Juliet of Rome: A Face from Rome’s National Archaeological Museum

Hidden History

When you step from the cavernous main hall at the Roma Termini station, you enter the Piazza dei Cinquecento. Visitors often head directly for the buses, taxis, and waiting private cars. Most miss the large museums across the Via Viminale, the busy boulevard that lines the northern side of the Piazza. There, in the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme — one of the National Archaeological Museums of Rome —  I first saw the face of Juliet.

Face from the Past

The museum, an often-overlooked treasure of ancient history, showcases a vast array of incredible artifacts, many dating to the 10th Century BC. As I made my way between main galleries, I passed the bust of a young woman created in the 4th Century BC. 

For whatever reason, the face reminded me of the lives of those people who, at that time, found passion in their loves and sorrow in their losses. As other visitors passed me by, I took in the simple beauty of that sculpture. When we walk through museums, the larger, most famous works tend to draw us and direct our movement. We miss a lot when we do that. 

Creative men and women, living good lives across centuries past, passionately labored to model the face of a senator, an emperor, a general, or a young woman. As I studied her face, I wondered if she had a Romeo who fell in love with her, who cared about her as we do our own families. Travel, and art, can have this strange and profound impact us. 

Golden Hour

Many often call Italy the place of the “golden hour.”  Artists have commented for centuries about the changes in the sky at the time of sunset. For about an hour, as the sun prepares to set, the sky seems filled with flecks of gold, and the dust of the countryside and city rises to capture a glimmer of golden light — a gift that inspires the artist and romantic in all of us.

On a visit to Rome a few years ago, I left the Archeological Museum during that Golden Hour. Rome’s rare beauty shines when the white marble of modern and ancient structures glows with a peach-hued light. I strolled the short distance to the Hotel Stendhal, one of our and our guests’ favorite properties. After a long day of travel, trains, and taxis, this hotel offers respite from the cacophony of the city, a place to truly relax. They provide a sense of welcome, of refined but not showy hospitality — a true find anywhere in Italy. The hotel offers a lovely small bar with windows that face the Via del Tritone and west. 

Legacy of Beauty

Rays of evening light filtered into the space and, as I enjoyed a glass of wine, a young woman came in and sat a few tables away. As I surreptitiously studied her profile, I clearly saw the ‘bones of history’ in her face. The proud Roman; young, vibrant, full of life, engaged in the energies of youth. It was not lost on me, either, that here was a living Juliet, someone raised in the country of emperors, who carried herself unconsciously with the pride of her past.