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Feb 19,2006 - Feb 26,2006 |
An imperial mansion on display
For the first time, an exhibition presents the findings of the Janiculum palace
Originally Published: 2006-02-05
Despite centuries of excavations and studies, the ground below Rome has yet to cease yielding remains of all epochs and kind, often from buildings of great historical importance. During the works for the 2000 Jubilee, the Janiculum hill revealed a precious trove of marble that had remained hidden for over 2000 years, which preserved them from likely dispersal. The treasure, probably belonging to the Imperial estate, has been given new life in I colori del fasto. La domus del Gianicolo e i suoi marmi ("The colours of luxury. The Janiculum domus and its marble"), an exhibition held at Rome's Palazzo Altemps. This palace is a symbol of cultural continuity for Roman art, with its Renaissance architecture and marvellous collections of ancient sculpture. According to the ancient sources, including Seneca and Philo, on the northern slopes of the Janiculum, in an area comprised between Mount Santo Spirito and the right bank of the Tiber, were located the Horti (Gardens) of Agrippina the Elder, private residence of Agrippina, Augustus' granddaughter and Caligula's mother. The luxurious decorations of her palace surrounded by gardens overlooking the Tiber - precious coloured marble carved as capitols, pilaster strips, crowns and linings, sophisticated wall decorations and other findings, arranged in the theatre of Palazzo Altemps - allow us a glimpse on how luxurious the building was. Between 1999 and 2000, excavations brought to light a series of rooms (one is even reconstructed in the exhibition) with architectural paintings and decorative motifs; one of these rooms contained an extraordinary repository of marble pieces, orderly stored in order to be reused: 600 pieces, probably from one building, dating to the 1st century B.C.
Most of the findings come from the marble repository of the domus, where pieces had been stored by type (capitols, bases, pilaster strips, smooth and carved crowns, lintels and so on). Marbles are especially striking for their great variety: white from Carrara, ancient red from southern Greece, ancient yellow from Numidia, slate, alabaster, etc. This surprising repository also contained elements of inlaid figurines, a small column, a tripod base, and Aphrodite Charis. This small and sophisticated statuette of a female figure wrapped in a long, transparent chiton that leaves her breast partly exposed, has a very skilfully made face: elongated eyes, straight nose and slightly open lips. Her long hair is centrally parted and forms a chignon behind her head, with two holes that highlight the hairdo and a tall jewelled diadem. This elegant figure - an excellent specimen of the type known as "Aphrodite Louvre-Naples" - reflects the eclectic taste of the second quarter of the 1st century B.C. for graceful figures inspired to classical Greek sculpture.
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