 These two epochs take centre stage in the research to date and soon will be joined by a third focus, the art of the Italian Middle Ages.The programme of the Hertziana focuses on the art of Rome as well as that of central and southern Italy, as they were the cradle of important developments that affected European art history as a whole.Last but not least, Roman art owes its status to Roman artists' permanent confrontation with ancient art in all its forms—an interaction that is unavoidable in Rome.