«Infesta mihi credite signa ab Syracusis illata sunt hunc urbi». According to Cato the Censor, the corruption of artistic production in Rome was caused by the statues brought from Syracuse. Far from that negative connotation, Sicily therefore carves out a leading role in the history of the cultural conquest of the Greek world against the Roman military victor. This is the story at the center of the story of the exhibition “Greece in Rome”, curated by Eugenio La Rocca and Claudio Parisi Presicce, until 12 April at Villa Caffarilli, at the Capitoline Museums in Rome, promoted by Roma Capitale (organisation of Zètema Progetto Cultura).

Already in the 5th century. to. Among the first to import forms and solutions from the Greek figurative and architectural language were two excellent Sicilian sculptors (plastae), Damophilos and Gorgasos, involved in the decoration of the temple of Ceres, Liber and Libera on the slopes of the Aventine and authors of the fragmentary figure of a wounded Amazon on display. The grandiose parable of the increasingly widespread penetration of this culture into the City, from its foundation to the imperial age, through the first imports, conquests and private collecting, is told in the exhibition through 150 Greek originals, some never exhibited before, others returned to Rome after centuries of dispersion, on loan from the most important Italian and world museums.

Five sections. We begin with «Rome meets Greece», which examines the first contacts between Rome and the Greek communities, already between the 8th and 7th centuries BC, through the network of exchanges in the Mediterranean. Among the works of note is a rich aristocratic funerary object (Group 125), discovered on the Esquiline, which also includes a jug with the inscription in Greek “of Kleiklo”, perhaps the name of a merchant from Corinth, who settled in Rome at the time of Tarquinius Priscus: an indication (which reaches up to the present day) of how Rome, already in its most ancient phases, knew how to integrate foreign flows and transform them into part of its own identity. And then, among bronze votive statuettes, marble artefacts and cups used in sacred rituals, there are also two refined appliques depicting a Quadriga led by a winged Nike (first decades of the 3rd century BC).
From importation to appropriation. The second section “Rome conquers Greece” is based on this change in attitude. Having brought together so many bronze finds here, a rarity given the recast of these works in the Middle Ages, including the Crater of Mithridates V, the colossal Statue of Hercules (2nd century BC), the Hind Quarter of a Bull or the majestic Horse (5th century BC), is worth the visit alone. The next step after appropriation is integration. We are in the third section, «Greece conquers Rome», an extraordinary concentration of masterpieces, from the Amazon on horseback (late 5th century BC) to the Montalto Acrotherium (400 – 300 BC), to Leda with the Swan (410-370 BC), to Athena Nike (430 BC), whose sparkle is due to the fine quality of the Parian marble. From public monuments to private homes, in the «Works of Greek art in private spaces» section you can admire a selection of masterpieces exceptionally brought together here from the Sallustian horti (sumptuous residential complexes), between the Pincio and the Quirinale, including the female figure who collapses struck in the back by a dart (icon of the exhibition), which is part of the sculptures on the pediment which depict the myth of the massacre of Niobe’s children (440 BC). Or, again, the funerary stele of Grottaferrata (410-390 BC), moving for the measured intensity in which a young man is portrayed absorbed in reading a volume he holds on his knees. Starting from the 2nd century BC many Greek sculptors immigrated to Rome and set up flourishing ateliers there. This is the theme of the last section: «Greek artists at the service of Rome», where the Rhyton-shaped fountain (drinking horn; 1st century BC) stands out.

The exhibition, after having managed to touch the most varied and profound chords of the visitor, leaves in a playful way, inviting him to “find the differences” between the two apparently identical twin statuettes of the young Pan coming from a villa near Rome. The setup deserves a separate consideration, one of the best in recent times for an archaeological exhibition. The effectiveness of the narrative is achieved thanks to a balanced integration between the archaeological works and digital technologies, for an engaging visit experience that allows the works to be contextualized, suggesting how they were seen by the first “spectators”, thus promoting real understanding. Not only that. Thanks to a communication system that is never predictable and constantly varied, keys to understanding the meaning that the works then took on over time are also offered, contributing to shaping the Roman artistic language.

The world of things is connected to the world of concepts, even making us perceive the world of feelings. If Umberto Eco alluded to the museum as a tomb (since every museumized object is removed from use and, therefore, from “life”) in highly critical tones, among these rooms the sensation is, instead, that the pieces on display are destined to arouse a very vital, to quote Stephen Greenblatt, “resonance” and “wonder”. But spectacularization is never an end in itself. It almost becomes an instrument of a “hierophany”, a sacred manifestation of the cultural superiority of ancient Greece, capable of surviving the disappearance of a great people and their myths.