2025

The international conference “Fabulous beasts and where to read them: Animals in Byzantine fables, proverbs, and dreambooks” will take place online on 11th June 2026. The conference will discuss the roles, figures, representations, and agency of animals in “minor” genres of Byzantine literature. 

Lorenzo Ciolfi (Universidad Complutense de Madrid), affiliated researcher at the Norwegian Institute in Rome, collaborates with Przemyslaw Marciniak and Katarzyna Piotrowska from Katowice University on the organisation of the conference. Deadline for abstracts: 28th February. 

The Nordic embassies and academic institutes in Rome, in collaboration with the Circolo Scandinavo, are celebrating the long-standing historical ties between the Nordic countries and Rome throughout November.

How did ancient Greece become such a central reference point for European culture and identity? This is the central question behind Greek Heritage and Culture in European Identity (GrECI), an international research project based at the University of Oslo and two other European universities.

On October 2, 2025, the Norwegian Institutes in Athens and Rome officially launched "Encounters", a new joint lecture series designed to connect the academic traditions of the Nordic countries and the Mediterranean.

Invited speakers and experienced researchers share their ongoing projects and broader perspectives in these upcoming evening lectures.

Fellows and guest researchers present their research projects at the informal seminars taking place on Tuesdays.

A new arrangement aims to strengthen the connections between the Norwegian Institute and Italian scholars.

The institute will be closed to the public from August 4 to August 22. 

For  urgent matters, you may contact the director Han Lamers or the head of administration Anne Nicolaysen. For matters concerning our collections and library services, please contact our head librarian Manuela Michelloni.

We wish everyone a pleasant summer!

Historian Ingrid Kibsgård searches for victims of the Spanish Inquisition in the archives of the Apostolic Penitentiary.

We honor the memory of Per Jonas Nordhagen, who passed away at the age of 95 on May 24 of this year. He served as the director of the Norwegian Institute in Rome (1973-1976) and leaves behind a significant legacy as an accomplished art historian, with important contributions to architectural history and cultural heritage preservation.

Irene Selsvold explores traces of Etruscan city culture alongside Swedish colleagues.

Art historian Martin Lešák, the Norwegian Institute’s most recently arrived postdoc, will spend the next few years delving into the interaction between liturgy and visual decorations in Rome’s churches.

Fellows and guest researchers present their research projects at the Institute at the informal seminars taking place on Tuesdays.