CHIUDI

Author: Adolfo Bellantuono

Subject
Statue depicting an adult man in the guise of Hercules, in heroic nudity and with a lion’s skin over its head. Both hands are missing: the right hand grabbed a club and the right one probably handed out the apples of the Hesperides. On the left side there is the quiver. Found in fragments on January 2023 during the replacement of a main sewer, this statue is a typical example of the imitatio Herculis phenomenon belonging to emperors and powerful Roman men.

Accession number 23.M322-1.1
Pentelic marble
Height 208 cm
Full body. The right hand, the left forearm and part of the right ankle are missing.
Half of 3rd cent. A.D.

Provenance
Found in the Ardeatino Park (Scott Park), during a significant overhaul and remediation of the sewer conduit by Acea

Placement
Casale di Santa Maria Nova – Villa dei Quintili

Credits
Appia Antica Archaeological Park (pictures by Stefano Castellani)

References
F.R. Paolillo, Statua di personaggio in veste di Ercole da Roma, Parco Ardeatino in L’istante e l’eternità. Tra noi e gli antichi. A cura di M. Osanna, S. Verger, M.L. Catoni, D. Athanasoulis, Milano 2023, p. 285.

Subject
B/W print dated to the late 1800s/early 1900s, attributed to photographer James Anderson, showing a decoration in which Priam appears before Achilles. The decoration is inside the underground chamber of the Tomb of the Pancrazi, referred to at the time as the “Tomb of the Anicii.”
The print is part of a photo album with fifty photos of works of art in Rome, donated in 1993 by J.P. Filedt Kok, Amsterdam.
Caption: “2362 – ROME – Priam before Achilles – Tomb of the Anicii – Via Latina – Anderson”

Accession number RP-F-1993-7-49
B/W print
Paper/silver bromide gelatine
196 x 256 mm
Late 1800s – Early 1900s

Placement
Rijksmuseum

Credits
Rijksmuseum

Subject
B/W print dating to the mid-1800s, by painter and photographer Robert Macpherson, depicting the landscape of the Roman countryside within what is now the Parco degli Acquedotti. Macpherson, who often painted bucolic landscapes of Rome, here turns to photography.
In pencil at top centre: “138”. In pen at bottom: “The Countryside – 4 miles from the Salarian Gate on the road to Naples”.
On the reverse, in pencil, “A 26 24.”

Accession number 84.XO.1378.24
B/W print
Paper/albumen
22.1 × 38.7 cm
Mid-1800s

Placement
J. Paul Getty Museum

Credits
J. Paul Getty Museum

Subject
Letters found in 1999 inside two lead pipes buried under the Doric Tombs at the 4th mile of the Via Appia Antica. The papers prove a secret and passionate love story that the lover decided to protect in a “time capsule”. On the tubes we can see the initials U.H. and L.L. and a date in Roman numerals: 30th of September 1929.
Reading the letters we understand that Ugo H. and Letizia L. first met at work and they immediately fell in love, but Ugo, older than her, was already married. It was for this reason that, after three years of passionate letters, Ugo had to stop the compromising mailing, asking to be given back all the letters that he sent to her. Instead of destroying them, he buried the letters in an evocative place, under one of the most beautiful monuments of the Regina Viarum.

Accession number –
Paper, lead
Length of the pipes around 25 cm
1926-1929 A.D.

Provenance
Doric Tomb, 4th mile of the Via Appia Antica

Placement
Complesso di Capo di Bove

Credits
Archive of Appia Antica Archaeological Park

References
R. Paris, Le lettere d’amore sulla via Appia antica in M.P. Guermandi (ed.), Archaeology & Me. Pensare l’archeologia nell’Europa contemporanea, Catalogo della Mostra tenuta a Roma, Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Massimo, dal 10 dicembre 2016 al 23 aprile 2017, Bologna 2016.

Subject
Watercolour made in Rome in 1875 by Hermann Herdtle, depicting a detail of the vault’s decoration of the underground chamber of the Pancratii’s Tomb.
In pencil: From a tomb on the Via Latina in Rome. / (Burial chamber of the Pancratii.) / dimension 4m.15/5m.30 / of the burial chamber.
Signature (lower left): “h.herdtle. / June 23rd/24th, 75.”

Accession number KI 8293-2
Paper, pencil, ink
42.8 x 29.6 cm

Placement
MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna

Credits
MAK Wien, Bibliothek und Kunstblättersammlung

Subject
Watercolour made in Rome in 1875 by Hermann Herdtle, depicting one of the lunettes of the underground chamber of the Pancratii’s Tomb
In pencil: 4.8 cm = 1 metre / From a tomb on the Via Latina near Rome. / (Burial chamber of the Pancratii). Signature (lower left): “h.herdtle. / June 21st, 75.”

Accession number KI 8293-1
Pencil and ink on paper
29.6 x 21.4 cm

Placement
MAK – Museum für angewandte Kunst, Vienna

Credits
MAK Wien, Bibliothek und Kunstblättersammlung

Subject
Photographic plates, by an unknown author, showing details of the marble sarcophagus with reliefs of the Triumph of Bacchus in India, found within the underground burial chamber of the Tomb of the Valeri on Via Latina. The photograph composes images of the slabs showing details of the extreme right front, left side and back of the coffin.
Recovered during excavations by Lorenzo Fortunati in 1858, the sarcophagus is now housed in the Gregorian Profano Museum of the Vatican Museums.

Accession number, photograph: MVF.VI.5.18 (extreme right front detail); MVF.VI.5.15 (left side); MVF.VI.5.14 (back)
Accession number, object: MV.10428.0.0
Negative
Glass plate, silver bromide gelatine
2 x 24 cm
Ante 3.2.1963

Placement
Vatican Museums. Pinacoteca ➔ 3rd floor ➔ corridors

Credits
Vatican Museum Archives

Vatican Museum Archives

Vatican Museum Archives

Subject
Photographic plate from the first half of the 20th century, by an unknown author, showing the right corner fragment of the sarcophagus with Labours of Hercules, from the underground burial chamber of the Tomb of the Valeri on Via Latina.
The sarcophagus, recovered during excavations by Lorenzo Fortunati in 1858, is now housed in the Gregorian Profano Museum of the Vatican Museums.

Accession number, photograph: MVF.X.8.15
Accession number, object: MV.9803.0.0
Glass/silver bromide gelatin
18 x 24 cm
First half 20th century

Placement
Vatican Museums. Pinacoteca ➔ 3rd floor ➔ corridors

Credits
Vatican Museum Archives