Official Rome 1960 Summer Olympics torch, constructed of bronzed aluminum, measuring 15.5″ in length and 3.75″ at its widest point, manufactured by the Curtisa firm of Bologna. The torch’s designer, Amedeo Maiuri, was a renowned Italian archaeologist famous for his studies of the Roman site of Pompeii. Inspired by the designs and patterns of the host city’s ancient ruins and monuments, the torch is grooved with slender conical fluting along its candlestick frame, features consistent with the classical touch of the 1960 Games. The torch platform bears the engraving, “Giochi della XVII Olympiade,” and maker’s marks, “M. F.—Curtisa—Bologna, 3375,” can be found inscribed on the bottom of the handle. Also included with the torch is its rare original cylindrical presentation case, which features wear and some scuffing, and denting to upper and lower covers. The Olympic flame was lit on August 12 in Olympia, Greece, and was carried a total of 1,863 km—excluding the flame’s voyage from Athens to Syracuse aboard the training ship Amerigo Vespucci—by over 1,500 torchbearers during its historic fourteen day relay. The XVII Olympiad earns the distinction of being the first Summer Olympics to be telecast in North America.
