration with circular geometrical patterns and an inscription. The… Continue reading Artefact: The so-called Trivulzio Diatreta Cup, a late Roman luxury glass
Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Marble statue of Flora, goddess of flowers and the season of spring
As she talks, her lips breathe spring roses: I was Chloris, who am now called Flora. Ovid This week's sculpture from Hadrian's Villa is a marble statue of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers and the spring season. While she was otherwise a relatively minor figure in Roman mythology, being one among several fertility goddesses,… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Marble statue of Flora, goddess of flowers and the season of spring
Roman mosaics from Lusitania (Portugal)
Among the most impressive Roman remains that can be seen today in Portugal are the large, prosperous farms and luxurious villas built in the countryside by the elite. The villas were splendidly decorated with mosaics, frescoes, and sculptures. Some of the mosaics, still in situ or exhibited in the Archaeological Museum of Lisbon, are often very… Continue reading Roman mosaics from Lusitania (Portugal)
Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Marble statue of a crouching Venus
This week's sculpture from Hadrian's Villa is a marble statue of Venus, the goddess of love, crouching at her bath. The statue is modelled after the Crouching Aphrodite type, attributed to the 3rd-century BC sculptor Doidalsas of Bithynia. Venus crouches with her right knee close to the ground, turns her head to the right and,… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Marble statue of a crouching Venus
Monsters and mythical creatures invade Rome (photos)
The Roman National Museum at Palazzo Massimo is hosting a superb and original exhibition called “Mostri, creature fantastiche della paura e del mito” (Monsters, fantastic creatures of fear and myth). The show brings together over 100 works from 40 museums depicting fantastical creatures, all in a series of dark passages intended to resemble the Minotaur’s… Continue reading Monsters and mythical creatures invade Rome (photos)
The Nerva-Antonines in Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome
The National Roman Museum Palazzo Massimo alle Terme in Rome houses one of the world's most important collections of Greek and Roman art. On the four floors of the museum, sculptures, frescoes, mosaics, coins, and jewels document the evolution of the Roman artistic culture from the late Republican age through Late Antiquity. In the rooms… Continue reading The Nerva-Antonines in Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome