Verger is no longer director of the National Roman Museum, "I’m saddened"

It is “a day of bitterness for the things imagined, planned and in progress that I will not be able to follow to the end but which I hope will not be abandoned or distorted”: this is the outburst in an open letter from the director of the National Roman Museum , Stéphane Verger, after the announcement that the Minister of Culture, Alessandro Giuli, has decided not to renew the mandate given to him by Dario Franceschini in 2020 after an international competition.

The MiC yesterday announced an international call to renew the directors of the Colosseum Archaeological Park, the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, the Royal Museums of Turin, the Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence and the Bargello Museums as well as 11 independent secondary schools band. In the past, many first-tier management positions had been confirmed by the MiC for a second four-year period. In this case, among the few confirmations on Rome are those of Francesca Cappelletti at the Galleria Borghese and Edith Gabrielli at the Vittoriano in Palazzo Venezia.

“The Minister of Culture did not deem it appropriate to renew my contract as director of the museum”, states Verger in the letter published by the Archaeoreporter website in which he lists exhibitions and initiatives carried out during his mandate, “four years of great work, which has led to important achievements, despite the difficult conditions, from Covid to the increase in energy prices, in the context of the general shortage of personnel and reduction in operating appropriations”.

In Paris Verger will return to teaching at the E’cole Pratique des Hautes Études. Mario Epifani, outgoing director of the Royal Palace of Naples, also claimed responsibility for the work carried out, “which has once again become an internationally recognizable symbol of the city, so much so that it has been chosen as a privileged venue for high-profile institutional events (G20, Summit of Ministers of Culture of the Mediterranean, UNESCO conference and G7 of Culture and Defense) and highly attractive public events”. In 2023 the Palace recorded 435 thousand visitors, +27% compared to 2022.