(it is worth making a detour) Museum

Source: Wikipedia

The Museum of the Roman Civilization (Italian: Museo della Civiltà Romana) is a museum in Rome (Esposizione Universale Roma district), devoted to aspects of the Ancient Roman civilization. As of 2019, the museum is closed indefinitely for renovation.

History and general introduction

It was designed by the architects Pietro Ascheri, D. Bernardini and Cesare Pascoletti (1939–1941). Its 59 sections illustrate the history of Roman civilization, from the origins to the 4th century, with models and reproductions, as well as original material. The premises are shared with a planetarium. It houses, among other things: a model of Archaic Rome (Room XVIII) a scale model of ancient Rome in the age of Constantine I by Italo Gismondi (Room XXXVII-XXXVIII), derived from the Forma Urbis Romae map and integrated with archeological discoveries. This model is at a 1:250 scale and is made of plaster. The model was begun in 1935 and completed in 1971. This model is today the most important reference for any serious attempt of reconstruction of the Ancient Rome: it has been used for the "Rome Reborn 1.0" 3D Visualization Project (B. Frischer, Director, University of Virginia; D. Favro, Associate Director, UCLA; D. Abernathy, Director of 3D Modeling, University of Virginia; G. Guidi, Director of 3D Scanning, Politecnico di Milano). Gismondi's model can be seen also in a few shots of the film Gladiator by R. Scott. examples of late imperial and early Christian art a complete sequence of casts of the spiral reliefs round Trajan's Column, arranged in horizontal rows at ground level to facilitate reading. a reconstructed Roman library based on that in the Villa Adriana at TivoliThe museum was closed for renovation in January 2014. Work on the renovation was started in June 2017; as of November 2019, no date has been announced for the reopening.

Structure

There are three main different itineraries through the rooms of the museum: Historical sections Thematic sections Model of Imperial Rome

Historical sections

Room V-VI: Roman legends and primitive culture - the origins of Rome Room VII: The conquest of the Mediterranean Room VIII: Caesar Room IX: Augustus Lifesize copy of the pronaos of the Monumentum Ancyranum, the Temple of Augustus and Rome, Ankara, Turkey, including the Res Gestae Divi Augusti inscription Scale reconstruction model (1:100) of the Theatre of Marcellus, Rome Scale reconstruction model (1:20) of the Tropaeum Alpium in La Turbie, France Scale reconstruction model (1:200) of the Pont du Gard, Nîmes, France Room X: Augustus’ family and the Julio-Claudian emperors Room XI: The Flavians Room XII: Trajan and Hadrian Room XIII: The emperors from Antonius Pius to the Severans Room XIV: The emperors from Macrinus to Justinian Room XV: Christianity Room XVI: The army Room XVIII: Model of archaic Rome

Thematic sections

Room XXXVI: School Room XXXIX: Living spaces Room XLVI: Rights Room XLVII: Libraries Room XLVIII: Music Room XLIX: Literature and science Room L: Medicine and drugs Room LI: Trajan’s Column Room LII: Industry and craft Room LIII: Agriculture, herding and land management Room LIV: Hunting, fishing and food Room LV: Commerce and economic life Room LVI: Art of rome

Model of Imperial Rome

Room XXXVII-XXXVIII: Model of Imperial Rome (in the age of Constantine I)

Appearance in popular culture

In the James Bond film Spectre, the marble colonnade of the museum doubled as a cemetery after the Archconfraternity of the Departed confraternity barred the filming of a funeral scene at the Campo Verano cemetery.

References

External links

Official websiteMuseum of Roman Civilization, Rome, Italy Model of Archaic Rome