A monumental 1942 mosaic by Fortunato Depero on the outer wall of a EUR building in Viale della Civiltà Romana, facing Enrico Prampolini’s Le Corporazioni across the street.
At a glance
The mosaic stands on the external wall of the building connected with the Museo delle Civiltà, with its front on Viale della Civiltà Romana. It represents the professions and the arts through allegorical figures, and is situated directly opposite the mosaic Le Corporazioni by Enrico Prampolini on the façade of the other palace.
Key facts
- Where: Viale della Civiltà Romana, EUR, Roma
- What: Monument
- When: 1942
- GPS: 41.8328, 12.4727 · Open in Google Maps
History
The work was commissioned as part of the 1942 Esposizione Universale di Roma (E42), which was never inaugurated because of the Second World War. Fortunato Depero completed the mosaic on 15 June 1942, according to a letter he sent to Cipriano Efisio Oppo, Vice-president of the Ente Autonomo for the Esposizione Universale di Roma. The project involved a travailed execution, with several modifications to align the colours with the nearby mosaic by Prampolini. The building on whose external wall the mosaic was placed was the Palazzo delle Scienze of the former Museo della Scienza, today part of the Museo Nazionale Preistorico Etnografico Luigi Pigorini. Both mosaics were restored in 1992 with funding from Banca di Roma.
What you see
The photographs show a large rectangular mosaic panel on the pale stone wall of the building, with a long row of square columns of the colonnade to the right. The full frontal photograph shows the dense composition with allegorical figures and symbols. A close-up shows a large blocky angular form in ochre and dark grey tesserae, with the signature F. Depero below.
Do you know more about this place?
If you know a date, a name, a document, a plaque or a photograph that tells its story, write to Sofia at sofia@culturalheritageonline.com or through the contact page. What arrives with a source goes into this page, with your name as the contributor.
Nearby
- Palazzo dei Congressi — EUR by Adalberto Libera — close by in the EUR district
- SIAE – Theater Collection Museum – exBurcardo Theater Museum Library — close by in the same area
Gallery
Sources
- Rerum Romanarum, Mosaici de Le Corporazioni e de Le Professioni e Le Arti: the location, authorship, subject matter and restoration of the two mosaics
- Visitalymaps, I Mosaici DI Prampolini e Depero in Viale della Civiltà Romana: subject matter, location and restoration of the Depero mosaic
- University of Manchester, Fortunato Depero, Le Professioni e le Arti (1942): iconography and position of the mosaic on the building
- Museo delle Civiltà, Il museo e l’EUR: date of completion, commission details, restoration, building history and context
- Capitolium Art, Fortunato Depero: involvement of Depero in the execution of the mosaic on the external wall of the Palazzo delle Scienze between 1941 and 1942
- Stefano Vigolo, photographs and notes to the editorial staff (2026): identification of the subject and exact position on Google Maps. Not a published source
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