MUSEUM MARKS MILESTONE

Some 503 artifacts traveled from Italy to China and were presented to the public on July 10, as the first international exhibition hosted by the National Museum of China (NMC) against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic opened that day.

The items, including bronzewares, sculptures, pottery and ancient coins, have been collected from 26 national-level museums across Italy. Some objects had never left Italy; some had never even left their museums. Collectively, they tell a story of the ancient Roman civilization from the fourth century B.C. to the first century A.D. through an exhibition titled Tota Italia: Origins of a Nation.

The trip wasn’t all smooth sailing. Transportation restrictions meant the Italian team was unable to accompany the treasured artifacts on their journey to Beijing.

After the items had arrived at the NMC, teams from both Italy