ROME EXHIBITIONS AT COLOSSEUM
- Reviews of all major exhibitions that took place in the past -

Running Exhibition from March 5th to September 4th 2008
"Roman Victories"

The bas-reliefs, bronzes, coins, sculptures and paintings on display aim to get the concept of ‘Roman vistories’ across to the public by telling us about the ceremonies and festivities surrounding the historic big battles. The first section of the exhibition relates to victories and their development, from the Etruscan to the Hellenistic worlds; the second section shows images of illustrious victors and the illustrious defeated – among which Caesar, Pompeius and Octavian – and reproduces battle scenes. The last section is devoted to conquered peoples: the Greeks, the Judeans, the Dacians and the Barbarians.

Running Exhibition till February 17th 2008
"In scaena. The theatre of ancient Rome"

This fascinating archaeological exhibition tells the story of an essential component of Roman culture: the theatre. The exhibition opens with about 70 works that explore the complex origins of theatre: its Greek and Italic roots, the Etruscan contribution to its evolution, the performances that evolved out of Magna Grecia. Another section is centred on the structure of theatres and on set design, both aspects that, with time, evolved their own style. The last part of the exhibition is extremely effective and composed of an overview of the protagonists of the theatrical experience: the actors –their miming techniques and dramatic abilities – and the public, passionate about this form of art made up of music, dance, singing and acting.

Running Exhibition till September 16th 2007
"Eros"

Some of the most interesting estatues dating back to Greek epoque and Roman Empire presented inside one of the most visited monuments in the world. A unique possibility to be immersed in a real classical atmosphere.

Running Exhibition till October 16th 2006
"HUGO PRATT "

Running Exhibition till June 19th 2005
"EDWARD MUNCH"

The exhibition Munch 1863-1944 has been opened at Complesso del Vittoriano .It has been curated by Øivind Storm Bjerke and Achille Bonito Oliva; More than 100 are present; we find paintings and graphic works coming from the most prestigious international museums like Munchmuseet, which preserves the artist works donated by him to the town of Oslo just before his death. The exhibition has been set up following a chronological path that analyzes the development stages of Edvard Munch work: his first naturalist paintings, the consonance with symbolism and in the end the paintings that come just before the great expressionist season of which the painter is considered the father and the forerunner. Munch artistic career has been complicated and tormented as also demonstrated by the reputation he got from official contemporary critic; his 1892 exhibition at Künstlerverein in Berlin, stirred up a big scandal in the academic milieau and was even censored and shut down. Important for his cultural education was his friendship with August Strindberg, Friedrich Nietzsche philosophy and his trip to France such as the one taken in 1896, in Paris where Munch got in touch with the artists and writers group that used to meet on the " Mallarmé Tuesday" . Some of the works present at the exhibition are: Bambina malata, Pubertà, Madonna, Malinconia, Ragazze sul ponte, Il bacio, Morte nella camera della malata, Gelosia, Separazione, all showing the existential anguish he experienced during his life and present in all his works, an evident proof of a life tormented by diseases, and pain and by his family s death, in fact her sister Sophie died in 1877, his father in 1889 and his brother Andreas in 1895. Munch will experience physical pain because he was struck by different illnesses as for example the eye disease which prevented him from painting for a long time or the frequent hallucinations and the problems due to alcohol abuse which will take him to the sanatorium. He died in 1944 in his holding Ekely in Sköyen, near Oslo.

Running Exhibition from December 7th 2004 to February 27th 2005
"EDGAR DEGAS"
PALAZZO VENEZIA, ROMA

A personal exhibition devoted to Edgar Degas (1834-1917) has been opened at Complesso del Vittoriano of Rome. Degas has always been considered an impressionist but to tell the truth he is very original with regard to the Batignolles group. No art has ever been as spontaneous as mine, used to say Degas to add: "What I do is the result of meditation and study of the Great Masters". Degas, on one hand used to study and copy the classics almost obsessively and on the other hand he updated his pointing by putting it in a contemporary dimension where modern life is depicted in its variety, in its most hidden and less pleasant aspects, as in the Assenzio for example. The acquaintance with Manet in 1862 at the Louvre has for sure been decisive for the painter, who unlive the impressionists liked to paint urban life (cafés, the ballet-dancers, the theatre, the horses-race) representing it in paintings made in his studio and not on plain air or sur le motif as Monet or the other impressionists used to do. Nonetheless Degas can be considered a true impressionist, thanks to his ability in depicting the events temporariness the binomial drawing-colour and in interpreting reality in its entireness and space-time continuity. More than 170 works are on display: besides his most famous oils and pastels we can see drawings and photographs and the entire collection of sculptures belonging to Museu de Arte di S. Paolo in Brasile.