Memorie sommerse. I Bronzi del Ponte di Valentiniano

Bronzes recovered from the Tiber near the bridge of Valentinian resurfaced in a monographic exhibition at the Museo Nazionale Romano — Palazzo Massimo (Sala VI), curated by Federica Rinaldi and Agnese Pergola. The fragments came to light in 1878, during the embankment works on the Tiber, and spent more than a century in the museum’s storerooms before an extensive campaign of restoration and study returned them to public view.

Three works were shown: a diademed male head attributed to the emperor Valentinian I, a headless togatus statue in gilded bronze, and the right wing of a Victory. They belonged to the decoration of the Roman bridge dedicated by Valentinian and his brother Valens — the bridge known today as Ponte Sisto. A video with the voice of Silvia Orlandi, professor of Latin epigraphy at the Sapienza University of Rome, read the great marble dedicatory inscription and the monumental travertine inscription that faced the river, composed to be read by those sailing the Tiber; the inscription survives in Michelangelo’s cloister at the Baths of Diocletian. A scientific volume on the discovery, iconography and restoration of the group is in preparation with the publisher Quasar.

Photographs from the museum’s press kit, provided by the Museo Nazionale Romano press office, September 2026. Credits as indicated by the museum.