Rome’s Centro Storico goes contempo

Susan Spano’s Postcards From Rome

When New York architect Richard Meier’s Ara Pacis Museum was unveiled on the banks of the Tiber River two years ago, some people wanted to tear it down. I’ll grant you that the building cuts a surprisingly modern figure in the historic center of Rome, but to my mind, it’s a handsome one.

Built to house an altar erected around 15 BC that commemorates the victories of Caesar Augustus in Spain and Gaul, it rises on horizontal slabs of brilliant white travertine between the river and the dark, romantic, overgrown ruins of the same emperor’s mausoleum. The white marble altar, with vivid friezes on all four sides, has been beautifully restored. And Meier gave the building massive windows so that it can be seen by passers-by.

For those who enter (after paying a $10 admission fee), there is a model of the Campus Martius district of ancient Rome chosen as the altar’s site. Nearby is a row of busts depicting members of Augustus’ family, a twisted bunch if ever there was one. Their stories were told by author Robert Graves in “I, Claudius” and “Claudius the God,” which make nice literary accompaniments to an Ara Pacis Museum visit.

The lower level of the museum is used for special exhibitions such as an upcoming show on the modern French designer Jean Prouve (June 20 to Sept. 14).

–Susan Spano, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

[Photo: www.arapacis.it/]

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 10, 2008 at 12:08 am by Susan Spano and is filed under Europe, Italy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.