To mark the anniversary of the Palatine Temple’s dedicatio rituals, the Palatine Museum welcomes actor Alessandro Haber as he reads a selection of poetry by the author and poet Gabriele Tinti, inspired by the fresco with Apollo playing the cithara and by the statue of Apollo Citharoedus by the sculptor Skopas.

The temple was dedicated on 9 October 28 BC and incorporated into the House of Augustus, helping to ‘confuse’ — in the original sense of the word, that is to ‘mingle together’ — public worship and private residence, thereby anticipating a new golden age after the dark cloud of the civil wars. Inside the temple — as noted by Pliny, Naturalis historia, XXXVI, 25 and Propertius, II, 31 — stood a colossal statue of Apollo Citharoedus, made by the sculptor Skopas and possibly originating from the sanctuary of Apollo at Rhamnous, in Attica. The temple would in fact later be defined Ramnusius in the regionary catalogues. Tinti’s poetry evokes the absence of the divine simulacrum, brought to life through the actor’s performance and the presence of the fresco, another representation of Apollo.

The performance will be available online on the Parco archeologico del Colosseo Facebook page and YouTube channel starting at 19:00 on Saturday, 17 October.

This project was made possible with the organization and promotion of the Parco archeologico del Colosseo, in collaboration with Treccani – Encyclopedia of science and letters and Anantara Palazzo Naiadi.