With the new Decree of the President of the Council of Ministers, dated 9 March, to effectively contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, we can’t physically visit a museum. Nonetheless, it is still possible to fill eyes and hearts with masterpieces and art treasures, staying safely at home. How? Thanks to technology, with meetings, virtual tours and streaming initiatives involving all of Italy.
We don’t need anything else, except for a tablet, a PC or a smartphone. By visiting the Musei in Comune website, or tourvirtuale.museicapitolini.org, for example, we can stroll around the halls of the Capitoline Museums, taking a close look at the giant remains of the statue of Constantine, the emperor Marcus Aurelius or the Capitoline Venus.
A single mouse-click and we enter the Trajan's Markets-Musei dei Fori Imperiali and the Ara Pacis Museum. By visiting tourvirtuale.mercatiditraiano.it and tourvirtuale.arapacis.it, we can discover the ruins of the huge archaeological complex or admire the Roman altar, with the portraits of the Imperial family, acanthus scrolls, flowers, and leaves of all kinds. All these museums offer multimedia tools and audio-guides.
The list of art collections and national and international institutions that can be visited online is long, including the Quirinale Palace, the Vatican Museums, the Borghese Gallery, and the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art, also thanks to apps such as Google Arts & Culture. At the Colosseum, every day the social channels of the archaeological park virtually open the doors of the Flavian Amphitheater, the Forum, and the Palatine Hill, leading us to the discovery of monuments and masterpieces.
At the national level, the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism organizes a virtual marathon on the Ministry’s YouTube channel, aired on 13 March: an 18-hour live stream to show how Italy reacts to emergencies. We will watch the staging of cultural festivals, theatrical productions, concerts, and exhibitions suspended or canceled, from the Raphael exhibition at the Scuderie del Quirinale to the lesson from the scaffolding of restoration of the Sibyls by Raphael. A fundraiser for Italian doctors and nurses on the front lines is also linked to the initiative.
#IStayAtHome but art and culture do not stop and have no frontiers.
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