Rome hosts exhibition exploring the life and myth of poet Safo

The Archaeological Park of the Colosseum in Rome opened an exhibition on October 15 to explore the life and legacy of Safo, an ancient Greek poet from Lesbos.

The display, titled "Safo: The Spirit of Poetry," features 40 works that examine the poet's historical existence and her enduring cultural myth. The exhibition will remain open to the public until January 31, 2027. Curator Silvia Romani organized the show to address the difficulty of reconciling the fragmented nature of Safo's history.

The exhibition uses two pavilions in the Aviarias Farnesio on the Palatine Hill to create a sensory experience. The first pavilion reconstructs Safo's figure through ancient material evidence, including decorated vases, sculptures, and reliefs. It also features iconic imagery such as a projection of the poet jumping from a cliff and paintings of the moon, which appears frequently in her poetry. The second pavilion focuses on how Safo became a cultural icon from the 19th century to modern pop culture.

This section includes various paintings, a 1967 lamp, and a 1991 Swatch watch. The organizers also included sensory elements like the scent of roses to evoke the imagery in her verses. This show follows a previous exhibition about Penelope and continues a series focused on modern female figures from antiquity.