A Look at the Unveiled Torlonia Marbles Exhibition in Rome
Rome, known for the never-ending history and as a ceaseless open museum with pieces of art that every corner has to offer, as well as breathtaking exhibitions with pieces that make you travel to Ancient Rome all the way to this century and contemporary art.
Torlonia, a private museum that was funded after the tradition of noble families, opened the doors to public after years of being a private collection. With a distinguished set of paintings that most learn in art history, 620 artworks that are alive since the 5thcentury BCE, from Greek and Roman statues, sarcophagus, busts, vases and paintings.
The catalogue that was preserved, saved and stored into three different showrooms in Rome, specially during World War 2. Years went by and the pieces were still under safeguard, without any audience to visit it. But now, with the help of the family’s foundation and the Torlonia hirers, the exhibition finally went on display on a newly refurbished area of the Capitoline Museums in Rome. The restoration of the exhibition was sponsored by Bulgari luxury house and it contains 92 works. “It’s an exhibit that writes a new chapter in the prestigious history of the collection,” said Alessandro Poma Murialdo, president of the Torlonia Foundation.
The Foundation was originally founded on 2013 by Murialdo’s grandfather, Prince Alessandro Torlonia, who was extremely tied to the collection. And ever since the start of the establishment, he wanted to expose the masterpieces he had been preserving for a prolonged time.
A few years after his death, this year the family finally managed to release the collection into light despite of the ongoing pandemic. With plans to send the showings abroad, discussions about the situation came up, especially with institutions in Europe and the United States, where the art works were supposed to travel, since sharing it on an international level would bring and extra value to the works and for the glory of name itself.
This small portion that will be shown into light is the work of many restorers and years of collection from the Torlonia family. Visitors of the exhibition are greeted with an abundance of busts arranged in rows, along with bronze, sarcophagus, lion heads, Greek goddesses, Ulysse and others. The display is divided into four parts, coded by colors. Red walls with a Pompei shade for the area of the excavated pieces made the family themselves, blue for the Cavaceppi and Albani collections, yellow for Giustiniani compilation and green for the 15thand 16thcentury pieces.
It also shows notable items of great prestige such as the statue of a goat, whose modern head was attributed to the well-known Bernini and a vase that depicts the Labors of Hercules from the first century BCE.
This is an event that will mark art history as we know it today, by giving the chance for execrators to visit an unmissable collection from the biggest artists in the history of Roman and Italian art. The collection did not only open for the Italian audience, but went international thanks to a tour that Alessandro Poma Murialdo gave through online transmission. Rome’s best kept secret can finally be discovered. The presentation will be set up until June 29th, 2021 at Villa Caffarelli (Musei Capitolini) as The Torlonia Marbles: Collecting Masterpieces.
Alex Heymert Siles.
