Over fifty masterpieces, which show the deep relationship between the Emperor Hadrian and Greece, will be exhibited, many of them for the first time, in Italy from April 9 until November 2 at Tivoli’s Villa Adriana. The event is expected to coincide with the semesters of Greece’s and Italy’s European Presidency in 2014 and will be hosted in the villa’s Antiquarium del Canopo.
The exhibited items, some of which have never left Greece before, are loans from museums in Athens, Marathon, Piraeus, Corinth and Loukou.
The exhibition is titled “Hadrian and Greece. Villa Adriana amid classicism and Hellenism” and curated by Elena Calandra and Benedetta Adembri.
“Hadrian studied there – in Greece – and went back for long periods as an adult,” said Ms. Calandra. “Before the imperial crown he became archon and established himself in Athens for the last six years of his life, making a sort of capital and base for trips to the East,” she continued.
Hadrian is a very significant figure in Greece as well, where he is considered a visionary emperor who loved Athens. He is known for the architectural masterpieces he built in the Greek capital, such as the arch of Hadrian the library and the aqueduct.
This event aims to highlight the longevity of Greek culture, and Hadrian’s connection to both classicism and Hellenism as well as the decorations and landscapes of the villa, which constitutes a UNESCO world heritage site.
Masterpieces travelling from Greece to be exhibited in Villa Adriana include Corinth’s caryatids, Hadrian’s head from Athens, statues of philosophers and the head of Herod Atticus, who was friends with the emperor, and Antinous from Patras.
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