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:
- Botticelli redux in Smited by a Nike Swoosh
- Canova’s Pauline Borghese meet Apollo in The Fridge Gets Funky
- The Colosseum in Cartoon in TV Boy on the History Channel
- Stickers from Paradise in Dante Hits the Streets
- The She-Wolf on Steroids in Where-Wolf?
- The Monarchy Goes Modern in 7 x Kings: SPQR
- The Colosseum & Temple of Castor and Pollux in Context is Everything
- Bernini’s Swoon Hits the Street in McBlessed Ludovica Albertoni
- Spray Painted Sistine Chapel in The Can-onization of Michelangelo
