The Museum of Etruscan and Italic Antiquities, organized into various sections illustrating the main aspects of pre-Roman Italian cultures—with a particular focus on the Etruscan one—is spread across two floors, occupying a total exhibition area of approximately 570 sq.m., divided between the ground floor and the basement of the Faculty of Humanities and Philosophy.
HISTORY
In 1955, Massimo Pallottino planned the creation of a university museum dedicated to Etruscan and Italic civilizations. This museum, with predominantly didactic and documentary criteria, was intended to complement the "Plaster Cast Museum" (now the Museum of Classical Art), active since 1892, and the Museum of Origins, active since 1942.
The Museum of Etruscan and Italic Antiquities was founded concurrently with the establishment of the Institute of Etruscology and Italic Antiquities at "La Sapienza" University of Rome and subsequently inaugurated in 1962, on the occasion of the VI International Congress of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Sciences.
The years following the inauguration saw an initial expansion of the collections thanks to the deposit of materials owned by the Museum of Origins, the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia, and the National Roman Museum, as well as the acquisition of various models, dioramas, and reproductions specially made for the exhibition.
The new layout, designed in 1997 to enhance the exhibition project underlying the very concept of the museum, was organized by thematic areas. On this occasion, it was possible to make new acquisitions that enriched the section dedicated to cult and sanctuaries, thanks to material from the "Progetto Etruschi" (Etruscan Project) exhibition, "Santuari d’Etruria" (Sanctuaries of Etruria), set up by the Municipality of Arezzo in the spring of 1985 for the so-called "Year of the Etruscans." New material also flowed in from the halls of the Museum of Classical Art, increasing the museum's heritage and enhancing the unique didactic aspect at the core of its establishment. In this sense, the scale models of Etruscan temples, from the first one conceived by M. Pallottino to those of Temples A and B of Pyrgi, created by G. Colonna, are particularly appreciated and requested for loan by the most important international exhibitions on Etruscan civilization. More recent acquisitions include materials from the Museum of Origins (2004) and the L. Pigorini Prehistoric and Ethnographic Museum (2005).
The Museum's aims are closely correlated with the teaching activities carried out within the courses of Etruscology and Italic Archaeology, Pre-Roman Italian Civilization, and Italic Epigraphy. The Museum's teaching room hosts lessons, seminars, conferences, and conventions. The Museum also hosts temporary exhibitions and displays of unpublished materials from the excavation of the sanctuary of Pyrgi, in agreement with the competent Superintendency, with a view to promoting the results of field research.
THE COLLECTIONS
The museum's heritage essentially consists of two core groups of materials:
- The Gorga Collection, featuring ceramics from the Etruscan and Italic areas, dating between the Archaic and Late Hellenistic periods, and highly representative bronze materials from the Etruscan-Italic and Roman spheres.
The Rellini Collection, with materials from the Faliscan, Capenate, and Adriatic regions.
THEMATIC ITINERARIES
The exhibition itinerary is divided into specific thematic areas, which characterize the two sections of the Museum.
The exhibition space on the ground floor is dedicated to the characteristics of figurative culture, emphasizing the ideal continuity with the cultures of the Mediterranean area represented by the works in the Museum of Classical Art. In Rooms LVI and LVII, the earliest and most important manifestations of Etruscan art are displayed: sculpture in the first room, painting in the second, represented through a complete collection of watercolors dating back to 1911, with scale copies of the paintings from the painted tombs of Tarquinia, Orvieto, and Chiusi.
The historical-cultural section is located in the basement, which, with its original artifacts, models, dioramas, and casts, offers visitors the broadest overview of Italic protohistoric cultures. The exhibition itinerary unfolds starting from the first room at the back, Room A or "of Craftsmanship," dedicated to the development of material culture, then passes through Room B (the teaching room), Room C focused on History and Institutions, Room D or "of Epigraphy," three rooms dedicated to Architecture (civil and sacred) and Urban Planning, to conclude with the final section illustrating the sphere of Religion.
Museum Hub - Museum of Etruscan and Italic Antiquities (In Italian)