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Museo Guarnacci
The Museo Etrusco Guarnacci (in effect, the ''Guarnacci Museum of Etruscan Artifacts'') is a public archeological museum located on Via Don Giovanni Minzoni #15 in Volterra, region of Tuscany, Italy. This was one of the first public museums in Italy, founded in 1761 by the aristocrat and abbott Mario Guarnacci (1701–1785). Description Guarnacci was a zealous collector of antiquities, and donated his collection, including over 600 funerary urns, to "the citizens of the city of Volterra". The donation also included a rich library of more than 50,000 volumes. Guarnacci himself published a contemporaneously controversial text, ''Origini Italiche'', claiming that Greek and Latin cultures had their origins in an antecedent Etruscan civilization. The first Museum was housed in Palazzo Maffei in then Via Guidi, which had been purchased by Guarnacci to house his collection. At his death in 1785 the collection was moved to the 13th century Palazzo dei Priori. With further additions, t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Etruscan Art
Etruscan art was produced by the Etruscan civilization in central Italy between the 10th and 1st centuries BC. From around 750 BC it was heavily influenced by Greek art, which was imported by the Etruscans, but always retained distinct characteristics. Particularly strong in this tradition were figurative sculpture in terracotta (especially life-size on sarcophagi or temples), wall-painting and metalworking especially in bronze. Jewellery and engraved gems of high quality were produced. Etruscan sculpture in cast bronze was famous and widely exported, but relatively few large examples have survived (the material was too valuable, and recycled later). In contrast to terracotta and bronze, there was relatively little Etruscan sculpture in stone, despite the Etruscans controlling fine sources of marble, including Carrara marble, which seems not to have been exploited until the Romans. The great majority of survivals came from tombs, which were typically crammed with sarcophag ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Volterra
Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods. History Volterra, known to the ancient Etruscans as ''Velathri'' or ''Vlathri'' and to the Romans as ''Volaterrae'', is a town and ''comune'' in the Tuscany region of Italy. The site is believed to have been continuously inhabited as a city since at least the end of the 8th century BC. The town was a Bronze Age settlement of the Proto-Villanovan culture. It became an important Etruscan centre as one of the "twelve cities" of the Etruscan League. It was allied to Rome at the end of the 3rd century BC and became a municipium. The wealthy Caecina family lived here and Gaius Caecina Largus and the eminent Aulus Caecina Severus (consul 2–1 BC) built the theatre and probably other monuments. Other important families here were the Persii and the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its influence on high culture. It is regarded as the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and of the foundations of the Italian language. The prestige established by the Tuscan dialect's use in literature by Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Giovanni Boccaccio, Niccolò Machiavelli and Francesco Guicciardini led to its subsequent elaboration as the language of culture throughout Italy. It has been home to many figures influential in the history of art and science, and contains well-known museums such as the Uffizi and the Palazzo Pitti. Tuscany is also known for its wines, including Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Morellino di Scansano, Brunello di Montalcino and white Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Having a strong linguistic and cultural identity, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mario Guarnacci
Mario Guarnacci (October 25, 1701 – August 21, 1785) was an Italian prelate, archeologist, and historian. He was one of the first scholars to carry out systematic excavations of Etruscan tombs. Biography Mario Guarnacci was born at Volterra, Province of Pisa, one of eight children of a wealthy aristocrat Raffaello Ottaviano, who was gentleman of the chamber of the Grand-Duke of Tuscany Cosimo III and a commendatore of the Order of Saint Stephen. Mario pursued his first education in Volterra in a school sponsored by the Piarists. At the age of 17, he pursued studies in Florence under various teachers, including Philosophy and Theology with the Piarists; Mathematics under Lorenzo Lorenzini; and classic literature under Anton Maria Salvini. Mario would in 1751 submit a short biography of Salvini for the ''Vite degli Arcadi illustri'' published in Rome. Among the student peers of Mario in Florence were the future erudite scholars Gori and Lami. In early 1720, he began studi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palazzo Maffei, Volterra
The Palazzo Maffei is a Renaissance-style aristocratic palace located on Via Giacomo Matteotti #35 in central Volterra, province of Pisa, region of Tuscany, Italy. While initially commissioned by the Bishop Mario Maffei (1463–1537) who had been secretary to Popes Eugene IV and Pius II. Mario was the brother of Raffaele Maffei, who also resided, along with his library, in this palace while in Volterra. The palace had been completed by 1527. Initially the palace facade had an exterior frescoed facade with a depiction of a Roman triumph by Daniele Ricciarelli. However the palace has had a number of owners since then, and the interiors have had multiple refurbishments. The palace is also known for the other owners as the ''Palazzo Ruggieri'', ''Ruggieri Buzzaglia''. It was owned by the ''Leoncini'' circa 1840. When Mario Guarnacci purchased the palace in the late 18th-century he installed a museum of his Etruscan collection in the ground floor; at his death in 1785 the collection was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Palazzo Dei Priori, Volterra
The Palazzo dei Priori is a Gothic-style monumental civic building in the center of the town of Volterra, located on the Piazza dei Priori, also known as Piazza Maggiore. The imposing 13th-century stone building once the office of appointed town magistrates, still has offices of the local commune, including the communal council, for Volterra, province of Pisa, region of Tuscany, Italy. History and Description This building, initially called Palazzo del Comune, was commissioned in 1208 by Ildebrando Pannocchieschi, Palatine Count of the Holy Roman Emperor. The design and construction is attributed to maestro Riccardo da Como; the first floor was completed in 1234, and the upper floors by 1257. Originally, it housed the town leaders, consisting of 24 elders (Anziani), which in 1283 were replaced by 18 Priors of the People (Priori del Popolo), and in 1289 by 12 Defenders of the People (Difensori del Popolo). The stone facade and the tower likely did not receive it merlionated roofl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bucchero
Bucchero () is a class of ceramics produced in central Italy by the region's pre-Roman Etruscan population. This Italian word is derived from the Latin ''poculum'', a drinking-vessel, perhaps through the Spanish ''búcaro'', or the Portuguese ''púcaro''.Nicola Zingarelli, Vocabolario della Lingua Italiana, 2011. The Spanish word ''búcaro'' also means an odorous kind of clay formerly chewed by women, and from which those vessels were made. (María Moliner, Diccionario del uso del Español, 2007). Regarded as the "national" pottery of ancient Etruria, bucchero ware is distinguished by its black fabric as well as glossy, black surface achieved through the unique " reduction" method in which it was fired. After the leather-hard unfired ware was arranged in the kiln and the fire started, the vent holes were closed, thus reducing the supply of oxygen required in a normal kiln firing. In the smoke-filled atmosphere of the kiln, the oxygen-starved flames drew oxygen molecules from th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stele Of Avile Tite
The Stele of Avile Tite is a monumental Etruscan limestone stele, 1.7 m high, which is kept in the Museo Guarnacci in Volterra. History and description The stele is a notable artefact, datable to c.550 BC and discovered in two fragments. It shows a warrior in relief within a border with an inscription (which says "I belong to Avile Tites, ...uchsie donated me" TLE2 386), typical of central northern Etruria, with Greco-oriental influences. The warrior, to whom the stele was dedicated as a tombstone, is represented in profile in full armour, facing left, with his legs split as if he was in motion. He wears a short tunica, a cuirass ( lorica), shoulder armour, and greaves on his shins and is armed with a lance and a dagger with a curved hilt. His body is depicted in profile, like his face, which has a pointy beard, layered hair, elongated eyes and lips bent in a smile. The style of the stela is influenced by a taste for full, monumental forms, typical of the late Ionic style. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alabaster
Alabaster is a mineral and a soft Rock (geology), rock used for carvings and as a source of plaster powder. Archaeologists, geologists, and the stone industry have different definitions for the word ''alabaster''. In archaeology, the term ''alabaster'' includes objects and artefacts made from two different minerals: (i) the fine-grained, massive type of gypsum, and (ii) the fine-grained, banded type of calcite.''More About Alabaster and Travertine'': Brief Guide explains the different definitions used by geologists, archaeologists, and the stone trade. Oxford University Museum of Natural History, 2012/ref> Chemically, gypsum is a Water of crystallization, hydrous sulfate of calcium, whereas calcite is a carbonate of calcium. As types of alabaster, gypsum and calcite have similar properties, such as light color, translucence, and soft stones that can be sculpture, carved and sculpted; thus the historical use and application of alabaster for the production of carved, decorative art ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Etruscology
Etruscology is the study of the ancient civilization of the Etruscans in Italy (Etruria), which was incorporated into an expanding Roman Empire during the period of Rome's Middle Republic. Since the Etruscans were politically and culturally influential in pre-Republican Ancient Rome, Rome, many Etruscologists are also scholars of the History of Rome, history, Classical archaeology, archaeology, and Culture of ancient Rome, culture of Rome. The premier scholarly journal of Etruscan Studies is . A recent addition to the scholarly literature is the American journal, ''Etruscan Studies: Journal of the Etruscan Foundation'', which began publication in 1994. A more informal organ is ''Etruscan News'' and the accompanying cyber-publication ''Etruscan News Online''. Thomas Dempster (1570–1625), Scottish scholar and historian, is perhaps the godfather of Etruscology. Under the patronage of Grand Duke Cosimo II of Etruria, Dempster researched and wrote (from Latin: ''The Seven Books ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1761 Establishments In Italy
Events January–March * January 14 – Third Battle of Panipat: In India, the armies of the Durrani Empire from Afghanistan, led by Ahmad Shah Durrani and his coalition decisively defeat the Maratha Confederacy, killing over 100,000 Maratha soldiers and civilians in battle and in a subsequent massacre, regaining territory lost by the Mughal Empire and restoring the Mughal Emperor, Shah Alam II, to the throne in Delhi as the nominal ruler. * January 16 – In India, the Siege of Pondicherry ends as the British Empire captures Pondichéry from the French colonial empire. * February 8 – An earthquake in London breaks chimneys in Limehouse and Poplar. * March 8 – A second earthquake occurs in North London, Hampstead and Highgate. * March 31 – An 8.5 magnitude earthquake strikes Lisbon in the Kingdom of Portugal, but few deaths are reported because of censorship by the Portuguese government. with effects felt as far north as Scotland. April& ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
