ROME – A fine collection of over 350 Roman marbles was presented Wednesday at the British Ambassador's residence after a Shell-sponsored restoration brought the pieces together.

 Speaking at the event at the Villa Wolkonsky, the Italian Minister of Culture and Tourism, Dario Franceschini, outlined the importance of these kinds of projects in recovering parts of the country's archaeological heritage. “The eye of the archaeologist allows you to see things that aren't visible to tourists,” he said.

 The collection began with Russian Princess Zenaide Wolkonsky who originally built the villa and gardens in the 1830s. Zenaide wanted a place where she could escape the bustle of central Rome and she designed a fantastic rose-filled garden around the Roman Aqueduct in the grounds.

 She filled the garden with artefacts and used it to host artistic gatherings for the likes of Walter Scott and Nikolai Gogol, who planned 'Dead Souls' while laying in a grotto in the garden.

 Today, Villa Wolkonsky serves as residence of the British Ambassador, Christopher Prentice, in Rome as it has done for successive British envoys since the end of the Second World War when it was liberated from the Nazi Gestapo, who used it as a wartime headquarters.

 The villa and its park are a green island, surrounded by mainly modern buildings, which thanks to the restoration now showcases the princess' collection once again.

 The restoration has taken three years to complete, and began with the intention of rediscovering the princess' original plan for the garden. However, as more and more pieces were found in the garden (some of which completely overgrown by vegetation) it was decided a new space be found to house the collection. This winter, during the final phase of the project, a derelict greenhouse in the grounds was redeveloped.

 The restored items were then placed on display inside so as to protect them from the damaging effects of the atmosphere and rampant flora.

 While unveiling a plaque honouring the financial contribution of Shell to the restoration, Marco Brun, Shell Italia country manager, urged companies to take a central role in the preservation of cultural goods and artefacts in Italy. “I think this will be possible because the new government have introduced favourable rates of taxation for this kind of thing. Often the state simply doesn't have the resources to dedicate to heritage,” he said.

 The collection at Villa Wolkonsky contains many pieces typical of a princess' Grand Tour collection. The exact provenance of most of the pieces is unclear. It is thought that some were acquired by the princess and others were recovered from the grounds as they were subsequently developed.

 Many of the pieces are historically significant. Although museum records from the late 19^th and early 20^th century document the collection, very few of its pieces are studied or cited in current research. Some items are unique examples of Roman art. A Freedman relief showing six people and a child is the only known example of its kind. Similar pieces at the British Museum show just two adults. Other noteworthy examples include a rare and mostly complete Roman reproduction of the Athena Parthenos and a bas relief sarcophagus.

 Dr. Dirk Booms, Curator of Roman Artefacts at the British Museum spoke about the importance of the Wolkonsky collection, “I hope that now that the collection is open it can be studied and we can make a real and true academic publication that will help get these pieces known. They are not just important in and of themselves but also important in understanding the history of Rome.”

 Given the artefacts location at the British Ambassador’s residence, the collection will unfortunately not be open to the general public as a normal museum would due to security issues. It will nonetheless be made available to scholars and archaeologists so that more can be learned about the pieces. A spokesperson for the British Embassy stated that while it was not generally open it would be possible to visit on certain occasions.