Dario del Bufalo

Dario del Bufalo (born 1958) is an Italian art and antique expert, architect, and restorer.

He graduated in 1987 with a degree in architecture from Sapienza University in Rome.[1]

He is the author of Porphyry. Red Imperial Porphyry Power and Religion about the red stone often employed in Roman mosaics.[2][3] Del Buffalo gained much notoriety when he rediscovered an antiquity featured in his book, a marble mosaic which had been part of the flooring on one of the Roman Emperor Caligula's pleasure boats, "The Nemi Ships' which were more like buildings than boats and never meant to sail. Following Caligula's assassination in AD 41 the boats were sunk on the orders of the Roman Senate and the Praetorian guard.

Lake Nemi (30 km (19 mi) south of Rome) which the vessels were upon was drained by Benito Mussolini in the 1920s and the ships became visible again. Next a museum was founded and built above the vessels to allow viewing. The museum and the ships were destroyed by fire during military action in World War II. This particular piece which survived went missing in the 1960s. It fell into private hands and was eventually sold by an aristocratic Italian family to New York City antiques dealer Helen Fioratti and her husband Nereo.[4][5] After Del Bufalo's refinding of the piece which was serving as the top of a coffee table in the Fioratti's apartment it was seized by the New York County District Attorney's Office and then repatriated to Italy.[6]

His daughter is the actress and singer Diana del Bufalo (b. 1990).[7]

References
  1. "Dario Del Bufalo". Università dei Marmorari. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  2. "Dario del Bufalo". The Art Newspaper - International art news and events. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  3. Magazine, Smithsonian; Kindy, David. "A Mosaic From Caligula's 'Pleasure Boat' Spent 45 Years as a Coffee Table in NYC". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  4. "2,000-year-old Roman artifact used as coffee table for 50 years". New York Post. 2021-11-22. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  5. "Roman Emperor Caligula's coffee table". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  6. Desk, ZACHARY ROGERS | The National (2021-11-22). "'Caligula's coffee table', 2,000-year-old artifact found in NYC apartment". WCIV. Retrieved 2022-02-10.
  7. Signorini, Mario (2021-02-25). "Diana Del Bufalo curiosità: chi sono i (famosi) genitori e che lavoro fanno". Solonotizie24 (in Italian). Retrieved 2022-02-10.
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