February 2007 Archives

This is very interesting - some propaganda from Mussolini at (what I assume) is the opening of the then new (1930's?) Ara Pacis Museum:

Some background from the NY Times:

The Ara Pacis was excavated from its original site and carted in pieces a short distance to its present location in the 1930's. Mussolini reinstalled the altar in a new glass-and-stone building by Morpurgo next to the ancient tomb of the Emperor Augustus (63 B.C. to A.D. 14), implying the dictator's supposed bond with ancient emperor-conquerors. The symbolic link between a modern Fascist state and a heroic classical past was fortified by the flanking buildings, with their abstracted facades and shadowy arcades.

Here is a new photo from a blogger in Rome called "romedailyphoto". Looks like he was up early.

Here is a minute of video of the Ara Pacis Museum and the Altar, set to something similar to elevator music (not sure why..):

This is probably the best overall picture I took during my visit back in November. It was hard to get a picture without people and with enough light - there is a no flash rule. They were also doing work (cleaning) inside the altar on the left, so half of the steps in front were roped off.