In Salice Salentino (Lecce), an exhibition recounts the great battles of Homer and Virgil

Myth, archaeology, and digital technologies come together in Salice Salentino (Lecce) with *The Great Battles Between Homer and Virgil*, an exhibition taking place on July 11 and 12, 2026, at the Convent of the Madonna della Visitazione. The public opening is scheduled for Saturday, July 11, at 6:00 p.m., as part of the fourth edition of Salicomix, the comic book festival that brings this Salento town to life every year.

The initiative is sponsored by the Municipality of Salice Salentino, with artistic direction by the Salic’è Cultural Association and in collaboration with the Pro Loco, the National Archaeological Museum of Taranto (MArTA), the University of Salento, the Archaeological Museum of Castro, Pegaso University, and the Hic et Nunc School. The project is held under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture, the Puglia Region, the Province of Lecce, PugliaPromozione—Regional Tourism Agency, and Rai Puglia.

The exhibition offers an experience that connects the tradition of the great classical epics with contemporary creative tools, appealing to a broad audience and, in particular, to younger generations. The goal is to foster an understanding of the *Iliad*, *Odyssey*, and *Aeneid* through artistic works, digital applications, and three-dimensional reconstructions.

The exhibition brings together works by Fabiola Malinconico, Monica Lisi, and Sian Price, dedicated to the three major poems of the classical tradition, alongside 3D-printed reproductions of artifacts housed at MArTA and linked to the characters and episodes narrated in the works of Homer and Virgil. The three-dimensional renderings were curated by Professor Carola Esposito Corcione and Valentina De Carolis, with the participation of architect Riccardo Catamo and engineer Daniele Godi, a doctoral student in the Materials Engineering and Nanotechnology program, along with students from the 3D Printing Laboratory of the Industrial Engineering program—Materials track—at the University of Salento.

One section of the exhibition is also dedicated to experimentation with locally sourced recycled materials. As part of the 3D Printing course, filaments made from waste materials were developed and are displayed alongside the raw materials used to produce them. The exhibition also features materials emblematic of local tradition, such as Lecce stone andolive wood, presented in relation to the themes of sustainability and technological innovation.

Among the central elements of the exhibition is the XR Battle Experience, an installation developed by the Center for Research on Computer Vision and Extended Reality (xRAI) at the Department of Information Sciences and Technologies at Pegaso University . Thanks to a system of embodiment (virtual incarnation) and skeletal tracking technology, visitors can assume the identity of characters such as Achilles and Hector, controlling a digital avatar engaged in battle in real time and influencing the course of the action.

The exhibition is rounded out by a video interview with Emanuele Ciullo, an archaeologist at the Archaeological Museum of Castro, dedicated to the figure of Aeneas and the Sanctuary of Minerva in Castro. Through an analysis of votive offerings and evidence of the cult of Athena, the presentation compares Virgil’s account with the archaeological evidence. Also from the National Archaeological Museum of Taranto comes the artifact chosen as the symbol of Salicomix 2026: the marble head of Athena wearing an Apulian-Corinthian helmet.

Admission to the exhibition is free.

“A renewed collaboration,” explains MArTA Director Stella Falzone, “thanks in part to our partnership with the University of Salento, which, drawing on a select group of the museum’s artifacts, recounts the great battles of antiquity.” The 3D images of our artifacts—namely, the head of Athena from Saturo (4th century B.C.), the metope depicting a warrior on horseback from the naiskos on Via Umbria (3rd century B.C.), the balsamarium (6th century B.C.) and the sculpture (late 3rd century B.C.), both in the shape of a siren, are brought into the present through this project, thanks to modern technology, and are effectively transformed into a vivid and contemporary narrative.”

In Salice Salentino (Lecce), an exhibition recounts the great battles of Homer and Virgil

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