Amineddoleh & Associates LLC is pleased to contribute to the Preserving History Series by the American Institute for Roman Culture (AIRC). AIRC, founded in 2002, is a non-profit organization with locations in both the United States and Italy. The organization provides educational content, conducts archeological fieldwork, and provides its study abroad students with a full immersion into modern Italian culture while learning about the nation’s rich past. A lauded organization, AIRC has received numerous grants, including an NEH grant, American Express Foundation grant for the Villa delle Vignacce excavation, World Monuments Fund (WMF) collaboration for Santa Maria project, anonymous angel grants, and numerous donations from supporters. Its founder and director, Darius Arya, has received acclaim for his television and outreach work.

Flayed Marsyas at Centro Montemartini

One of the finds from the organization’s excavations can be viewed at Centrale Montemartini in Rome. In 2009, during a four-year excavation conducted by the Sovrintendenza Capitolina and AIRC, at Villa Vignacce in southeastern Rome, a statue in red marble was discovered. Dating from the 1st half of the 2nd century, it depicts the punishment of Marsyas. Marsyas was a satyr who challenged Apollo to a music contest. When Marsyas lost,  Apollo had him tied to be flayed alive. In the Vignacce Marsyas, the bloodied skin is rendered by head, arms, torso and legs of a veiny red marble, while hands and feet would have been white marble. An extraordinary find, the statue is almost entirely intact, missing only one hand and both feet.

Amineddoleh & Associates LLC has a long history collaborating with AIRC, and we are pleased to contribute a series of post entries to the Preserving History Series.