Ancient Greek and Roman Statues Reappear After Years in Storage
2020-10-18
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1Visitors to Rome can now see one of the most important private collections of ancient Greek and Roman marble sculptures.
2The 90 works from the Torlonia Collection opened this week in the newly rebuilt Palazzo Caffarelli, overlooking the Roman Forum.
3Among the works is a marble fountain that was made in ancient Greece.
4Experts on ancient Rome believe the fountain once stood in the garden of the general and statesman Julius Caesar.
5At the time, it was already hundreds of years old.
6The 620-piece Torlonia collection is believed to be the greatest private collection of classical art in the world.
7It was begun more than a century ago by Prince Alessandro Torlonia.
8He found many of the pieces on the grounds of his family's Roman properties.
9Wealthy from a business relationship with the Vatican, the family purchased other well-known sculpture collections.
10In 1884, the Prince built his own museum to show off his collection.
11When the museum closed in 1976, the pieces went into storage.
12"The reappearance of such a...collection is a very important event," said art historian Salvatore Settis.
13"When I saw them for the first time it was very emotional because I knew most of those pieces from books, but I had never seen them."
14The Torlonia family chose Settis to help with the difficult job of deciding which works should be shown to the public.
15Anna Maria Carruba helped prepare the statues for the show.
16"Many of these pieces were already restored from (the year) 1600 onwards. We didn't need to work on the structure of the statues but only on the surfaces, cleaning them," she said.
17Italy's culture minister Dario Franceschini says the works "take your breath away."
18He spoke to reporters on Monday.
19He added that it was unfortunate that COVID-19 safety restrictions would limit the number of people who can visit.
20The show will stay open until June 29, 2021.
21It is the result of public and private cooperation among the culture ministry, the city of Rome, the Torlonia Foundation and the Roman jeweler Bvlgari.
22Show organizers said there had been plans to bring the artworks to other countries, but the coronavirus pandemic has left those plans uncertain.
23I'm Susan Shand.
1Visitors to Rome can now see one of the most important private collections of ancient Greek and Roman marble sculptures. 2The 90 works from the Torlonia Collection opened this week in the newly rebuilt Palazzo Caffarelli, overlooking the Roman Forum. 3Among the works is a marble fountain that was made in ancient Greece. Experts on ancient Rome believe the fountain once stood in the garden of the general and statesman Julius Caesar. At the time, it was already hundreds of years old. 4The 620-piece Torlonia collection is believed to be the greatest private collection of classical art in the world. 5It was begun more than a century ago by Prince Alessandro Torlonia. He found many of the pieces on the grounds of his family's Roman properties. Wealthy from a business relationship with the Vatican, the family purchased other well-known sculpture collections. 6In 1884, the Prince built his own museum to show off his collection. When the museum closed in 1976, the pieces went into storage. 7"The reappearance of such a...collection is a very important event," said art historian Salvatore Settis. "When I saw them for the first time it was very emotional because I knew most of those pieces from books, but I had never seen them." 8The Torlonia family chose Settis to help with the difficult job of deciding which works should be shown to the public. 9Anna Maria Carruba helped prepare the statues for the show. 10"Many of these pieces were already restored from (the year) 1600 onwards. We didn't need to work on the structure of the statues but only on the surfaces, cleaning them," she said. 11Italy's culture minister Dario Franceschini says the works "take your breath away." He spoke to reporters on Monday. 12He added that it was unfortunate that COVID-19 safety restrictions would limit the number of people who can visit. 13The show will stay open until June 29, 2021. It is the result of public and private cooperation among the culture ministry, the city of Rome, the Torlonia Foundation and the Roman jeweler Bvlgari. 14Show organizers said there had been plans to bring the artworks to other countries, but the coronavirus pandemic has left those plans uncertain. 15I'm Susan Shand. 16The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. 17________________________________________________________________ 18Words in This Story 19sculpture - n. a three-dimensional piece of art that is made from stone or metal 20fountain - n. an outdoor, stone structure that water flows through 21garden - n. an outdoor area of flowers and shrubs 22restore - v. to return something to its original condition 23unfortunate - adj. not having good luck 24pandemic - n. a contagious disease that moves from country to country