I Colori dell’Antico. Marmi Santarelli ai Musei Capitolini

Over 660 polychrome marble fragments and sample sets from imperial Rome, shown in two rooms beside the Medagliere.

Drawn from the Capitoline collection and the Santarelli Foundation, which lent its pieces for ten years, the display traces how coloured stones reached Rome from across the empire. One room holds 82 fragments; the other two sets of marble samples, one of 422 pieces from the early 1800s and one of 288 tiles, plus a Dionysus head on a mixed-marble bust and stonecutters’ tools.

A looping documentary by Adriano Aymonino and Silvia Davoli follows the history of these materials, and the marbles are arranged to reflect the compass directions of their origin.

Full details at museicapitolini.org