Cultural Heritage Spotlight: Roman Heritage from the Museo Nacional de Arte Romano (MNAR)

Introduction

Founded in the year 25 B.C.E. by order of the Roman emperor Augustus, the city of Augusta Emerita (today Mérida) sits on a plain flanked by the mighty but calm Guadiana, and the smaller Albarregas rivers. For centuries it was a cultural, economic and political hub, as it became the capital of the Roman province of Lusitania, and later the seat of an Archbishopric that managed the Roman Christian administration of the entirety of Western Europe and Morocco. Despite these ancient glory days having passed, the Roman city remains remarkably well preserved between the modern housing of the regional capital of Extremadura, becoming one of the most important Roman-era archaeological sites in Western Europe.

A Museum of Roman Heritage from the finis terrae

Founded first in 1838 as Museo Arqueológico de Mérida, the Museo Nacional de Arte Romano (or MNAR) received its current name in 1975, as it was founded again as a national museum with the public and stated mission of harboring, educating, researching and publishing the well-preserved Roman heritage found in Mérida specifically, and in Spain generally. This museum is part of the network of sixteen State Museums administered directly by the Culture Ministry of the government of the Kingdom of Spain.

The MNAR is one of the largest museums in the country, harboring over 55,000 individual objects belonging primarily to the Roman imperial period (1st century BCE), all the way to the post-Roman Late Antiquity (up to the 8th century CE). The museum invites all the public to engage, learn and distribute the cultural heritage that is harbored. Its building, designed by the acclaimed architect Rafael Moneo, has the intention of showing Roman architecture with a modern adaptation. This includes the use of bricks modelled on Roman measures, and archways based on “Trajan’s arch”, a monumental 15-meter entrance archway that, despite its name, it has little relation with the specific emperor Trajan, but is actually the entranceway to the sacred area of the Roman temple dedicated to the ancient Imperial Cult. The arched central hall is designed to showcase the monumentality of Roman architecture itself, and its engineering feats as part of the cultural heritage left to us in the present.

Capturing Roman culture for posterity

In accordance with the stated mission and public duty of the museum, it has always favored the access of both researchers and the general public to its collection. This is demonstrated by the existence of numerous 3D models on Sketchfab, including those generated thanks to the collaboration of the MNAR with other institutions, such as in the projects “Desciphering roman inscriptions in 3-D: Virtual Epigraphic Science” and “Roman inscriptions from Emerita Augusta in 3-D: from Museum to mobile devices” by the Epigraphia3D group, from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria , or collaboration with the CMPLab Laboratory from the University of Extremadura Centro Universitario de Mérida, thus enriching the available material in Sketchfab through collaboration with public institutions.

Aside from this webpage, other projects provided extraordinary knowledge of large statuary groups known across the Roman world. Specifically, we refer to projects that were fruits of the collaboration with research groups such as 3D CO-VIM of the University of Extremadura, and 3D Visual Computing and Robotics of the University of Castilla-La Mancha. Using diverse techniques, several statue fragments were scanned from what was known as the “Aeneas Group”, recovered from the excavation of Merida’s Roman Forum portico, allowing for its virtual reconstruction (see image). Several techniques based on a Minolta Vivid Vi-910 short-range laser were used, followed by a handheld structured light scanner and supported by a conventional digital camera to produce photogrammetry models, as well as a hyperspectral camera used to detect relevant information of the base materials and polychromatic remains. All of this was integrated into 3D models.

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Adding to these collaborative projects involving the scanning of the heritage exhibited and stored in the museum, in 2019 a team from Quixel (today part of Epic Games) contacted the MNAR to scan multiple objects and render them. The Quixel team is one of the largest groups engaged in videogame-oriented digital rendering through photogrammetry. The objective of the project was the creation of a database for digital textures and objects to be integrated into their scan library, to be used for the production of videogames. You can see the Museum is credited in the whole Quixel-delivered collection on Fab. Even though you are not required to give further credit to the Museum when using these assets in your projects, we highly encourage you to do so to fulfill the objectives of the Museum, and provide greater visibility to the value of this cultural heritage – as well as the importance for their preservation for future generations.

The rendering of these objects was done in collaboration with the Museum team that accompanied Quixel, selecting representative images of Early Imperial Roman architecture and art. The photogrammetry was realized through a photographic camera without tripod, and no lighting, during a Monday so as not to interrupt visitors enjoying the MNAR’s collections.

The selected objects to be rendered included the following:

• Portrait of Augustus: one of the most spectacular portraits of the first Roman Emperor, it is a capite velatio, depicting the iconic historical figure in a youthful “divine” state and as top Roman religious authority in line of Imperial ideology. Dated: 1st century AD, after his death, as part of the theater’s imperial cult shrine.
• A veiled head of a youth, interpreted as the “genie of the colony”, but could also be considered a portrait of the ill-fated Antinous, lover of emperor Hadrian dated to the first third of the 2nd century CE.
• Three Roman grave stones with decorative pediments: one dedicated to Lucius Iulius Amoenus, 24 years old; Gaius Valerius Soldus, a veteran from the VII Geminae Felicis; and a freedman Quintus Baebius Florus with small volutes at the top. These inscriptions represent funerary art from the 2nd century. Both are dedicated to the Dis Manibus Sacrum, or manic gods. On the top there would be receptacles for libations of wine and water.
• Portraits: other than the imperial portrait of Augustus, the portraits of the Roman inhabitants of Augusta Emerita are some of the most popular objects exhibited in the museum due to their spectacular realism. They include a bust of a young woman with holes to hold decorative lost earrings, and another of an older woman found in the eastern funerary area of the city. Male portraits include the bust of a robust short-haired man, and another, elderly man, both from the first century CE. These first to second century portraits were funerary, modeled after death masks produced during the funeral of the deceased to depict both age and virtues of the person buried in the necropolis.
• A headless statue of Ascanius, son of the hero Aeneas, in a scene representing their flight from the destroyed Troy, as a foundational event of the Roman people as represented in the forum. A full body male statue without head or arms, wearing a ceremonial toga. The head would be changed according to need, as the body was designed to depict the virtus of the model Roman citizen.
• Roman marble cylindrical plinths, used to sustain columns. By the 19th century one of the plinths was used to support the statue of Saint Eulalia, the patron of the city of Mérida, before eventually being removed and placed in the museum for its exhibition.
• Reliefs from the forum: one depicting the origin of the city, with a possible portrait of general Agrippa, right hand man of Augustus, who reportedly travelled to Mérida for the foundation ceremony. Another, depicting a bas-relief of a tree crowned by laurel leaves and birds, and a snake at the bottom, possibly belonging to a copy of the Ara Pacis (the Peace Shrine) from Rome. A marble coating of a pillar with floral and vegetal reliefs. Finally, a relief with decorative wreaths, representative of the rich art preserved from that period, depicting the abundance provided by the empire’s peace.
• Atrium columns: these remains belonged to a house that were uncovered during the excavations of the plot where the current museum’s main building is placed. It’s preserved in situ.
• A funerary plaque for the 13-year-old slave called Lampas, written in Greek, and being depicted to be cleaning herself in a toilette. Dated to the 2nd century.
• The architectural cornices of the Roman theatre, representative of the Hellenizing nature of Roman architecture in Early Imperial Mérida.
• A puteal or a classical well head with decoration of Bacchic creatures like satyrs and associated animals like dolphins.
• Mosaics belonging to different periods. These include early imperial geometric grids and one band of an ivy branch elegantly decorated with leaves.
• Finally, the team scanned the recognizable wall of the Museum itself, with its varied red brick coloring designed by the architect Rafael Moneo. The wall is inspired by brick Roman architecture, with a modern touch that makes the space more amenable for modern visitors.

These objects are representative of both the ancient Roman and current expression of the cultural heritage Mérida has to offer.

While impressive in themselves, these scans were used in a variety of ways. Not only do they contribute to the wider understanding and preservation of the Roman heritage of the ancient province of Hispania, but they are also allowed for use in popular media. This includes their use in recent AAA games, as well as indie video production on popular sites such as YouTube and social media. The availability provided by such scans is, too, part of the mission of valuing and teaching the public about the importance of Roman heritage in modern art and culture.

Final Thoughts

As technology progresses, archaeologically-themed Museums become part of the wider cultural phenomena influenced by said changes. The video game industry and independent video productions, which include a demand for realistic and detailed ambiences, require an increased collaboration with institutions such as MNAR that allow for a safe, ethical and accessible approach to the cultural heritage exhibited to the public and harbored in their warehouses. To such an end, we welcome current and future collaborations in accessing our rich archaeological collection for all kinds of expert and independent users.

On the authors: Alexander Bar-Magen Numhauser and José María Murciano Calles are curators for the Museo Nacional de Arte Romano, in the Documentation Department. You can learn more about the cultural heritage displayed and harbored in the MNAR by going to its website, or searching for specific objects in the Spanish Ministry of Culture’s “Cer.es – Colecciones en Red” database. The scanned objects are displayed and available on Fab.com.