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A Masterpiece from the Capitoline Museum, Rome: The Capitoline Venus

June 8 – September 18, 2011
West Building, Main Floor, Rotunda

The Capitoline Venus, 2nd century AD, marble (probably Parian), as installed in the National Gallery of Art, Washington. Sovraintendenza ai Beni Culturali di Roma Capitale–Musei Capitolini, Rome, Italy. Photo by Rob Shelley © 2011 National Gallery of Art, Washington.

This exhibition is no longer on view at the National Gallery.

Overview: The Capitoline Venus, on loan from the Capitoline Museum in Rome, was featured in this one-object focus exhibition. This was only the second time the sculpture had left Rome since its discovery in the 1670s, and the first time that it had been exhibited in the United States. The exhibition was inaugurated on June 7 by Mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno, as part of The Dream of Rome, a project to exhibit masterpieces of Italian art in the United States from 2011 to 2013. The exhibition was part of ITALY@150, a series of activities in Washington, DC, and throughout the United States celebrating the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy.

Organization: The exhibition was organized by Roma Capitale, Sovraintendenza ai Beni Culturali–Musei Capitolini, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, with the partnership of the Knights of Columbus and the Embassy of the Republic of Italy, Washington.

Brochure: A Masterpiece from the Capitoline Museum, Rome. Washington: National Gallery of Art, 2011.

A Masterpiece from the Capitoline Museum, Rome
Audio, Released: June 7, 2011, (22:24 minutes)