鈥淗adrian and Greece. Hadrian's Villa between Classicism and Hellenism鈥 is a new exhibition just launched at Tivoli鈥檚 Villa Adriana to showcase the important relationship between Emperor Hadrian and Greece.
The exhibit features more than 50 works of art, many of them never before shown in Italy, on loan from museums in Athens, Loukou, Marathon, Piraeus and Corinth. The event has been organized to coincide with the European semesters of presidency of Greece and Italy taking place in 2014.
The focus of the exhibition is to show the profound and continuous cultural and political relations between the emperor and Athens within the background of the splendid Villa Adriana, a place that shows how much Hadrian was influenced by Greek culture. For example, Villa Adriana's Piazza d'Oro is conceived according to the project of the Hadrian library built in Athens, while the Caryatids statues recall those at the Acropolis.
Hadrian studied in Greece and returned there as an adult for long periods of time. He is considered a very important figure in Greece as well because he contributed to making Athens more beautiful with architectural masterpieces like the arch of Hadrian, the library and aqueduct.
Pieces sent from Greece for the exhibit include Corinthus' Caryatids, Hadrian's majestic head, busts of philosophers, the head of Herod Atticus, a rich land owner who was a friend of the emperor, women's portraits, and the beautiful Antinous, the bust of a young Greek man who was Hadrian's lover.
The exhibition is on until November 2.
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