Last week, the Comune di Roma treated residents and visitors alike to a series of special museum events and exhibits, among which was a full-color illumination of the front of the Ara Pacis or Altar of Peace.
As part of an actor-led tour that dramatically recounted the stories of Romulus and Aeneas in order to expalin their presence on the front of the Ara Pacis, lights were used to superimpose dazzling colors onto white marble facade of the altar. The goal was that of giving visitors an idea of the monument’s appearance at the time of its dedication in 9 BC.
Though the altar is all-white now, scholars generally agree that monuments like it — as well as sculptures — were once brightly colored. Thus, vivid blues, greens, yellows, and reds characterized the illumination.
Vatican Museums Director, Antonio Paolucci, who co-organized the project, said that the projected colors were chosen based on traces paint recovered from the monument in the 1930s, such as red ochre and gold leaf.
The Ara Pacis or Altar of Peace was in celebration of the advent of peace under the reign of Rome’s first emperor, Augustus.
Though the color projections were a temporary holiday event, organizers say they hope to make the demonstration a permanent part of Ara Pacis Museum in December 2009.
