For Pergola's precious gilded bronzes, a new immersive room signed by Paco Lanciano

At the Museum of the Gilded Bronzes in Pergola (Pesaro-Urbino), a new immersive room has been opened to better contextualize the priceless Pergola bronzes, the only gilded bronze group in the world that has come down from the Roman era to the present day. The ensemble (of which four testimonies currently remain: a female statue, a fragment of another female figure, a fragment of an equestrian statue, and another horse, of which the rider has been preserved) probably originally represented a family group composed of two couples, consisting of two women and two knights in military garb, each on their horse. These are monumental images that could date from between 50 and 30 BCE, and at the moment, however, it is difficult to determine who the effigies were: probably a family of magnates with ties to the Marche region (in the past, it has also been thought to identify the figures with Cicero’s family, but there are various hypotheses).

The new immersive hall was conceived by scholar Federico Varazi and Paco Lanciano, a physicist and popularizer of science, known to the general public for his collaboration with Piero Angela, and to whom we also owe the setting up of the Domus Romane at Palazzo Valentini, and the Forums of Augustus and Caesar at the Imperial Forums. The Hall of the Golden Bronzes has been rearranged to present the Roman sculptures in a new and original way, with the visitor’s participation in a journey organized as a narrative. Modern technologies are used to enhance the nine quintals of bronze and gold masterfully forged two thousand years ago: lighting applications, made by Recanati-based company Effetto Luce, which has also worked for the Louvre, project a film to support the multimedia installation to create an immersive environment. The environment traces the history of the bronzes, found in 1946 in Cartoceto di Pergola by two farmers, and presents their characteristics. Also new to the room: during the work, an 18th-century fresco, attributed to Giovan Francesco Ferri, was rediscovered and again made visible.

“Our museum,” said Pergola Mayor Francesco Baldelli, “with these investments will always develop new content and will be able to give answers to those who, like us, find in culture the roots of our city, a comfort of the origins of our values and beauty. Culture will be able to be a fundamental tool for the development of the local economy and tourism and the entire Marche region. We are presenting a first part of the restyling of the museum that we have entrusted to an extraordinary professional like Paco Lanciano; in the coming months the rest of the work. An important investment, over 270 thousand euros, for a city that believes in culture and tourism. I thank the ministry, the superintendence, with whom we carried out the project in total sharing, and all those who collaborated.”

“I am very happy to have discovered Pergola and its museum, and met a community that has a great desire to make this treasure known,” says Paco Lanciano. “With the help of technology, I tried to make them ’talk’ to tell us their story so that visitors can fully appreciate their value. Thanks to multiprojection, many secrets are uncovered that make these artifacts that resurfaced after centuries from the ground even more spectacular and interesting, and that manage to excite us by telling us about a distant world and yet still so fascinating to all of us. Technology at the service of cultural heritage, to bring us all closer to history. A presentation capable of engaging students as well, of exciting them. A unique work as unique as these artifacts are.”

The work was carried out, with funds from the Administration and with the contribution of the European Regional Development Fund disbursed through the region following the presentation of the project idea by the Municipal Administration, in collaboration with the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and the Archaeological, Fine Arts and Landscape Superintendence of Marche. The Museum of the Golden Bronzes and the City of Pergola also has its own website.

Pictured: the gilded bronzes of Pergola.

For Pergola's precious gilded bronzes, a new immersive room signed by Paco Lanciano

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