“Water in the Art and Art of Water” is the title of the exhibition held at the National Museum of Rome Terme di Diocleziano, from 7 April to 31 May 2023, an event that celebrates Rome through the noblest of the four elements, precisely water. Already in ancient times Queen Aquarum with its fountains and the great availability of water it gave further magnificence to the city. Then as now Rome is full of fountains and drinking fountains (Nasoni) which celebrate the triumph of water.
The exhibition is organized into two macro sections
The art of water, with the exhibition of particular archaeological finds and an insight into the historical fountains and nasoni of the capital;
Water in art, with the presence of artistic objects related to the theme of water.
The Baths of Diocletian
The Baths of Diocletian monumental complex unique in the world for its size and exceptional state of conservation. They were built in just eight years between 298 and 306 AD and extended over an area of thirteen hectares, in the area between the Viminale and Quirinale hills.
The National Roman Museum Established in 1889, the National Roman Museum, whose historical headquarters are the Baths of Diocletian, is one of the most extraordinary artistic heritages in Italy divided, between 1995 and 2001, also into three other museums: Palazzo Altemps, Palazzo Massimo at the Baths and Crypta Balbi.
The ACEA Group it is the first national water operator, linked for over a century to the history of Rome, to that of its aqueducts and its fountains, it manages the entire water system of the capital. “Today – declared the Chief Executive Officer of ACEA Fabrizio Palermo – we are inaugurating an exhibition which, through art, recounts the importance of water in the development of the history of civilization and celebrates the excellence of Italian hydraulic engineering, born in the times of the ancient Romans…”
“The exhibition – declares the Director of the Roman National Museum Stephane Verger – proposes a reasoned collection of finds still preserved in the deposits of the Baths of Diocletian and Palazzo Massimo. The theme of water management and culture in ancient Rome will undoubtedly have a central role in the various sections of the new story of the city that is being built”.
