This month's masterpieces from Hadrian's Villa are the black-and-white mosaics with geometric and floral motifs from the Hospitalia (guesthouse). The Hospitalia (guesthouse) was a two-storey building. It contained ten T-shaped bedrooms (cubiculae) on the first floor, on each side of a long and wide central hallway, at the southern end of which was a hall.… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Black-and-white mosaics with geometric and floral motifs
Two weeks ago I returned to Madrid to visit the new Archaeological Museum. Spain's National Archaeological Museum reopened to the public six months ago after a massive six-year revamp that aimed at offering a state-of-the-art space for its collection of ancient artefacts. A total of 13,000 objects are on display in 40 rooms in a… Continue reading Roman mosaics from the National Archaeological Museum of Spain, Madrid
This month's sculpture from Hadrian's Villa is a head of a goddess made of Pentelic marble. She is wearing a diadem in her wavy hair that is centrally parted and dressed in a chignon at the nape of her neck. It was found in a cryptoporticus near the circular temple dedicated to the Venus of… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Head of a diademed goddess
This month’s masterpiece from Hadrian’s Villa is a bas-relief representing a boy with a horse, probably Castor taming his horse, accompanied by a dog. This marble slab was carved using the ancient flat style in the manner of Greek works of the 5th century BC. It was found in an area of Hadrian’s villa known… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Marble relief depicting a youth with his horse
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
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
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
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
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
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)
