La Fondazione Terzo Pilastro takes Mitoraj to Pompei

After the success of the exhibitions held I the Valley of Temples in Agrigento and at Trajan’s Market in Rome, the new monumental exhibition of the French-Polish artist who died in 2014 comes to life in the archaeological area of Pompeii.
Archaeological classicism and the contemporaneity of Mitoraj's art, form a harmonious dialectical bond without overpowering one another, which emphasises and enhances both the historical solemnity of the excavations and the delicate figures of the master. Archaeological classicism and the contemporaneity of Mitoraj's art, form a harmonious dialectical bond without overpowering one another, which emphasises and enhances both the historical solemnity of the excavations and the delicate figures of the master.
“Professor Emmanuele F. M. Emanuele, Chairman of Fondazione Terzo Pilastro – Italia e Mediterraneo stated, “This exhibition, conceived and promoted by Fondazione Terzo Pilastro – Italia e Mediterraneo represents the requested sequel of the display staged in the Valley of the Temples, Agrigento, in 2011 based on an idea fostered by the Master and yours truly exactly in Agrigento.  Today, the archaeological excavations of Pompeii house Mitoraj’s monumental sculptures like the scenery of a performance in a theatre. This union of beauty, whereby ancient history converses with contemporary artistic expressions, creating a perfect symbiosis between and ancient and modern art, has already been experimented. In this, Mitoraj was a master: in fact, his style, although undeniably rooted in the classical tradition with a post-modern twist, it draws on the historical heritage of the Mediterranean - exactly as I consider it - a sea where peoples, nations and cultures meet.”
Gods and mythological heroes will populate the streets and the squares of the city buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and emerge from the ruins like a vision”, states Massimo Osanna, General Director of the Superintendency of Pompeii.
“The mute and iconic symbols in Mitoraj’s works, in their immanence, recall the profound classic values of classicism in a contemporary culture. In 1852 Théophile Gautier wrote, ‘In Pompeii, two steps separate ancient life from modern life.” 
Coordinated by Stefano and Riccarso Contini from the Contini Art Gallery and under the artistic direction of Luca Pizzi from the Mitoraj Atelier, around thirty monumental bronze sculptures were placed in various sections of the archaeological site – from the Sanctuary of Venus to the Forum to via dell’Abbondanza, the Stabian Baths and the Quadriporticus of the Theatres. The massive and elegantly sculpted figures, inspired by the classic iconology of myths and legends, cohabit with the architecture of ancient Pompeii – Daedalus and the Sanctuary of Venus, the Centaur and the Forum, the Centurion at the Stabian baths and winged Icarus at the triangular Forum. This great project will give new lifeblood to one of the most important archaeological areas in the world.
This great project will give new lifeblood to one of the most important archaeological areas in the world.
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