The vestibule of Bvlgari Hotel Roma welcomes a new protagonist from the Torlonia Collection: the Colossal Bust of Jupiter Serapis, which succeeds the Statue of Venus as part of the five-year exhibition programme promoted by Fondazione Torlonia and Bvlgari.
Launched in 2023, the project stems from the collaboration between two institutions united by a shared commitment to preserving and enhancing artistic heritage. Thanks to the support of the maison and Fondazione Bvlgari, the initiative has contributed to the restoration of more than 150 works from the Torlonia Collection, which have been presented in major international exhibitions in Rome, Milan, Paris and, more recently, in the collection’s first North American tour across Chicago, Fort Worth and Montréal.
Overlooking the Mausoleum of Augustus, the vestibule of Bvlgari Hotel Roma is confirmed as an exceptional exhibition space, also visible to the external public. The display develops a symbolic narrative inspired by the “Augustan dream”, weaving together religion, power, art and classical culture through a selection of monumental works from the Torlonia Collection.
With the arrival of the Colossal Bust of Jupiter Serapis, the narrative opens up to a more universal and cosmic dimension. A syncretic deity born from the fusion of Jupiter, sovereign of the Roman Olympus, and Serapis, the Egyptian-Greek god associated with regeneration and abundance, Jupiter Serapis embodied the idea of a power capable of connecting East and West, reflecting the universal ambition of the Roman Empire.
Carved in Greek marble and dating to the late Antonine period, in the 2nd century AD, the bust comes from the historic Giustiniani Collection, today part of the wider Torlonia Collection. The work echoes the celebrated Hellenistic prototype attributed to Bryaxis for the Serapeum of Alexandria: the monumental face, the richly sculpted beard and the modius on the head, a divine attribute of fertility, convey the full sacred force and majesty of the image.
Following the Seated Statue of Augustus and the Statue of Venus, the Colossal Bust of Jupiter Serapis marks a new chapter in the exhibition programme, which will continue until 2028 with further masterpieces from the Torlonia Collection.
The project reaffirms Bvlgari Hotel Roma as a place of encounter between contemporary hospitality, classical culture and great artistic heritage, in the heart of a city where the past continues to speak to the present.
