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Palazzo Grassi is famous for being a centre of Contemporary Art.
But now, temporarily, it has become the host of an exposition which covers a lengthy, important period, lasting a thousand years, in which the identity of the European continent was formed.

Rome and the Barbarians, the birth of a new world, the latest exposition linked to the guidance of Jean- Jacques Aillagon, wishes to propose a different vision of this millenium which was decisive for that geographical entity which, today, is called Europe, which too often celebrates Greek, Roman and Hebrew-Christian roots, forgetting its own Barbarian origins, which were beyond doubt quite potent and determining.

The exposition concentrates on those phenomena which effected more directly the territories of Western Europe, without however neglecting the processes that, originating in the East, effected the Occident as well.
Let us not forget the role played by the Mediterranean, until the advent of the Arab Muslim world, as a natural "basin" for the continuous interchange of men, merchandise and ideas, from East to West.
Its expansion in Europe, Africa and Asia allowed the Roman Empire to enter in contact with other nations: great civilizations such as that of the Egyptians and Persians, as well as the cultures of the so-called Barbarians.
The Romans, like the Greeks before them, considered "barbarians" to be those who did not understand their language. Rome's relationship with said peoples was frequently characterized by the typical dominator-dominated approach, as is made evident by a large part of Roman imperial iconography.
Yet often, the barbarians themselves won important military battles. During several centuries, this confrontation obliged the Empire to be constantly on the lookout for danger, yet nevertheless it allowed the creation of a fertile osmosis between the Roman world and the barbarian ambits.
The Roman Empire was a model of open civilization, almost "welcoming" in its attitude toward multifold creeds and customs.
Thus, Rome became a melting pot of diverse peoples, not even excluding persons of barbarian origins