There is friendship that opens up new paths. For example, between the head of all archaeological museums in Italy, Massimo Osana, and the rector of the Cyclades Museum of Antiquities, Dimitris Atanasoulis. They met in 2017 and over the course of five years, they have managed to forge strong cultural ties between the neighboring Ministries of Culture and Greece through a series of wonderful exhibitions that highlight the shared belief in the Greco-Roman past through a new perspective. Thus, after the exhibition “Vanity, the history of jewelry from the Cyclades”, which was presented in Pompeii after Greece, and also in honor of “Pompeii and Santorini.

Eternity in a Day”, held at the Scuderia del Quirinale in Rome, the time has come to once again pay tribute to the Eternal City, at the opening of which the column was present.

This is the Moment and Eternity exhibition, which opened last Thursday with 300 masterpieces from the two countries, some of which have never moved from their place until now. Such as the archaic daughter of Thera, 2700 years old, discovered in 2000 in Santorini, or the famous Gorgo Parosa, which attracted the attention of visitors. Next to them are amazing exhibits such as two teenage bronze runners from Pompeii, a carriage that was also found under the lava of Vesuvius just a few months ago, Byzantine paintings by the artist Angelos, Renaissance sculptures, as well as contemporary art. They are exhibits, one after another, of shocking beauty and interest. One might wonder what meaningful thread all of this is connected to lead us from the moment to eternity.

The explanation is simple: time is non-linear, and people of all ages turned to antiquity for inspiration, beauty, spirit, each time with different requests and in different ways. This diversity is reflected in the eyes of viewers viewing the exhibition.

Of course, the extremely imposing space of the Baths of Diocletian, the largest public Roman baths in Rome, together with the Baths of Caracalla, where the initiation takes place, also plays a role. In particular, this wing was first opened to the public 120 years ago, but has since been closed as a warehouse.

Osana decided that this was a great opportunity to get used to it again and find a new life. With brick walls reaching 30 meters high, they reveal the greatness of the Romans. There was also a press conference with Christina Karageorga, counselor of our embassy in Rome, who read out a greeting from Lina Mendoni, Director General of Antiquities Polyxeni Veleni, Dimitris Atanasoulis (all three spoke fluent Italian), accepting thanks from the Italians. for the rare work we lent them.

The exhibition will be open until the end of July, while it is possible that another version of it will be presented in Greece in the future.