HADRIAN AND GREECE MEET AGAIN AT ITALY'S VILLA ADRIANA

HADRIAN loved all things Greek ... especially Antinous ... and he would love the current exhibition at his beloved Villa east of Rome.

Over fifty masterpieces showing the deep relationship between the Emperor and Greece are on exhibit now through November 2 at Tivoli's Villa Adriana. 

The event is hosted in the villa’s Antiquarium del Canopo, the same venue for the first-ever exhibition of Antinous art at Hadrian's Villa in 2012.

The exhibited items, some of which have never left Greece before, are loans from museums in Athens, Marathon, Piraeus, Corinth and Loukou.

The exhibition is titled "Hadrian and Greece ... Villa Adriana amid classicism and Hellenism" and curated by Elena Calandra and Benedetta Adembri.

"Hadrian studied there – in Greece – and went back for long periods as an adult," says Ms. Calandra. 

"Before receiving the imperial crown he became archon and established himself in Athens, making a sort of capital and base for trips to the East,” she continues.

Hadrian is a very significant figure in Greece as well, where he is considered a visionary emperor who loved Athens. 

He is known for the architectural masterpieces he built in the Greek capital, such as the arch of Hadrian the library and the aqueduct.

This event aims to highlight the longevity of Greek culture, and Hadrian's connection to both classicism and Hellenism as well as the decorations and landscapes of the villa.

Masterpieces travelling from Greece to be exhibited in Villa Adriana include Corinth's caryatids, Hadrian’s head from Athens, statues of philosophers and the head of Herod Atticus, who was friends with the emperor, and Antinous from Patras shown above.