The thrill of admiring the Ara Pacis in color returns, through light projections both on the western front of the altar, with the panels of Aeneas and Lupercale, and on the eastern front, with those of Tellus, the Goddess Roma and the great vegetable frieze.
On 19 August 14 AD Augustus died in Nola, right in the same room where his father passed away. The XNUMXth anniversary of his death, celebrated through a series of initiatives promoted by Roma Capitale, Department of Culture, Creativity and Artistic Promotion - Capitoline Superintendency of Cultural Heritage with the organization of Zètema Progetto Cultura, becomes an opportunity to retrace the work of the first Emperor of Rome, the one who contributed to transforming it into a truly cosmopolitan capital, an operation well expressed by the famous phrase he would have uttered in his old age, namely that he had received a brick Rome and left it in marble.
Ara Pacis in colour
The Ara Pacis Museum opens extraordinarily on 19 August, from 21.00 am to 24.00 pm, to admire both the projection of the “The Colors of the Altar” which shows it"The art of command. The Legacy of Augustus at the cost of the ticket of 11 euros. Last entry expected at 23.00 pm.
The projection technique, made digitally, allows you to modify and modulate the profiles and colors in real time. The choice of the individual colors of the Ara Pacis was made on the basis of laboratory analyses, comparisons with Roman painting, especially Pompeian, and chromatic research on ancient architecture and sculptures.
In past years, a study group set up on the occasion of the preparation of the new museum has worked on the hypothesis of the original coloring of the Ara Pacis. In particular, a three-dimensional model of the altar was prepared on which the restitution of color was applied according to philological and historical-stylistic criteria. From the model came the idea of projecting rays of colored light directly onto the marble surfaces of the altar, to recreate, without risking its conservation, the total and realistic effect of the original polychromy. However, the approach remains critical: the intention is not to color the Ara Pacis “as it was” but to return, hypothetically, the appearance close to the original of a distant but not lost past.
Guided visits to the mausoleum of Augustus
The guided visits to the "places of Augustus" organized by the Capitoline Superintendence for the two thousandth anniversary continue: on the morning of Tuesday 19 there is a cycle of visits to the Mausoleum of Augustus which will be held according to the following programme; they can participate in each no more than thirty people by reservation on 060608.
9,30 hours visit held by Dr. Elisabetta Bianchi, archaeologist of the Capitoline Superintendence;
10,30 hours visit held by Dr. Monica Ceci, archaeologist of the Capitoline Superintendence;
11,30 hours visit held by Dr. Simonetta Serra, archaeologist of the Capitoline Superintendence.
The Exhibitions of Rome Capital for the Two Thousandth Anniversary of Augustus
The art of command. The Legacy of Augustus -at the Ara Pacis Museum until 7 September 2014 – is a fundamental step to deepen the main cultural and propaganda policies implemented by Augustus in his principality and replicated over the centuries for their exemplary nature.
The 12 sections of the exhibition, divided into different themes and historical periods, illustrate how emperors such as Charlemagne, Frederick II, Charles V or Napoleon, to name just a few, throughout history have reinterpreted the "art of command" of Augustus sometimes with very close or identical formulas.
Keys to Rome, at Trajan's Market Museum of the Imperial Forums from 24 September 2014 to 12 April 2015 has as the central theme of the exhibition The Keys of Rome. The city of Augustus. The exhibition, conceived and curated by the Capitoline Superintendence and the CNR, is an event organized by the largest European network of excellence on Virtual Museums, V-MUST, coordinated by the National Research Council. Four cities will provide four different perspectives on Roman culture: the heart of Rome, with the Museum of the Imperial Forums; Alexandria in Egypt, in the splendid halls of the Alexandrian Library; Amsterdam at the innovative Allard Pierson Museum and, finally, Sarajevo inside the historic library, seat of the town hall, recently restored. The four cities, which symbolize the "four corners" of the Roman world, are at the basis of the idea of the European exhibition and will be an unprecedented opportunity to look at the Empire from very different historical, geographical, cultural and human points of view. At the center of the museum experience, a journey made up of films, natural interaction systems and mobile applications, will guide the visitor to retrace Roman history, thanks to two protagonists - an old merchant and his nephew - who will have to find the objects that belonged to the family and reveal its secrets, using the keys to Rome, on the only day in which the god Janus will allow the doors of time to be opened. But we will also be able to "walk" in Augustan Rome, discovering evocative places and important architectural testimonies of Augustus' innovative action.
Forum of Augustus. 2000 years later
Forum of Augustus. 2000 years later, a spectacular project conceived and curated by Piero Angela and Paco Lanciano with the historic collaboration of Gaetano Capasso. Thanks to special audio systems with headphones, spectators can listen to music, special effects and Piero Angela's story in 6 languages - Italian, English, French, Russian, Spanish and Japanese - every evening until 27 September 2014 in three performances at 21, 22 and 23 pm from via Alessandrina, overlooking the Forum of Augustus.
TYRTARION at Trajan's Markets
An exceptional show "Tyrtarion" to celebrate Augustus will be staged in the evocative setting of the Trajan's Markets on 30 August at 19.00 with a repeat on 31 August: the poets of the Augustan age "sung" and set to music by the students of the Vivarium Novum Academy. Virgil, Horace, Ovid, Catullus will once again be recited and sung to celebrate the Emperor Augustus in the language of ancient Rome: Latin.
