“Colours of the Romans” aims to present visitors to the Centrale Montemartini with “a significant cross-section of Roman culture” between the first century BC and the fourth century.

To achieve this, curators Claudio Parisi Presicce, Nadia Agnoli and Serena Guglielmi have selected various mosaics from the collection of the Capitoline Museums, most of which are little known to the public.

Some previously travelled through Europe in 2019 and were exhibited in the museum of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, the National Gallery of Armenia, and the Simon Janashia Museum of Georgia, among others.

The exhibition is divided into four sections, illustrating the prominent place of mosaics in ancient Roman society. The first section explores the history and development of this technique, inherited from the Greeks, while the second presents a selection of mosaics, frescoes and objects offering a glimpse of what life was like in the luxurious residences of Rome’s ruling class.

Among them is a mosaic representing a ship departing the port of Alexandria, which once adorned the palatial residence of Claudius Claudianus. In this section, visitors can discover for the first time sculptures and furniture that belonged to this senator of African origin, attesting to the splendour of the residence, as well as its owner’s need for self-representation.

“Colours of the Romans” also looks at the mosaics of the Basilica Hilariana and funerary buildings located in the suburbs of Rome. These are accompanied by archival documents detailing their discovery during archaeological excavations.

All this and more will be on display at Centrale Montemartini until Sept 15.