Italy: Rome extends Torlonia Marbles show until 2022

Rome: Rome’s Torlonia Marbles exhibition has been extended until 9 January 2022, organisers has announced, just days before the blockbuster show had been due to end.

The Torlonia Marbles: Collecting Masterpieces, one of Italy’s most eagerly-awaited exhibitions in living memory, has been hampered by extended closures and delays – as a result of covid-19 restrictions – since it opened last year.

Many people living outside Italy had expressed disappointment that they would be unable to travel to see the show – which displays a selection of the revered “collection of collections” – due to complications arising from the coronavirus pandemic.

Rome unveils the legendary Torlonia Marbles after decades in the dark

However tourists now have an extra six months in which to travel to Italy to see the legendary collection which has been largely hidden away for more than 70 years.

Considered among the world’s most important private collections of Greek-Roman classical art, the Torlonia Collection comprises a total of 620 ancient sculptures.

Amassed between the 15th- and 19th centuries by the aristocratic Torlonia family, the collection includes marble, bronze and alabaster statues, busts, bas-reliefs and sarcophagi dating to the ancient Roman era.

Now, until 9 January 2022, visitors can admire more than 90 pieces from the priceless collection at Villa Caffarelli, a newly-restored exhibition space in Rome’s Capitoline Museums.