Favorite Roman Museum Videos?

[caesar novus]

What are your favorite videos for museums of ancient Rome? I love the Roman sculpture in these places, especially depictions of real people usually in meditative poses. Scholars warn us that the identity of such sculptures is fairly speculative, and may even have been re-sculpted to change identities over the ages. Note the first video has already been posted under my archeological site thread because it is both site and museum (a great uncrowded one near Rome train station):

Baths of Diocletian Museum 8m Rome:

Palazzo Massimo 9m Rome:

Pio-Clementine Museum 10m Vatican:

Uffizi Roman Galleries 8m Florence:

Antalya Museum 44m Turkey:

Capitoline Museums 22m Rome:

Palazzo Altemps 5m Rome:

Gregorian Profane Museum 3m Vatican:

Profano Museum (misidentified?) 6m Vatican:

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by caesar novus

[caesar novus]

Getty Villa at Malibu 7m California:

National Archaeological Museum 8m Naples:

Palatine Museum 5m Rome:

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by caesar novus

[Crispina]

The artistic talent is absolutely amazing isn't it? 

[caesar novus]

I almost forgot the artistry because I focus on the demeanor of the statues and what it tells about their can-do and pragmatic culture. But it is wild that they for example popularize pillar decorations by skillfully turning stone into tendrils like acanthus leaves, and based on a heart touching story as wikipedia says:

Quote

In ancient Roman and ancient Greek architecture acanthus ornament appears extensively in the capitals of the Corinthian and Composite orders, and applied to friezes, dentils and other decorated areas. The oldest known example of a Corinthian column is in the Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae in Arcadia, c. 450–420 BC, but the order was used sparingly in Greece before the Roman period. The Romans elaborated the order with the ends of the leaves curled, and it was their favourite order for grand buildings, with their own invention of the Composite, which was first seen in the epoch of Augustus.[3] Acanthus decoration continued in popularity in Byzantine, Romanesque, and Gothic architecture. It saw a major revival in the Renaissance, and still is used today.

The Roman writer Vitruvius (c. 75 – c. 15 BC) related that the Corinthian order had been invented by Callimachus, a Greek architect and sculptor who was inspired by the sight of a votive basket that had been left on the grave of a young girl. A few of her toys were in it, and a square tile had been placed over the basket, to protect them from the weather. An acanthus plant had grown through the woven basket, mixing its spiny, deeply cut leaves with the weave of the basket.

Edited February 8, 2022 by caesar novus

[guy]

The Getty Villa museum has faced mounting criticism for its theft of antiquities, including this beautiful bronze statue known as the “Victorious Youth” (see below). It already has returned numerous items to Italy.

That said, the Getty Villa really is a beautiful place (although the traffic to the museum can be horrible). The design was inspired by the Villa of Papyri in Herculaneum

Quote

“The Getty first displayed “Victorious Youth,” which depicts an athlete wearing an olive wreath, in 1978. The work dates to 300 to 100 BC and is believed to possibly have been created by Alexander the Great’s personal sculptor, Lysippus. In 1989, the Italian government asked the Getty to return the statue, asserting that the artwork been illegally exported by the fishermen. It said that from the moment the art work touched the fishermen’s net, the statue became Italian property — nullifying the legality of the acquisition by the Getty.”

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2021/07/19/italy-passes-restitution-resolution-amid-renewed-calls-for-return-of-the-victorious-youth-bronze-from-getty-museum

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-getty-victorious-youth-20181205-story.html%3F_amp%3Dtrue

 

Edited February 8, 2022 by guy

[caesar novus]

 

 

Edited February 26, 2022 by caesar novus

[caesar novus]

 

[caesar novus]

 

 

[caesar novus]

The astounding, almost unknown, possibly over-restored Torlonia Museum deserves 2 videos. One mainly with the astonishing story and another only with lush visuals. If there is the slightest chance you won't thoroughly review both of them, then I honestly urge you to play both at once (!) with eyes on the goat but ears on the other:

 

 

[Crispina]

I watched all but 10min. of the first video and found it very interesting and informative. The fact that there was that much restoration of antique pieces was enlightening.  

You see, I have always wondered how magnificent sculptures just happened to be found buried in the ground. Why were they abandoned (unless buried by lava of course) and not ruined by earthquakes and plunder.  I guess I'm naive. ha  But now I understand.  These pieces in the collections were displayed as art, not antiquities.

But did I also hear that many of the sculptures were restored in ancient times as well? 

[caesar novus]

Here  is a quirky replacement for Naples Archeo Museum that hopefully won't disappear as fast as others. It's probably the "adult" content that makes vids vanish; something that was not part of the default museum display when I visited.

 

I have put all these in an "Ancient Rome Museums" youtube playlist below and will probably do most future updates there. Also see my "Visiting Roman Ruins" playlist.

 

Edited June 19, 2022 by caesar novus