Forma Urbis Romae: The Severan Marble Plan Is Tantalizing Jigsaw Puzzle From Hell

The Forma Urbis Romae, or Severan Marble Plan, was an immense 3rd century map of the city of ancient Rome, carved into 150 adjoining slabs of marble and covering a wall rising over four stories tall. It was created at an approximate scale of 1:240 and measured 60’ wide by 45’ high. The map depicted the location of the buildings and structures that existed in central Rome, and it was detailed enough to show the floor plans of nearly every temple, bath, house, shop, warehouse, and apartment building in the city’s core. Unfortunately, only fragments of the map still survive, but they provide details about the topography and lesser-known neighborhoods of ancient Rome that otherwise would have been unknown today.

The map was created sometime between 203 and 211 A.D, during the time of the emperor Septimius Severus. It may have been used by the city prefect (praefectus urbis) or, perhaps was merely a decoration for his office, which stored more practical sized maps drawn on papyrus. The marble map was affixed to an interior wall of what was then the Temple of Peace (Templum Pacis). The same wall is now an exterior wall of the 6^th century Church of Saints Cosmas and Damian (Basilica of Santi Cosma e Damiano). The holes in the wall where the bronze clamps attached the marble slabs in place can still be seen.

The Severan Plan was gradually destroyed during the Middle Ages, as the marble stones were torn away to be used as building materials or for making lime for fertilizer or cement. Whatever was left fell to the ground, breaking apart into many unrecognizable pieces and becoming buried over time.

In the 16^th century fragments of it were found, but they did not elicit much lasting interest. In later years, as more fragments were found (or lost and then rediscovered) there was an interest in trying to fit the pieces together. The work was like a giant jigsaw puzzle, with only a few famous landmarks, like the Colosseum, incised into the stone to give any clue as to how the pieces should be assembled.

To date, only about 10% to 15% of the original surface area of the plan is known to still exist, and that much is broken into almost 1200 pieces of various sizes. Some of these fragments are relatively easy to piece together, but others are more difficult since their adjoining pieces don’t exist, or because the fragments have been altered (such as when their edges were sawn off in the 18^th century to fit within display frames in a museum). In modern times, archaeologists have turned to using computer and coded algorithms to try to determine the correct placement of the pieces.

Additional fragments continue to be discovered in Rome, and there may be more so in the near future. Excavations for Rome’s new Line C metro subway are being done at the site of the Forum of Peace, where the plan was located. Great care is being taken to preserve any antiquities that may be found, and it is hoped that among the artifacts they find will be more pieces of the plan. Since some of the map fell from the wall to the ground through the years as it was torn away or dropped, it is possible that more fragments may yet be unearthed from this important archaeological site.

The piecing together of the world’s greatest jigsaw puzzle continues.

Who owns Michelangelo’s David?

via cnn.com

The city of Florence and the national government of Italy are in a dispute over which of the two owns Michelangelo Buonarroti’s famous statue of David. The dispute is more than about just pride of ownership; it’s also about who should be getting how much of the annual $10 million in admission ticket sales from visitors paying to see the statue.

The claim by Florence has been put forth for many years, but more recently a request was made by Florence to the Italian government to hand over the earnings, on the basis of Florence’s right of ownership. Following the request, the Italian Heritage Ministry commissioned a study to determine the rightful owner.

Looking through centuries of archival material, two lawyers commissioned by the national government produced a nine-page document that concluded that David belongs to Italy. The major legal point they made was that between the time of Republic of Florence, which existed at the time David was created, until the unification of Italy in 1870, the city was part of a number of successor states and they did not provide a clear continuity in ownership. More importantly, the unified Italy was the final successor state of all the Italian states and so the inheritor of all the states’ assets.

The city’s argument is that there is a legal document that Italy was a party to from 1871 that decreed that the Palazzao Vecchio (the town hall outside of which David was located at the time) and everything in it was given to the city of Florence. The counter argument from the national givernment’s lawyers is that the document did not explicitly mention David, “even though by this time it had acquired an enormous symbolic value”. In addition, when David was moved to La Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence in 1873 (to bring it inside for conservation purposes), the city did not assert any rights to the sculpture. In fact, a year later, the mayor of Florence at the time claimed David belonged to the Italian government and for that reason billed Rome for its moving cost.

The Italian Heritage Minister stated that he hoped an amicable agreement could be worked out between Italy and Florence to avoid any further controversy.

The money for the admission to the state run L’Accademia gallery in Florence goes to the Italian government, and not the city. The gallery has 1.5 million visitors a year and Florence has to pay for cleaning and security in the area. The mayor doesn’t feel that it is fair that the burden of maintaining the city and its centuries-old buildings should be paid by its citizens without them being able to share in the profit its key attractions provide.

The ruling on David is considered even more dangerous because Florence also claims ownership of many pieces of art in other local state-run museums such as the Uffizi Gallery.

Michelangelo was commissioned in 1501 to create the sculpture for the city’s cathedral. However, when it was finished in 1504, it was placed in the Piazza Della Signoria at the entrance to the Palazzo Vecchio. It was considered a masterpiece from the beginning, even though David has a major flaw: an uncircumcised penis on one of the most famous Hebrews of all time.

A replica was placed in the Piazza della Signoria in 1910, which remains on view for the public for free.