
This photo of Hadrian cracks us up.
We’re inventing all kinds of scenarios that explain the crazy headgear he’s wearing:
- Should he have hired a better plastic surgeon when he had that last life?
- Did His Highness have a bit too much to drink last night?
- Christo gone crazy?
In reality, the photograph shows a bust of the Emperor that was discovered in Turkey in 2007. He’s all wrapped up for travel to the Big Hadrian Exhibit opening in London on 24 July.
Photo Max Nash - Ap

One more image from the Scala Mercalli Street Art Exhibit at Rome’s Auditorium. Romulus and Remus, it seems, have taken to the streets in the company of their foster mother, the She-Wolf. They look rough, tough, and ready to found a city.
Surprised at how often Rome’s myth and history shows up in contemporary street art? Honestly, so are we, but we’re also pleased to see today’s urban artists crossing the bridge between past and present. And, of course, we’re mindful of the fact that in Rome, perhaps more than anywhere else in the world, the past shapes the present and the future.
For you classics and history hounds, here’s a round-up of historically and mythologically influenced street art we’ve seen and published over the past year and 1/2: