Sotto il segno del Capricorno: Adriano's wall paintings revealed at Villa Adriana

The exhibition 'Sotto il segno del Capricorno' at Villa Adriana in Tivoli, extended until May 4, 2025, presents a comprehensive exploration of Hadrianic wall painting (117–138 CE). Curated by director Andrea Bruciati with restorer Veronica Fondi, the show features over five hundred recently recovered painted fragments, many from the 'Palestra' and 'Macchiozzo' areas. Excavations at Macchiozzo since 2014 were led by Columbia University, while fragments from a hypogeum in the Palestra are being studied by the University of Rome Tor Vergata. The exhibition opens normally closed spaces, such as the western substructures of the Canopus with polychrome frescoes, and displays mural paintings detached in the 1970s from the Serapeum's barrel vault. The title references the Capricorn zodiac sign, a symbol of Emperor Augustus and a model for Hadrian, as explained by Bruciati. The show emphasizes the dialogue between painting, architecture, sculpture, and gardens, presenting Villa Adriana as an integrated aesthetic ecosystem. Accessible areas include the Cryptoporticus of the Peschiera and the Garden-Stadium.