With the Artemidorus Papyrus, the Compagnia di San Paolo opens

Follow-up note
With the Artemidorus Papyrus, the Compagnia di San Paolo opens up a new
important exhibition element of the Polo Reale
Torino, 7 October 2014 – With a global allocation of almost € 27 million and a significant planning and
operating engagement, the Compagnia di San Paolo has been committed for over a decade in a complex plan
for the recovery of the artistic heritage of Turin’s historical center, aimed at enhancing the value of the
museum district of the Polo Reale. The exhibition of the Artemidorus Papyrus, inaugurated today at the
Museo di Antichità, offers an element of sure attraction both for the general and the specialist public, also
due to the scientific debate it raises, and has led to the restoration of the first section of the North Wing of
Palazzo Reale in harmony with the new rooms of the Galleria Sabauda, which will soon be reopened.
The History of the Artemidorus Papyrus
In 2004, upon demand by the Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, the Compagnia di San Paolo, after
having received the information and the evaluation elements available at the time, formalized the purchase of
the find, considered a work of exceptional value. In 2006 it was presented to the public for the first time in
the exhibition “The Three Lives of the Artemidorus Papyrus” promoted at the rooms of Palazzo Bricherasio
by the Fondazione per l’Arte of the Compagnia di San Paolo. It was also the start of an intense debate among
scholars about the dating, the origin, the meaning, and the provenance of this find.
Since then, the papyrus has never stopped hitting the headlines with the opinions of the two factions of
experts that have been forming and that, with more or less dramatic tones, from time to time present the
research results confirming their own theses: on the one side are the scholars who maintain the thesis of a
papyrus having “three lives,” dating back from the 1st to the 20th centuries; on the other side are those who
are inclined towards the thesis that the author of the papyrus is a feared XIX century forger, Costantino
Simonidis.
In order to offer visitors of all ages and cultural background the chance to examine in depth and distinguish
the elements that concur with these different theses, the exhibition has been created with the purpose of
providing clear and complete contents, characterized by scientific impartiality.
***
Website: compagniadisanpaolo.it
Facebook: Compagnia di San Paolo
Twitter: CSP_live
Youtube: compagniadisanpaolo
________________
Press Office of Compagnia di San Paolo: Elisa Ferrio, mobile phone 347 8566482, e-mail [email protected]
Website: compagniadisanpaolo.it
Facebook: Compagnia di San Paolo
Twitter: CSP_live
Youtube: compagniadisanpaolo

Download Report