From refined Etruscan bronze artifacts to masterful Roman marble sculptures, these works offer glimpses into the country’s most ancient history. The museum-quality masterpieces can be visited without tickets or lines on the Art Outside the Museum itinerary.
All the works on display at the hotels are loans granted under the protection of the Protocol, signed between the Directorate General of Museums of the Ministry of Culture, Federalberghi Lazio, and LoveItaly, which aims to disseminate and democratize Italy’s cultural heritage. The works were previously preserved in museum storage because they require restoration before being exhibited and funding is lacking. As is the case in almost every country around the world, there are thousands, indeed millions, of objects waiting their turn in the spotlight.
The virtuous circle of Art Outside the Museum offers a special spotlight: display in a hotel in the capital and the opportunity to share its history with residents and visitors. Each host hotel provides funds for the restoration of the artwork it houses, as well as the display case and transportation. The restoration of a historic work also offers numerous opportunities to deepen understanding of the artifact through the research that accompanies the intervention and, in many cases, the study of the materials and methods used.
Each work tells its own story; together, they tell important pieces of the history of us all.
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Ciste | Etruscan Beauty Case
Palazzo Dama, Lungotevere Arnaldo da Brescia | Hotel Dom, Via Giulia
on loan from Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia
Etruscan women enjoyed an independence and freedom of movement similar to modern times. They could participate in public life on a par with men and had the right to own property and run businesses. Beauty rituals were also practiced, as demonstrated by the objects on display at the hotels, Palazzo Dama and Hotel DOM, on loan from the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia.
The ciste —bronze cylinders, often with lids and handles decorated and engraved with meaningful scenes—were the equivalent of today’s beauty cases, used by women to hold toiletries, hair care products, and nail polish. They were often given to brides as a wedding gift.
The large cista at Palazzo Dama is notable for its engraved scene of the future bridegroom listening to advice before taking up arms and departing, and for the woman preparing to bathe; while the cista at Hotel Dom is a little jewel, adorned with a panther and with the feet of a griffin. The display case also holds a small bronze head of great beauty—perhaps a portrait of Turan, the Etruscan goddess of beauty – whose hair hides the hinge that provided access to the perfumed ointments inside.
Roman women are also represented, starting with another goddess of beauty—the Greco-Roman Aphrodite/Venus.
The famous bronze masterpiece created by Praxiteles for the Temple of Cnidos—which depicts the goddess bathing, strikingly naked—inspired many copies… fortunately, because the original has been lost.
The head of Aphrodite of Knidos on display at the Albergo del Senato bears signs of submersion in water, likely in the harbor of ancient Centumcellae (present-day Civitavecchia). But these signs in no way obscure the beauty of the portrait, whose size and weight (60 kg) suggest a statue in the port to protect seafarers.
Part of the collection of the National Archaeological Museum of Civitavecchia (ROME), the loan is provided by the Museum with the Direzione Regionale Musei Lazio.
Head di Aphrodite of Knidos
Hotel del Senato, Piazza della Rotonda
The statue of the Goddess Roma (or Virtus), also made of marble, is on display at the Bettoja Hotel Mediterraneo. Wearing an Amazonian-inspired costume, the goddess carries weapons and a helmet, representing not only the powerful capital of the Roman Empire but also a coveted quality of that culture—virtus. The statue, whose provenance is lost, will return to the National Roman Museum in Palazzo Massimo at the end of its term.
Goddess Rome or Virtus
Bettoja Hotel Mediterraneo, Via Cavour
On loan from Museo Nazionale Romano
Earthly power is also represented by two powerful women: Empress Faustina the Elder and Domitia Lucilla, mother of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The sisters-in-law are exhibited on the same street, at the Hotel Diana and the Hotel Universo.
Domitia Lucilla, a noblewoman of almost modern beauty, made herself famous in history for her modesty and kindness, despite the wealth she possessed.
Portrait of Domitia Lucilla
Hotel Universo, via di Principe Amedeo
on loan from Parco Archeologico di Ostia Antica
The marble heads were found during the excavation of Ostia Antica and are on loan from the Parco Archeologico di Ostia Antica, as is the last work which comes from the Necropolis of Porto at Isola Sacra.
Portrait of Faustina the Elder
Faustina the Elder, wife of Emperor Antoninus Pius, was deified after her death by her husband, and a temple erected to their names still stands imposingly in the Imperial Forums.
Hotel Diana, Via Principe Amedeo
on loan from Parco archeologico di Ostia Antica
The tour ends with perhaps the most powerful woman of all—the mythological Fate: Lachesis. She shared the task of determining human destiny with her two sisters: Clotho spun the thread of an individual’s life, Lachesis measured it and determined its length, and relentless Athropos cut it. Not even the Olympian gods were exempt.
the Fate Lachesis
Hotel Scalinata di Spagna, Piazza Trinità dei Monti
on loan from Parco archeologico di Ostia Antica
The fresco—on loan to the Hotel Scalinata di Spagna—reminds us to fully appreciate the beauty of life… not a difficult task from the top of Piazza Trinità dei Monti with its unparalleled view of Rome.
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Many thanks to:
Fondazione Roma
Fondazione Ludovico degli Uberti
