BRONZE & GOLD. Rome, Pope Innocent III: immersive tale of a masterpiece

VIVE presents the first of a series of exhibition projects dedicated to enhancing and making the collections of Palazzo Venezia and the Vittoriano known to a larger public through a program that also involves unreleased works, recently restored and subjected to important research.

Bronze & Gold, curated by Alessandro Tomei, is focused on the Lunette of the Niche of the Pallia, a splendid medieval goldsmith's artefact in gilded bronze with engravings and enamel inserts, made in the first decade of the 13th century by craftsmen from Limoges then residing in Rome.

The lamina probably crowned the so-called Niche of the Palliums in the confessio of the Constantinian basilica of Saint Peter. There, the palliums, the white stoles with black crosses, were stored. Still today, the popes confer upon bishops during a solemn investiture ceremony. The work represents the most relevant artistic testimony linked to Pope Innocent III, the one who approved the first Rule of Saint Francis, guardian of the future emperor Frederick II of Swabia and promoter of the strengthening of the spiritual and temporal power of the Church.

The free exhibition aims to reconstruct and narrate the figure of the pontiff and to tell the layout of the primitive St. Peter's Basilica, rebuilt with scientific precision, thanks to the study of ancient iconographic sources and descriptions of the time. Through an installation created with 3D digital modelling technologies and virtual reality, the interior of the building opens up to the visitors, materializing on the walls and floor of the new immersive room of the Vittoriano, giving life to an evocative journey between images, sounds and 3D animations.

Photo: Lunette of the Niche of the Pallia, Palazzo Venezia, VIVE- Vittoriano e Palazzo Venezia, ph. Mauro Magliani