Ab Urbe Condita: History of Rome in the Graphic Collection of the Brukenthal National Museum
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Ab Urbe Condita:
History of Rome in the Graphic Collection of the Brukenthal National Museum
Alme Sol, curru nitido diem qui promis et celas aliusque et idem nasceris, possis nihil urbe Roma visere maius.
O kindly Sun, in your shining chariot, who herald the day, then hide it, to be born again new yet the same, you will never know anything mightier than Rome!
Horace, Carmen Saeculare, 9-12.
This exhibition is a true journey through time, offering visitors the opportunity to explore the captivating history of Rome and relive the legends and mysteries of the Eternal City through the engravings in the Brukenthal’s art collection. With the aim of paying homage to Rome and fully enhance the museum's collection, we have selected the most exquisite engravings by the greatest Italian artists of the 18th and 19th centuries. Among these there are illustrious names such as Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1720–1778), Pietro Aquila (1630–1692), Carlo Cesio (1622–1682), Giovanni Volpato (1735–1803), Giacomo Lauro (1550–1605), and many others.
The significant moments in the history of Rome, illustrated through engravings, have been arranged in chronological order. The journey begins with the founding of Rome on April 21, 753 BC, continues through the Monarchical Period (753–509 BC), the Republican Period (509–27 BC), and the Early and Middle Imperial Periods (27 BC–311 AD), reaches Late Antiquity (312 AD), and ends with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD.
To enrich the exhibition and provide a comprehensive exploration of life in ancient Rome, we have included numerous archaeological artifacts from the History Museum - Altemberger House. These objects, discovered in Romania or donated, depict various facets of daily life and military culture. Alongside these, visitors can admire plaster reproductions of renowned Greco-Roman statues, including an early edition of Giovanni Battista Piranesi's masterpiece Trofeo o sia Magnifica Colonna Coclide di Marmo and a splendid second edition of Edward Gibbon's (1737–1794) The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, from the esteemed collection of the Brukenthal Library.
