Anthony Burgess lived in Rome in the 1970s with his second wife Liana and their son Andrea. His time there inspired novels, musical compositions, translations, articles and a study guide for English literature. These works are marked by recurring preoccupations including the sonnets of the nineteenth century Roman poet Belli, the last days of the dying John Keats, and the tension between Rome’s role as the ‘eternal city’ and its secular concerns.
This new exhibition brings Burgess’s Roman project to life through a range of original manuscripts, audio recordings and artefacts never before exhibited. Rome in the Rain is made possible by funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Open until September 2016. Free entry.