To Rome and Back: LACKMA’s New Exhibition on Roman Art Throughout the Ages

From June, 2018, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)  is showing the exhibition To Rome and Back: Individualism and Authority in Art, 1500–1800. The works were assembled entirely from LACMA’s collection of Roman art. The gallery aims to show Rome’s progression over the centuries from Republic to Empire, from capital of the Christian world to capital of the new Italian Kingdom.

Many of the works in the show were not made in the city but were inspired by it. For example, one of the main pieces of the exhibition is Giorgio Vasari’s Holy Family with Saint Francis in a Landscape. This Renaissance work was not created in Rome and was created by a Florentine artist for a Venetian merchant, yet Rome’s influence can be felt throughout the work.  The work shows the Holy Family (Jesus, Mary and Joseph) with Saint Francis. Throughout the scene many allusions to Rome can seen. Mary wears on her arm an epaulette that implies that she is dressed as a Roman Soldier. While the scene is supposed to be set in the Holy Land the background is distinctively the Roman countryside.  The ruins of Tivoli which are located outside of Rome sit prominently in the image. This best displays the goals of the exhibition as it shows just how the idea of Rome and the history and power behind it still permeate the consciousness of most European artists. The Exhibition will run from June 24, 2018 through March 17, 2019.

-William Caterham