It’s called Romana marmora. Stories of emperors, gods and quarrymen the great exhibition dedicated to the Roman Bardiglio marble quarry of Fossacava and its role within the broader and well-known phenomenon of the extraction of Luni marble, scheduled from 25 May 2024 to 12 January 2025 at CARMI Carrara and Michelangelo museum.
Promoted by the Municipality of Carrara and the ABAP Superintendency for the Provinces of Lucca and Massa Carrara, with the support of the Cassa di Risparmio di Carrara Foundation, the exhibition is curated by Giulia Picchi, archaeologist official of the ABAP Superintendence for the Provinces of Lucca and Massa Carrara , and by Stefano Genovesi, director of the Carrara Marble Museum and of the Fossacava archaeological area.
«Telling the story of the Roman marbles and the bardiglio of Fossacava – declares Gea Dazzi, Councilor for Culture – means telling the origins of our territory, linked to the excavation of marble and its diffusion throughout the world, but above all linked to the great expertise of the men who here they trained and learned unique trades such as quarrying marble and working it with masterful knowledge to spread and preserve. The aim of the exhibition is to create awareness and knowledge of our identity in the visitors, who we hope will be numerous. I therefore hope that the younger generations and students, also thanks to the informative approach designed by the curators, will be able to gain important information on a unique territory in the world”.
«It is a high-level and wide-ranging cultural project with important educational implications, which we appreciated from the moment it was proposed to the Cassa di Risparmio di Carrara Foundation», explains president Enrico Isoppi. «We have therefore followed its developments, supporting it with conviction, because we are certain it will be able to give prestige to our territory and promote it beyond its borders, making known the rich and millenary history of the city of Carrara and of the entire province, which has its ancient cradle linked precisely to the processing of marble, the stone that has made this area famous throughout the world.”
«The old findings and the data from the recent excavation have made Fossacava one of the best known Roman quarries today», explain the curators Giulia Picchi and Stefano Genovesi. «The opening to the public, which took place in 2021, recorded an annual presence of 10,000 visitors, which confirmed the extraordinary interest in this site. With the Romana marmora exhibition we wanted to consolidate and further relaunch this positive trend by creating, around the quarry, an event that would tell the story of the site and the characters who revolved around it to as wide an audience as possible. The emperors of Rome, their slaves and their freedmen, the contractors, the traders, and, obviously, the quarrymen are the actors of a highly fascinating script, in which the toil and sacrifice of many men are inextricably linked to political propaganda and the luxury that marble was able to express.”
The Fossacava site is among the very few Roman quarries to have been the subject of a stratigraphic archaeological excavation; the investigations, conducted in 2015 by the Municipality of Carrara and the Archaeological Superintendency of Tuscany within the extraction basin, made it possible to reconstruct the history of the quarry in all its aspects, in particular regarding the type of semi-finished products that were extracted here , of the staff who worked there and of the ways in which the quarry was managed by the Roman imperial administration.
In 2021 the Fossacava site was opened to the public with an expanded and renewed path, centered on a graphic novel that illustrates the history of the quarry to visitors of all ages in a compelling and effective way. The Roman exposition marbles. Stories of emperors, gods and quarrymen intends, therefore, to present the historical story of the site to an even wider audience, giving it regional and national importance.
Starting from the history of the colony of Luni, in whose territory the Carrara quarries were located, the themes of ancient extraction techniques, semi-finished products and quarry management will be explored, the different uses of Bardiglio marble and their diffusion in the area of the Roman Empire, as well as taking a look at the religiosity of those who frequented the extraction basins.
The exhibition itinerary will be divided into four sections: Luni and its marble quarries (room 1), Fossacava. History of a quarry, from the Roman age to the archaeological excavation (Room 2), The gods of the quarrymen. Religion in Fossacava (Room 3), The fortune of the bardiglio in the Empire (Room 4).
Room 1 is dedicated to the history of the Roman colony of Luni and that of the extraction of Luni marble, between the second half of the 1st century BC and the 3rd-4th century AD. The decisive role of the emperor, first among all Augustus, in the development of the exploitation of the Carrara marble quarries. The central work of the room will be the loricated statue of the emperor found in the Fabbricotti excavations in Luni in 1889, in loan from the Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara.
Room 2 focuses on the site of Fossacava, whose history will be told, from the excavation of the Bardiglio marble in Roman times up to the archaeological excavation conducted here in 2015. In particular, the excavation techniques will be highlighted, with the exhibition of ancient instruments, and the problems relating to the management of the quarries by the Roman state.
Room 3 is dedicated to the religiosity of the quarrymen and other characters who populated the Carrara marble quarries in Roman times: great emphasis will be given to the statue of the goddess Luna found in Fossacava, probably a replica of the cult statue of the so-called “Great Temple ” by Luni. Also on display in the room will be the altar dedicated to Mens Bona, on loan from the Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara, and a relief depicting the god Silvanus, whose cult is well attested in the quarry environments, coming from a domus of Luni and on loan from the National Archaeological Museum of Luni.
Finally, Room 4 tells the visitor about the diffusion of Bardiglio marble in Rome, in the cities of Italy and in the provinces and in which types of buildings and structures it was used: in particular, its use for the colonnades of the stages will be explored in detail of theaters and for the construction of fountains (labra). The display of some semi-finished products and other finds in Bardiglio marble will illustrate the different uses of this variety of marble. A space will also be dedicated to an experimental archeology project conducted with the Academy of Fine Arts of Carrara, in which marble replicas of a semi-finished product in Bardiglio marble and of a finished labrum.
The exhibition event will be accompanied by an educational apparatus deployed along the visit route (panels, captions, large reconstruction drawings, thematic videos). Within the latter, a storytelling dedicated to children will also be included, in which one of the characters attested by the epigraphs affixed to the semi-finished blocks of Fossacava will tell his own story, involving the young visitors in a treasure hunt. The exhibition can also be enjoyed through workshops and guided tours aimed at schools and through initiatives, such as guided tours during opening hours and at night and themed conferences, aimed at the adult public.
In the summer of 2024 Carrara showcases its past and present through two very important events: on the one hand Romana marmora, and therefore the tradition of artistic marble processing, which has characterized the city for 2,000 years, on the other White Carrara, or the present of marble, with iconic works created by contemporary designers.
Carlo Franza
