Next month, 58 ancient marble sculptures will be on display inside the Renzo Piano Pavilion at the Kimbell Art Museum. “Myth and Marble: Ancient Roman Sculpture from the Torlonia Collection” will be the first Roman sculpture exhibit the Kimbell has ever seen + the museum is one of only two North American museums to hold parts of this collection.
The sculptures will range from large figures of gods and goddesses to portraits of emperors and more — some dating back as early as the 5th century BC.
The House of Torlonia
The Torlonia Collection is the largest private collection of Roman marble sculptures in the world, comprised of 600+ works. But what is Torlonia? The Torlonia were a wealthy royal Italian family that rose to fame during the 18th and 19th centuries. Prince Giovanni Torlonia — born in 1754 — formed the collection with the help of his son Prince Alessandro, through acquisitions and excavations.
The collection had been stored in the family’s private museum until 2020, when displays at Rome’s Musei Capitolini and Paris’ Louvre attracted a record-breaking number of visitors — 705,000+ to be exact. Several pieces have either never left Italy, not been seen in decades, or both — which is why Fort Worth Magazine is calling the future exhibit “rare” + unlike anything the museum has ever presented.
Tickets
Set your alarms — tickets for “Myth and Marble” will go on sale next Wednesday, Aug. 20. Until then, you can check out the museum’s permanent collection.
