Appeal of Italia Nostra: protect Trajan's Column and Column of Marcus Aurelius with vitrines

Cover the Trajan Column and the Column of Marcus Aurelius with shrines to preserve them from deterioration. This is the appeal to the institutions in charge of protection that comes from Italia Nostra after experts spoke out on the issue. The topic to draw attention to the two precious Roman monuments came from the presentation of the volume Lectures on Trajan’s Column, published by L’Erma di Bretschneider on Trajan’s Column, edited by Cinzia Conti, which took place yesterday at the national headquarters of Italia Nostra and offers an opportunity to learn about the outcomes of the investigations and restorations that have taken place in about thirty years. The volume-composed of many papers on the state of the art and the sculptures-also advances the opportunity, supported by Professor Andrea Bruno of the Turin Polytechnic, to think about structuring functional protections also for the close visit of the surface: as it was possible to do for the visitors of the construction sites concluded in the mid-1990s.

Indeed, the fate of the Trajan Column and the Column of Marcus Aurelius appear marked by a probable substantial dispersion of the bas-relief. The alterations and decohesive processes of the surfaces, which cannot be arrested by conservation restoration tools and maintenance cycles, are in constant activity. This, Italia Nostra points out, is the opinion of all scholars and researchers, also in function of a more complete access to fruition by visitors. The comparison between the casts preserved in Villa Medici and the current state has punctually revealed the loss of 0.44millimeters and compared to the original of 1.44 millimeters, data known from the research conducted by theCentral Institute for Restoration led by Giovanni Urbani. Condition due to weathering (rain and wind) and not just pollution.

For this reason, on the occasion of the Christmas of Rome 2023, Italia Nostra Roma puts forward the hypothesis of protecting the two columns with shrines specially designed with an international competition to solicit the best solutions and techniques available today, which would solve the critical issues already raised at the time, when the degradation of the two columns began to be detected. The solution, although necessary, will put us in a position to continue to be able to see the bas-relief in the future as, in 1,893 years of cultural history, few have been able to enjoy it.

Pictured: on the left the Trajan Column (photo: Wikimedia Commons/NikonZ7II), on the right the Column of Marcus Aurelius (photo: Wikimedia Commons/WikiRomaWIki)

Appeal of Italia Nostra: protect Trajan's Column and Column of Marcus Aurelius with vitrines

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