OREANDA-NEWS. Eni is the main sponsor of the exhibition The Boxer: An Ancient Masterpiece, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The exhibition marks the first time the masterpiece - an ancient bronze sculpture from the 4th century B.C. excavated in Rome in 1885 - will be shown in the United States. The event has been organized thanks to Eni, the Italian Embassy in Washington, and the Metropolitan Museum ("Met"), and is part of 2013 - Year of Italian Culture in the United States, of which Eni is Corporate Ambassador. The Boxer is one of the most important initiatives among more than 200 cultural events throughout the year that will involve 50 U.S. cities and over 80 institutions and organizations.

Paolo Scaroni, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "At Eni, culture means "relationships". Through culture, in Italy and all over the world, we create links with the countries in which we operate. We are inextricably linked to the U.S., both as a country and as a company. This is true historically, due to the role played by America in Europe and in Italy throughout the 20th century. This is also true within our current relationships with some of the most important organizations in the U.S., across the fields of the arts, industry and research. The Met is one of the institutions that best reflects the American passion for culture, with its innumerable collection of artistic works spanning every era and every corner of the globe. With the exhibition of The Boxer, we hope to bring a piece of Italy within the prestigious walls of the Met".

As the Eni CEO"s words suggest, culture is an important aspect of Eni's relations with people and communities, and an important element of the company's sustainable way of working.

Eni"s keywords for sustainable development are in fact: dialogue, respect, transparency and active participation in local development and society as a whole, also through its commitment to innovation.

From New York and – in particular – from the headquarters of the United Nations and its Academy of excellence, Eni continues to engage in an ongoing dialogue with major international players for the development of different territories.

Since 2001, Eni has been part of the United Nations Global Compact Network, an initiative that brings together organizations committed to sustainable development in the world, and is now part of its core of excellence: the LEAD Program.

Eni participates in the activities of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network of the United Nations ("SDSN"), a network of academics and research, private sector and civil society, created to help find practical solutions related to sustainable development. The Network was set up last year by the Secretary General of the United Nations and is directed by Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

Eni"s CEO Paolo Scaroni is a member of the Leadership Council of SDSN, the body which oversees its activities. As part of SDSN, Eni has been assigned the role of driving the "Energy for all in Sub-Saharan Africa" initiative, along with the scientific collaboration of the Earth Institute. Activities take place in coordination with the United Nations initiative "Sustainable Energy For All" (SEFA), of which Eni is an active participant. This helps to strengthen the commitment to a strategic partnership with The Earth Institute at Columbia University, whose first area of action is the supporting of systems for planning, monitoring and evaluating investment for communities.

The partnership covers the first integrated development project "Hinda," led by Eni in the Republic of Congo within the framework of the Millennium Goals of the United Nations. The partnership with The Earth Institute also includes the application of innovative solutions in access to energy, in line with the initiatives developed under the auspices of the United Nations.

In addition to the partnership with The Earth Institute, Eni participates in various other partnerships with prestigious U.S. universities which aim toward innovation. In 2011, Eni signed a strategic research alliance with Stanford University. This year, Eni renewed its partnership in the energy sector with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one that started in 2008. The Eni-MIT alliance includes the MIT Energy Initiative program, which supports 10 scholarships each year. Since the beginning of the collaboration, 60 grants were provided and approximately 100 students working toward projects in the environmental and energy sectors were supported. In 2008, Eni promoted the creation of a new permanent Chair in Studies on the Middle East and Africa at the Council on Foreign Relations, the independent, nonpartisan association recognized as the most prestigious organization of foreign policy in the world.

Innovation, dialogue and transparency are also needed to support communication activities: for the first time, Eni was recently ranked in first place in the prestigious FT Bowen Craggs Index 2013; the ranking assesses the effectiveness of online communication used by the largest companies in the world, selected by the FT Global 500 index.

The Boxer at Rest

The Boxer at Rest, an ancient bronze sculpture (4th century B.C.) was excavated in Rome in 1885 on the south slope of the Quirinal Hill near the ancient Baths of Constantine. The statue will be exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum"s Mary and Michael Jaharis Gallery for six weeks, until 15 July. The sculpture was buried intentionally in late antiquity, possibly to preserve it against the barbarian invasions that ravaged Rome in the 5th century A.D. The broad-shouldered, muscular pugilist is shown seated, resting after a match. His gloves - which are highly detailed - identify him as a boxer. The athlete"s many head wounds are consistent with ancient boxing techniques, in which the head was the main target. The copper inlays indicating blood heighten the effect. The boxer"s right eye is swollen, his nose is broken, and he breathes through his mouth, probably because his nostrils are blocked by blood. His scarred lips are sunken, suggesting missing teeth. The ears, swollen from blows, indicate possible hearing loss. Drops of blood from the wounds on his head have trickled down his right arm and leg. Wear on the sculpture"s hands and feet suggests that they were touched frequently in antiquity, possibly in veneration. Because the iconography is related to statues of Herakles, sculpted by Lysippos in the 4th century B.C., The Boxer at Rest may have been meant to celebrate a mythical - or real - boxer, who was glorified for his endurance and courage. Scholars have long debated the date the statue was made, estimating a time between the middle of the 4th century B.C. and the middle of the 1st century B.C. The sculpture is an exceptional work of bronze from the Hellenistic period (323–31 B.C.) and is of outstanding artistry.

Eni in United States

Eni has been operating in the United States since 1962, when Agip USA Inc. was set up in order to promote the purchase of material of interest to Eni in the U.S. Eni has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since 2005. In 2007, Eni completed the purchase of Dominion Resources" upstream operations in the Gulf of Mexico. The Company holds interests in 393 blocks in the U.S.: 281 in the Gulf of Mexico, 111 in the North Slope of Alaska and one in the Barnett Shale in Texas. In addition, Eni is operator of the Nikatchuq field in Alaska and holds a 30% stake in Oooguruk field, which has been in production since 2008. Eni"s daily production in the U.S. stood at 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent, of which 60% come from fields operated.