Ancient Rome and India

Rosa Maria Cimino graduated from ‘La Sapienza’ University of Rome with a thesis on Indian art. She subsequently did postgraduate work in Oriental Archaeology and took a Ph.D. in Indian art. The thesis for the latter is the subject of the present book. Since 1970 she has worked at the cultural office of the former Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (IsMEO), now Istituto Italiano per I’Africa e l’Oriente (IsIAO), promoting cultural relations between Italy and Oriental countries, organizing art exhibitions, lectures, conferences and congresses. She has travelled to India more than 25 times (once a year since 1975) where she carried out her art studies. She has taught Indian art for several years at the School of Languages and Oriental Cultures of IsMEO. She has participated in international congresses and lectured in a number of Italian cultural institutes. She promoted two television broadcasts on India and has also written a TV programme on Krishnamurti. A number of her studies on various aspects of Indian art have been published in books and specialized journals. For more than 10 years she has focused specifically on miniatures and wall paintings. She is also preparing a new book on the wall painting of Udaipur. On behalf of the former IsMEO she has organized three exhibitions. The first in 1974, entitled ‘India and Italy’ dealt with the cultural relations between Italy and India over the centuries, and the third, in 1995, was entitled ‘Ancient Rome and India’ and dealt with a similar field, namely the relations between the Roman world and India. In both cases she was the co-author of the catalogue. The exhibitions toured numerous cities in India. The second exhibition, in 1985, entitled ‘Court Life in Rajasthan’, organized by CESMEO of Turin in collaboration with IsMEO, was held in the Royal Palace of Turin and displayed Indian miniatures from numerous European museums. She was the author of the catalogue in this case.