IDC Rome: The Ara Pacis and the new Richard Meier Museum

After a 10 years of construction, the new museum for the Ara Pacis is at last opening. Designed by American architect Richare Meier, the modern museum is made of glass, steel, and travertine and houses a 2000 year old monument created to honor Rome’s first emperor, Augustus

Dedicated in 9BC, the Ara Pacia - the Altar of Peace - was really a celebration of the Emperor Augustus and his successful domination of much of the known world. After the Fall of Rome in 475AD, the monument was lost; and though fragments of it surfaced during the Reniassance, their identity was not firmly established until the late 19thC. Reconstructed in 1938, the altar can be seen variously: political statement, elaborate allegory, major historical document, work of art.