After the success of the displays in the Valley of the Temples in Agrigento and in Trajan's Market in Rome, the display intends to seal an osmotic pair comprising archaeology and Mitoraj's contemporary art. These two realities end up blending and mixing, without ever overpowering one another, and instead create a harmonious dialectic connection which features and adds value to both the site's historical solemnity and the Polish master's sculptures.
The impressive and elegant characters of the sculptures will then cohabit with the most famous architectures of historic Pompeii; Daedalus and the Temple of Venus, the Centaur and the Thermal Baths of Stabiae, winged Icarus and the Triangular Forum.
“Gods and mythological heroes will populate the streets and squares of the town that was buried by Mount Vesuvius. They will emerge like dreams from the ruins” announces Massimo Osanna, Director-General of Pompeii’s Superintendency. “Mute and iconic symbols, Mitoraj's works remind us, with their immanence, of the profound value classical antiquity has in contemporary culture. In Pompeii, as Théophile Gautier wrote in 1852, “a few steps separate historic from modern life”.”
This big display event was designed and promoted by the foundation ‘Terzo Pilastro – Italia e Mediterraneo’, under the patronage of the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism. It was organized by Pompeii's Superintendency, the Art gallery Contini and the Atelier Mitoraj (Pietrasanta).
