“NOW and ETERNITY” at ANCIENT ROMAN BATHS
Taking the limelight at the fascinating exhibition of antiquities at the Baths of Diocletian, Rome is the ancient Roman ceremonial carriage discovered during excavations in a Roman suburban villa in the vicinity of Pompeii.
Although the four-wheeled vehicle was largely destroyed during the eruption, its imprint remained in the ashes, allowing it to be accurately reconstructed in its former form, complete with its silver and bronze decorative elements.
Identified as a pilentum (an ornamental carriage used to convey a bride in wedding processions), this is a unique find for Italy. The only other known example was discovered some years ago in a tomb in Greece.
The bridal carriage, however, has to compete for attention with over 300 precious antiquities and objet d'art in the exhibition “L'Istante e l'eternita. Tra noi e gli antichi” (“The Present Moment and Eternity. Between Us and the Ancients”) at present running in the Roman Baths of Diocletian, Rome. Many of the items are on show to the general public for the first time, including the Tabula Chigi, a terracotta panel covered with reliefs depicting episodes from the Illiad, the monumental 840 BC Neolithic female statue from Santorini Island (Greece) and the statue of Hercules, discovered during recent excavations on the Appia Antica Roman road, Rome.
Other striking exhibits include the plaster casts of two of the earthquake victims of Pompeii, two 4th century BC Greek sculptures of athletes, a large representation of the “Navel of the World” from the famous Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi, one of the prehistoric Giant warriors from Sardinia and an inscription on an ossuary altar that brings the exhibition theme of “Us and the Ancients” vividly to life: it tells us that C. Terentius Pistus was an oculist and he lived to the exceptional age of: “87 years, 5 months, 24 days and 10 hours.”
The exhibition runs until the 30th July 2023
MSTENHOUSE
Info: Tel. +39,06.684851 http://museonazionaleromano.beniculturali.it
