hepburn in rome

Hepburn scooter, photos in Rome exhibition

ROME — A collection of dresses and other wardrobe treasures worn by Hollywood icon Audrey Hepburn -- along with the scooter she immortalised in her breakout role in "Roman Holiday" -- went on display Wednesday in Rome.

Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck on the iconic Vespa from the film Roman Holiday (1953)

The Vespa scooter on which Hepburn explored the Eternal City with co-star Gregory Peck -- the role that shot the petite and stylish British actress to international stardom -- is foremost among the items featured in the "Audrey in Rome" exhibition at the Ara Pacis museum.

Alongside the green Vespa, the display features Hepburn's oversized sunglasses, scarves and dresses.

Hepburn's sons Shawn (R) and Luca (L) pose next the "Roman Holiday" (Vacanze Romane) Vespa (AFP, Alberto Pizzoli) 

There are also some 150 photographs of Hepburn in Rome, many of them catching her going about her private life after she settled in the city following her marriage to Italian neuro-psychiatrist Andrea Dotti, with whom she had a son, Luca, in 1970.

One shows Hepburn buying flowers; another walking her Yorkshire terrier.

Part of the proceeds from the show will go to the UN Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), for which Hepburn served as a goodwill ambassador before dying of cancer in 1993 aged 63.

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