INDIANAPOLIS MUSEUM OF ART TO PRESENT SCULPTURES FROM THE MUSEO NAZIONALE ROMANO

THE INDIANAPOLIS MUSEUM OF ART ANNOUNCES THAT IT WILL RECEIVE A LONG-TERM LOAN OF SEVERAL ANCIENT SCULPTURES FROM THE MUSEO NAZIONALE ROMANO, ROME IN JANUARY 2011. ON LOAN FOR A RENEWABLE TWO YEAR PERIOD, THE OBJECTS INCLUDE THREE LIFE-SIZE PORTRAIT BUSTS AND A MARBLE FUNERARY URN FROM THE VIGNA CODINI COLUMBARIUM II, A MAJOR ROMAN TOMB DISCOVERED IN 1847. THE LOAN OF THE VIGNA CODINI TOMB GROUP IS AN EXAMPLE OF NEW TYPES OF LOANS THAT THE ITALY-US MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING, SIGNED IN 2003, IS INTENDED TO FOSTER. WHILE OTHER MAJOR US MUSEUMS HAVE RECENTLY HAD LONG-TERM LOANS FROM ITALY, MOST HAVE BEEN IN CONNECTION WITH THE RETURN OF OBJECTS DISCOVERED TO HAVE BEEN ILLEGALLY EXPORTED. THE IMA's PRESENTATION OF SCULPTURES FROM THE VIGNA CODINI TOMB WILL ASSEMBLE THE CONTENTS OF THIS REMARKABLE DISCOVERY AND GIVE UNIQUE INSIGHT INTO THE ORIGINAL FIRST CENTURY AD PRESENTATION OF MAJOR EXAMPLES OF ROMAN ART. THE VIGNA CODINI TOMB IS AN INTRIGUING SITE THAT PROVIDES GREAT INSIGHT INTO ROMAN LIFE. DISCOVERED ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF ROME IN 1847, THE TOMB WAS PAID FOR BY A CORPORATION OF FREED SLAVES, WHO SOLD SHARES IN 295 FUNERARY NICHES INTENDED TO HOLD THE ASHES OF THE DEAD. SOME OF THE NICHES WERE ALSO DESIGNED TO ACCOMMODATE SCULPTURAL COMMISSIONS THAT COMMEMORATE THOSE BURIED WITHIN, THE SURVIVING THREE OF WHICH WILL BE ON VIEW AT THE IMA. THESE PORTRAITS DEPICTS HIGH-RANKING SERVANTS IN THE EMPLOY OF THE FIRST IMPERIAL FAMILY OF ROME, TO JUDGE FROM THE FACT THAT THEY ARE AMONG THE FEW TO MERIT SCULPTED COMMEMORATIONS IN MARBLE.