Mario Torelli (May 12, 1937 – September 15, 2020) was an Italian scholar of Italic archaeology and the culture of the

Etruscans The Etruscan civilization () was developed by a people of Etruria in ancient Italy with a common language and culture who formed a federation of city-states. After conquering adjacent lands, its territory covered, at its greatest extent, rou ...

. He taught at the

University of Perugia University of Perugia (Italian ''Università degli Studi di Perugia'') is a public-owned university based in Perugia, Italy. It was founded in 1308, as attested by the Bull issued by Pope Clement V certifying the birth of the Studium Generale. Th ...

. Torelli was born in Rome, Italy. He was trained by the art historian

Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli (19 February 1900 – 17 January 1975) was an Italian archaeologist and art historian. Biography Bianchi Bandinelli was born in Siena to Mario Bianchi Bandinelli (1859–1930) and Margherita Ottilie "Lily" von Korn ...

as well as by

Massimo Pallottino Massimo Pallottino (9 November 1909 in Rome – 7 February 1995 in Rome) was an Italian archaeologist specializing in Etruscan civilization and art. Biography Pallottino was a student of Giulio Quirino Giglioli and worked early in his career on ...

. Torelli completed his laurea degree at the University of Rome "La Sapienza" in November 1960, writing a thesis on the site of Falerii Veteres. He held many posts during his professional life, beginning as an assistant at the center for ancient art history in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

(1960–1962), followed by a stint as archaeological inspector of the Villa Giulia Museum in Rome (1964–1969). He was appointed a professor of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

and

Roman art The art of Ancient Rome, and the territories of its Republic and later Empire, includes architecture, painting, sculpture and mosaic work. Luxury objects in metal-work, gem engraving, ivory carvings, and glass are sometimes considered to be min ...

history at the University of Cagliari in 1969, and served in that position until 1973. He was also instrumental in the excavations of the sanctuary at the site of

Gravisca Gravisca (''Cravsca'' in Etruscan and ''Graviscae'' Latin) was the port of the Etruscan city of Tarquinii, situated 8 km west of the city center. The Etruscan settlement, occupied ca. sixth to third centuries BC, had four principal occupation ...

. Torelli joined the faculty of the

in 1975; he was appointed as full professor (professore ordinario) of Archaeology and the History of Greek and Roman Art on 1 November 1976. His position was supplemented with appointments that included the areas of Magna Graecia (1995-2000) and Etruscan and Italic Archaeology (from 2000). During his long archaeological career, Torelli directed and supervised a number of archaeological excavations. These included work on the Etruscan sanctuary of Menerva at

Santa Marinella Santa Marinella is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome in the Italian region Lazio, located about northwest of Rome. It includes the beach resort of Santa Severa (the ancient Pyrgi), and a medieval castle. History In a ...

(1964-1966), the Etruscan sanctuary of the Porta Caere at

Veii Veii (also Veius; it, Veio) was an important ancient Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and north-northwest of Rome, Italy. It now lies in Isola Farnese, in the comune of Rome. Many other sites associated with and in the ...

(1966-1969), the Greek mercantile sanctuary of

(1969-1979), the extra-urban sanctuary of Aphrodite-Venus at

Paestum Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whi ...

(1982-1985), and excavations at Heraclea that included the sanctuary of Demeter (1985-1986) and the agora (1987-1991). He was a visiting professor at a number of institutions, including;

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

(1974);

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

at Ann Arbor (1978);

University of California, Irvine The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California. One of the ten campuses of the University of California system, UCI offers 87 undergraduate degrees and 129 graduate and p ...

(1979); École Normale Supérieure de Rue d’Ulm in Paris (1984); Université de Paris I –

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

(1985);

Collège de France The Collège de France (), formerly known as the ''Collège Royal'' or as the ''Collège impérial'' founded in 1530 by François I, is a higher education and research establishment ('' grand établissement'') in France. It is located in Paris n ...

(1986);

University of Alberta The University of Alberta, also known as U of A or UAlberta, is a Public university, public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford,"A Gentleman of Strathcona – Alexande ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

(1986); Nellie Wallace lecturer at

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

(1988), and

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

(1993). In the fall semester of 1982 Torelli was a member of the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, and was a Getty Scholar at the Getty Center for the History of Art and the Humanities in

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in 1990–1991. In 1992 he delivered th
Thomas Spencer Jerome
lecture at the University of Michigan with the topic "Roman Historical Reliefs: The Structure and Shaping of Ancient Attitudes", which resulted in the publication of a typological study of Roman historical relief sculpture. He was a member of the Deutsches Archaeologisches Institut, and a member of the Istituto Nazionale di Studi Etruschi in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. In 2013 Torelli received an honorary doctoral degree ''honoris causa'' from the Universidad de Jaén. On September 8, 2014, Torelli was awarded the Balzan Prize for Classical archaeology. Giorgio Napolitano, then president of the Republic of Italy, presented Torelli with the award in Rome on November 20, 2014. The citation praises the "innovative character" of Torelli's work and his deep commitment to archaeology. Torelli died in Donnalucata di Scicli (Ragusa), Sicily.

Selected works

*
Elogia tarquiniensia
' (Florence, 1975)Review: Principes of Tarquinia Reviewed Work: Elogia Tarquiniensia (Studi e Materiali di Etruscologia e Antichità Italiche XV) by Mario Torelli Review by: T. J. Cornel
''The Journal of Roman Studies'' Vol. 68 (1978), pp. 167-173
/ref> * (with Martha Welborn Baldwin)
Latin Inscriptions in the Kelsey Museum: The Dennison Collection
' (Kelsey Museum Studies; 4) (Ann Arbor, 1979) *
Necropoli dell'Italia antica
' (Milan, 1982) *
Typology & structure of Roman historical reliefs
' (Ann Arbor, 1982) *
Storia degli etruschi
' (Rome-Bari, 1981) *
Lavinio e Roma : riti iniziatici e matrimonio tra archeologia e storia
' (Rome, 1984) *
La società etrusca : l'età arcaica, l'età classica
' (Rome, 1987) * (with

Pierre Gros Pierre Gros (born May 7, 1939 in Incheville, France) is a contemporary scholar of ancient Roman architecture and the Latin language, particularly the texts of the writer Vitruvius. He presently holds the post of Professor of Latin language and civ ...

)
Storia dell'urbanistica : il mondo romano
' (Rome-Bari, 1988); 2nd edition 2009. *
La daunia nell'età della romanizzazione
'
Edipuglia
(1990) * "PRAEDIA CLARISSIMORUM ETRURIAE." ''Archeologia Classica''
Vol. 43, TOMO PRIMO: MISCELLANEA ETRUSCA E ITALICA IN ONORE DI MASSIMO PALLOTTINO
(1991) pp. 459–474. *
Atlante dei siti archeologici della Toscana
' (Rome, 1992) *
Etruria
' (Guide archeologiche Laterza, 3) (Rome-Bari, 1993) *
Studies in the Romanization of Italy
' (Edmonton, 1995) *
Il rango, il rito e l'immagine : alle origini della rappresentazione storica romana
' (Milan, 1997) *
Tota Italia : essays in the cultural formation of Roman Italy
' (Oxford, 1999) * (with Francesca Boitani) "Un nuovo santuario dell'Emporion di Gravisca."
'Actes de la rencontre scientifique en hommage à Georges Vallet organisée par le Centre Jean-Bérard, l'École française de Rome, l'Istituto universitario orientale et l'Università degli studi di Napoli «Federico II» (Rome-Naples, 15-18 novembre 1995)'' ''Publications de l'École Française de Rome'' 251 (1999) pp. 93-102
*
The Etruscans
' (Milan, 2001)] *
Le strategie di Kleitias. Composizione e programma figurativo del vaso François
' (Milan, 2007) * (with Anna Maria Sgubini Moretti)
Etruschi : le antiche metropoli del Lazio
' (Milan, 2008) * (with Elisa Marroni) ''CASTRUM INUI. Il santuario di Inuus alla foce del Fosso dell’Incastro'' (Monumenti Antichi, 76 – serie misc. 21). (G. Bretschneider, 2018).; ISSN:0391-8084 * Collected papers:
Opuscola etrusca 2010-2018
' (Edizioni ETS, 2019);
Opuscola romana 2010-2018
' (Edizioni ETS, 2019);
Opuscola Graeca 2010-2018
' (Edizioni ETS, 2019) * estschriftenAngiolillo, Simonetta and Marco Giuman, Marco. ''Il vasaio e le sue storie : giornata di studi sulla ceramica attica in onore di Mario Torelli per i suoi settanta anni, agliari, Cittadella dei Musei, aula verde, 20 giugno 2007' (Cagliari : Edizioni AV, 2007); Elisa Marroni; Concetta Masseria; Mario Torelli.
Dialogando : studi in onore di Mario Torelli
' (Pisa : ETS, 2017
Table of contents

References

Further Information

''Curriculum vitae''Recent worksMario Torelli
International Balzan Prize Foundation

Necrology

* "Addio a Mario Torelli, grande archeologo amico di Pompei" ''La Repubblica'
15 September 2020

''RaiNews'' 15 September 2020

Other Projects

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Mario Torelli
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torelli, Mario 1937 births 2020 deaths Italian classical scholars Italian archaeologists University of Perugia faculty University of Cagliari faculty University of Michigan faculty University of Colorado faculty University of Paris faculty University of California, Irvine faculty Etruscan scholars 20th-century archaeologists 21st-century archaeologists