Friday, October 06, 2006

Ara Pacis




Some pics of Rome’s newly-renovated “Ara Pacis Augustae” museum. The museum is actually an altar which was dedicated to peace by Augustus in 9 ad. The museum is located in an area of Rome known as the “Campo Marzio”. The monument is known as a marvel of Roman architecture and represents one of the most significant works of art of the Augustea period. It was intended to symbolise the “Roman Peace” obtained under Augustus upon his return from three years spent in Spain. After seven years of work, American architect Richard Meier was responsible for the restructuring of the building which, in true Roman/Italian style, was and still is awash in controversy (a recent International Herald Tribune article reported on the heavy criticism which Meier’s work has been subjected to by Italian art critics and the likes). The museum was inaugurated on April 21, 2006, which just also happens to be the date when Rome was first founded (all pics by M. Rimati).

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