Скачать или смотреть Restorers use laser to reveal history in Marcus Aurelius column in center of Rome - AP Explains

(18 Dec 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rome - 18 December 2025
1. Various of restorer at work on the frieze of the column of Marcus Aurelius
2. Close of Roman soldiers on the frieze
3. Marta Baumgartner, director of restoration, showing the column to journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Trisha Thomas, The Associated Press:
"We're here on the 16th level of scaffolding. It goes up the Marcus Aurelius column right in the center of Rome, in front of Italy's prime minister's office. This column that winds up, it's a frieze, winding up showing the battles of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. And restorers are working carefully, mostly with lasers, to clean out all the dirt and grime that has come over the years. It's been over 15 years since they've done a restoration. This project, which will cost over a million euros, is going to last until next June, 2026."
5. Various of restorer using a laser cleaning tool on the column
STORYLINE:
Perched above rooftops in the heart of Rome, restorers on Thursday used laser beams to clean a marble column in the piazza outside the prime minister’s office, removing layers of dust and grime that had covered the Roman monument for decades.

The 47-meter (154-foot) tall column, built between A.D. 180 and 193, features a relief that spirals upward and recounts the battles of one of Rome’s best-known emperors, Marcus Aurelius.

During the column’s last restoration, in the 1980s, restorers used tiny brushes to remove the dirt.

For a rare, up-close peek at the restoration, a group of journalists tramped up 16 levels of scaffolding — though their numbers progressively diminished as those with a fear of heights turned back.

Ancient artists did not hold back on the gory details of war. As the relief twists upward, it depicts soldiers dragging women with children off by their hair. Decapitated enemies lie on the ground, horses rear in the heat of battle and war prisoners look terrified with their necks bound together.

In addition to debuting the short-pulse lasers, the group of 18 restorers use chemical wraps, sponges and resin to erase dirt from the smog in the Italian capital and fill holes created by water freezing in cold weather and expanding within.

The monument has also suffered from erosion that has erased some of the faces of the engraved figures.

Creating a vertical construction site around a delicate column sculpted two millennia ago was a challenge.

Wide, square scaffolding around it affords the restorers the space needed to work comfortably.

They can step back and look at the figures, which get steadily larger up the column — a technique to make them more visible from the ground.

The 2-million-euro ($2.3-million) restoration is funded by the post-pandemic European recovery fund, and includes a new system to illuminate the column at night.

AP video by Andrea Rosa
Production by Trisha Thomas

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