National Archaeological Museum of Taranto
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| Data | |
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| place | Via Cavour, 10, Taranto 
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| Art |
Archaeological Museum
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| opening | 1887 |
| Number of visitors (annually) | 73,000 (2018) |
| operator | |
| management |
Eva Degl'Innocent
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| Website | |
The National Archaeological Museum of Taranto ( Italian Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Taranto abbreviated MArTA ) was founded in 1887 and is located in the "Città Nuova" ("New City") in the former monastery of San Pasquale by Baylon, built in the 18th century. The archaeologist, founder and director of the museum, Luigi Viola , wanted to turn it into a museum of the Magna Graecia . In the meantime, however, mainly archaeological finds from Taranto and Apulia are exhibited.
The museum houses one of the most important archaeological collections in southern Italy and one of the largest artifact collections of the Magna Graecia with the famous gold of Taranto , the Hellenistic jewelry from tombs in southern Italy.
The material, which is remarkable in terms of quality and historical significance, is divided into three sections:
- The topographical section on the mezzanine floor is used for temporary exhibitions.
- The Greco - Roman section on the first floor is dedicated to the aristocratic society of Taranto.
- The prehistoric section on the second floor contains exhibits from all over the Puglia region from the Paleolithic to the Bronze Age .
The main attraction of the exhibition and evidence of the glamorous past during the Magna Graecia is the area dedicated to the mythical Taras .
In the first two exhibition rooms there are statues made of white marble imported from the island of Paros : a dignified kore from the 5th century BC. BC, a head of Aphrodites , a masterpiece of the Hellenistic period , a statue of the wisdom goddess Athena , a head of Heracles from Greco-Roman times, a bronze statue of Zeus from Ugento (Lecce) and the body of a nymph.
The third room contains exhibits from Roman times ( 1st century BC - 1st century AD): heads made from Caparo (stone from this area), mosaics from the imperial era and inscriptions from public and private buildings.
From the fourth room finds from the necropolis in Taranto are exhibited: an archaic sarcophagus completely painted inside , a kline , gable and beams of house facades.
A chronological ceramic tour from the founding of Taranto to the Archaic period leads through further exhibition rooms, including ceramics from Corinth , which were exported and mainly come from grave equipment. The pink clay vases with black depictions from mythology and athletics come from the archaic necropolises. The collection of gold objects (hairpins, make-up boxes, mirrors, etc.) is of great importance.
Among the exhibits are:
- a collection of ceramics from necropolis: horse made of bronze, aryballos , skyphos of the Theseus painter and three kylikes ,
- Grave equipment: Kylix with Gorgomask, Kylix of the fish painter,
- Gold jewels with a precious diadem , crowns, earrings with pendants,
- the ostracon Mappa di Soleto .
See also
bibliography
- Quintino Quagliati: Il Museo Nazionale di Taranto. Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, Roma 1932
- Ettore M. De Juliis, D. Loiacono: Taranto. Il Museo Archeologico. Mandese Editore, Milano 1988
