The heritage of exchanges between East and West, made possible by Marco Polo’s travels and his “Il Milione”, is told by the exhibition “Marco Polo 1324-2024. The way of the East and… of America” promoted by Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei in the Corsiniana Library of Palazzo Corsini in Rome (via della Lungara, 10) from 24 October to 26 January.
The exhibition aims to represent all the sections and themes foreseen by the Lyncean conference of the same name (23-25 October 2024), with detailed maps of Marco Polo’s travels, with images of the cities and places covered by the “Milione”, as well as those taken from illuminated manuscripts. Each theme, word or subject is combined with significant iconography and precious artefacts representative of what the Venetian merchant narrated. Also on display are some illuminated manuscripts and incunabula of particular importance for their textual and iconographic aspects; finally, there is no shortage of comics, film clips and documentaries which constitute the backbone of the Multimedia Section.
The first section moves from the figure of Marco Polo between history and legend, focusing firstly on the relations between the papacy and Asia, then on the precursors of Marco Polo, such as Giovanni di Pian di Carpine and Guglielmo di Rubruck, giving space to the theme of travel reports between the 12th and 14th centuries. The second section focuses on the tradition and the manuscript and printed diffusion of the text of the “Milione” and on Rustichello da Pisa, who was its editor, also taking into consideration the aspect of the translations and miniatures most connected with the Polian imagery. The third section is dedicated to the geography of the “Million”, with reference to China and the wonders of the East, the mineralogical-petrological aspect (precious stones, oil, coal), fauna, flora and sciences. The scientific path also takes into consideration the theme of society, anthropology, law and economics, looking at the relationship between “Il Milione” and Europe.
The exhibition also addresses the lexical aspect of the “Milione” and the nautical vocabulary with the innovations due to the “Milione” itself. It also investigates the era following Marco Polo, represented, among others, by Odorico da Pordenone, to the point of building a bridge between Poliano’s text and the discovery of the New World, thanks to the autographed notes on the Milione which guided Christopher Columbus to discovery of America.
The last section is dedicated to the figure of Marco Polo in the media, with a series of multimedia stations designed to show the aspect of diffusion starting from the last decades of the last century, up to comics, cinema, television and virtual reality .