Rome in coin. Art and power in the history of the Eternal City

A widespread exhibition that recounts Rome’s millennia-long history, from antiquity to the present day, through the lens of coins. As a medium of exchange, an emblem of power, a vehicle for propaganda and an object of art, coins have for centuries shaped the construction of Rome’s identity and its image in the world, bearing witness to the political, religious, artistic and social transformations taking place and evoking entire eras through images, inscriptions and symbols.

The exhibition, curated by Alfonsina Russo, Edith Gabrielli, Simone Quilici and Federica Rinaldi, uses coins to reconstruct some of the city’s pivotal moments (such as the election of Julius Caesar as dictator, the return of Pope Martin V from his captivity in Avignon and the breach of Porta Pia). Coins are then placed in dialogue with ancient and modern works of art, paintings, sculptures, illuminated manuscripts, gold and silverwork, contemporary installations and artefacts of material culture.

The exhibition is divided into three chronological sections, spread across three major museums: the Museo Nazionale Romano - Baths of Diocletian showcases the ancient world; the Colosseum Archaeological Park covers the Middle Ages; and VIVE - Vittoriano e Palazzo Venezia presents the modern and contemporary eras. The sections of the exhibition can be visited either independently or as part of a single itinerary, using a combined ticket valid for seven days. The ancient coins come from the Numismatic Collection of the National Roman Museum, which has recently reopened to the public, whilst the contemporary coins come from the Museo della Zecca.

The exhibition features over 160 works, on loan from state and civic museums, the Vatican Museums, archives, foundations, galleries and private collectors. Works include: at the National Roman Museum, the Honorary Plate of Ardabur Aspar (from the National Archaeological Museum of Florence) and the Portrait of Julius Caesar (from the Vatican Museums); at the Colosseum Archaeological Park, the frescoes from Santa Maria in Via Lata depicting “The Seven Sleepers” (from the Crypta Balbi) and the “Madonna” by Pietro di Belizo and Belluomo (from the Magnani-Rocca Foundation in Parma); at VIVE - Vittoriano e Palazzo Venezia, the Rovere Missal decorated by Jacopo Rivaldi, a masterpiece of fifteenth-century miniature art (from the State Archives of Turin); Bernini’s “Portrait of Pope Alexander VII Chigi” (from the Barberini Corsini National Galleries of Ancient Art); and “Untitled” by Maurizio Cattelan, which brings the narrative on contemporary Europe to a close.