Arcus Novus
{{short description|Destroyed ancient Roman arch in Rome, Italy}}
{{infobox ancient site
|name=Arcus Novus
|image=Boboli, prigionieri parti 08.JPG
|caption=Plinth with Victoria, Dioskuri and barbarian prisoners, now in Boboli Gardens,
|location=Via lata
|built=AD 293
|builder=Diocletian
|type=Triumphal arch
|coordinates={{coord|41|53|53|N|12|28|54|E|type:landmark_region:IT|display=it}}
|map dot label=Arcus Novus
|map_label_position=bottom
|map_type=Italy Rome Antiquity
|map_overlay=Roma Plan.jpg
|map_caption=Shown within Augustan Rome
|map_size=270
|image_size=270
|mapframe-frame-width=270
|mapframe=yes
|mapframe-caption=Click on the map for a fullscreen view
|mapframe-zoom=13
|mapframe-marker=monument
|mapframe-wikidata=yes
}}
The Arcus Novus was an ancient arch in Rome, located on the Via Lata (now the Via del Corso), at the site of the church of Santa Maria in Via Lata.
History
File:Plan Rome - Arcus Novus.png
The arch was dedicated to Diocletian either for the occasion of his decennalia in 293 AD, or his triumph celebrated with Maximian in 303–304. The name Arcus novus (new arch) probably refers to the earlier Arch of Claudius on the same street.{{sfn|Richardson|1992|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=K_qjo30tjHAC&pg=PA27 p. 27]}}
Description
The Arcus Novus was decorated with reliefs reused (spolia) from a large altar of the Julio-Claudian period, most probably the Ara pietatis, while the column plinths were decorated with images of Victoria, barbarian prisoners and the Dioskouri, probably from the facade of the nearby Temple of the Sun of Aurelian. The arch was destroyed in 1491 by order of Pope Innocent VIII during reconstruction of Santa Maria in Via Lata.{{sfn|Richardson|1992|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=K_qjo30tjHAC&pg=PA27 p. 27]}}
Fragments of the reliefs were discovered in 1523 and added to the Della Valle collection before being acquired by Cardinal Ferdinand de' Medici in 1584, from where the plinths found their way to the Boboli Gardens in Florence. Other fragments from the Antonine period, reused by Diocletian, were included in the rear facade of the cardinal's Villa Medici in Rome. More recently excavations carried out in 1923–1933 discovered further fragments now in the Centrale Montemartini.{{sfn|Richardson|1992|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=K_qjo30tjHAC&pg=PA27 p. 27]}}
{{Gallery |width=160 | height=170 |align=center | File:Controfacciata di villa medici, rilievi romani 04-05-06 da arcus novus.JPG|Reliefs from Arcus Novus incorporated into Villa Medici|File:Controfacciata di villa medici, rilievi romani 05, da arcus novus 2.jpg|Detail}}
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite book|last1=Coarelli|first1=Filippo|last2=Usai|first2=Luisanna|author-link1=Filippo Coarelli|title=Guida archeologica di Roma|date=1989|publisher=Arnoldo Mondadori Editore|location=Verona|isbn=9788804118961|edition=5th|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EIh9AAAACAAJ}}
- {{cite book|last1=Richardson|first1=Lawrence|title=A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome|date=1992|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|location=Baltimore|isbn=9780801843006|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K_qjo30tjHAC|access-date=28 October 2015}}
{{refend}}
External links
- {{cite book |first=M. |last=Lucentini |title=The Rome Guide: Step by Step through History's Greatest City|date=31 December 2012 |publisher=Interlink |isbn=9781623710088 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=laMDAQAAQBAJ}}
{{commons-inline}}
{{portalbar|Ancient Rome|Italy|History|Architecture}}
{{Sequence
| prev = Arch of Titus
| list = Landmarks of Rome
| curr = Arch of Novus
| next = Aqua Alexandrina
}}
{{Monuments of Rome}}
Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 4th century