Cover Image: Publicity for the British Museum's Nero: The man behind the myth exhibit, 27 May - 24 October 2021 (Image formatted to fit space)
Like the Emperor Nero, the British Museum knows how to put on a show. That hangar of a space bearing the Sainsbury name can sometimes overwhelm the contents. Not on this occasion. The much-maligned emperor is ready to assert himself, assisted by some open-minded curators.
It’s not a whitewash of the man whose very name suggests darkness. This exhibition is more of a blank slate, trying to rehabilitate an individual whose reputation is unknown to younger visitors. Unlike Troy, the last swords-and-sandals blockbuster at the British Museum, Nero has been away from the big-screen for 70 years. Peter Ustinov was the last major star to play the emperor, back in 1951. Since then the music-loving bad boy has been silent. It’s time for a new generation to understand a figure they might have confused with a caffè proprietor.
