Vivid scenes of battlefield beheadings and prisoners dragged by their hair, carved into the 1,840-year-old marble Column of Marcus Aureliuswhich rises above the center of romeare being brought back into focus through a $2.3 million laser restoration.
A team of 18 specialists has been working since spring 2025 using portable, short-pulse lasers and chemical wraps to remove centuries of dirt from the roughly 30-meter-high monument. The column was built between 180 AD, the year of the death of the Roman emperor-philosopher Marcus Aurelius, and 193 AD
The project marks the most extensive use of laser technology ever on an ancient monument, according to chief restorer Marta Baumgartner, who said the decision was made despite the cost.
“The laser is a tool that is producing excellent results in restoration work, and the choice we made was to use it on the entire external frieze, the decorative strip, of the column,” Baumgartner told reporters who had rare access to the 16 levels of scaffolding that surround the monument.
“It costs more than traditional methods”, but “offers better restoration results, including in terms of time”.
She also stated that the technology helps preserve the integrity of the monument. “But, above all, it guarantees respect for the material, the marble itself. It fully ensures respect for the material and the patinas, which are evidence of the natural aging of the stone.”
Scenes of divine intervention
Restorers are removing extensive black and gray deposits, filling cracks, repairing breaks and treating marble erosion caused by decades of exposure to pollution, rain and wind. They also found that inadequate materials used in 19th-century restorations compromised the fragile Carrara marble. These materials are now being removed.
The column is one of the few Roman-era war monuments that still remain in its original location. It is opposite Palazzo Chigi, the official residence of the Prime Minister of Italy, built in 1562, linking ancient Rome to the modern State.
Spiral friezes depicting the wars of the Roman Empire under Marcus Aurelius wrap around the monument 23 times, forming a continuous narrative from base to top. Plaster casts made in 1955 are on display at the Museum of Roman Civilization in the Italian capital and remain an important resource for scholars.
The tower is made up of 18 marble drums carved with more than 2,000 figures, including soldiers, prisoners, gods and animals. There’s even a scene of divine intervention in the form of a deluge of rain. Marcus Aurelius appears repeatedly. Although the scenes are difficult to make out from the ground, they are stunning up close.
In 1589, the original statue of Marcus Aurelius at the top of the column was replaced by a bronze statue of Saint Paul. A subsequent restoration in the 1980s used unsuitable materials, which have now been removed.
The square around the column was closed after a 2013 assassination attempt on Palazzo Chigi guards and only reopened in 2023.
The laser restoration is scheduled to be completed in early 2026.
