The University of Rome La Sapienza has been appointed as the seat of the Tenth Conference of ASMOSIA (Association for the Study of Marble & Other Stones In Antiquity) which will take place from May 21st to May 26th, 2012.
Rome represents a privileged meeting place not only on account of the outstanding monumental and artistic patrimony of marbles in the city itself, but also for the rapid increase of studies on the ancient marble in the Italian academic world and in general in the archaeological debates of the past years in Italy. It is actually possible to recognize an Italian consolidated tradition of the studies on marble which have largely offered a contribution to the diffusion of practical competence among scholars and university students for the identification and classification of ancient stones.
The Conference will be organized in 6 days and will take place at the Museo dell’Arte Classica della Sapienza, (Museum of Classical Art of La Sapienza). Inside the museum a display will be set up of the Collection of marbles of the Department of Sciences of Antiquity . Thanks to the partnership with the Archaeology and Fine Arts Office of the Municipality of Rome, the Conference will have the opportunity to hold a session in the impressive Auditorium of the Ara Pacis Museum. Therefore, the participants in the Conference will be able to visit the new museum and to directly admire the most famous monument in marble of Augustan Rome.
Within the Museum of Classical Art, the Odeion will host the sessions while other spaces such as the Parthenon Room will be used to display the posters and will be open to visitors for the whole duration of the Conference. To the posters will be also dedicated a special session.
On the occasion of the Congress an exhibition of the Collection of marbles of the Department of Sciences of the Antiquity will be set up within the Museum of Classical Art. This exhibit will focus on the different provenances of the marbles used in the Antiquity, particularly highlighting the themes of the quarries, of the craftsmanship of the materials and of their transport.
By means of the display of fragments from the whole Mediterranean basin it will be possible to introduce – within the Conference’s works – discussions based on the direct observation of the very materials which are the real protagonists of the presented researches. Such an initiative will serve also to enhance the value of this relevant collection which is the property of the Department.
Its core is represented by the Rakob Collection and has been increased during the past thirty years. By now this Collection represents a fundamental didactic tool for the university courses dealing with the ancient marbles and contains material that has not so far fully entered the scientific debate as it is until now unpublished.
