Giovanni Colonna (etrusologist)

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Giovanni Colonna (born  September 4, 1934 in Rome ) is an Italian archaeologist . He taught as professor of Etruscology and Classical Archeology at the La Sapienza University in Rome.

life and work

Colonna studied at the La Sapienza University in Rome with the well-known Etruscanologist Massimo Pallottino and graduated in 1957. He deepened his scientific studies in Rome and Athens and then held the position of archaeological superintendent of South Etruria from 1964 to 1972 . From 1980 until his retirement , Colonna taught as Professor of Etruscology and Archeology at the University of La Sapienza. From 1992 to 1998 he was director of the Dipartimento di Scienze storiche, archeologiche e antropologiche dell'Antichità (Department of Historical, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences of Antiquity). Colonna is a member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei , the national academy of science in Italy .

Colonna has played a key role in the excavations in the Etruscan sanctuary of Pyrgi since the 1950s and regularly published the latest research results. In 1964 he discovered the gold sheets from Pyrgi . He carried out numerous other excavation works in Etruria , including in Blera , Bisenzio , Bolsena , Montefiascone , Tuscania , Cerveteri and Ladispoli . He is best known for his work on the Etruscan archaeological site of Veji and the Portonaccio sanctuary there . In addition, he also led excavations in places outside Etruria, such as B. in Arcinazzo Romano , Saepinum , Phaistos and in the Sinello Valley in Abruzzo .

Together with his wife Elena Colonna Di Paolo, he excavated some necropolises in the Viterbo area and published two volumes on them: Castel d'Asso (1970) and Norchia (1978). Many of his more than 300 articles on various topics were published in 2005 as a four-volume anthology with the title Italia ante romanum Imperium. Scritti di antichità etrusche, italiche e romane (1958–1998) published. Two more volumes followed in 2016, with publications from 1999 to 2013. He was curator of a number of museum exhibitions , of which the Santuari d'Etruria (Sanctuaries of Etruria) 1985 exhibition in Arezzo was one of the most notable. In 2002, together with Daniele F. Maras, he published two volumes on the Corpus Speculorum Etruscorum , an international research project that has been ongoing since 1973 with the aim of publishing all preserved Etruscan bronze mirrors.

Publications (selection)

  • with Maria Donati: Musei vaticani. Istituto geografico De Agostini, Novara 1962. German translation: Vatican Museums. Goldmann, Munich 1962.
  • with Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli : Arte etrusca e arte italica. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 1963.
  • Il Santuario di Pyrgi alla luce delle recenti scoperte. In: Studi Etruschi. 33, 1965, pp. 191-220.
  • Monumenti rupestri e tempietto in loc. Grotta Porcina. In: Bolletino d'Arte. 50, 1965, 130.
  • Bronzi votivi umbro-sabellici a figura umana. I. Periodo arcaico. Sansoni, Florence 1970
  • with Elena Colonna di Paolo: Castel d'Asso. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome 1970.
  • with Carl Eric Ostenberg: Gli Etruschi - Nuove ricerche e scoperte. Milan 1973.
  • with Elena Colonna di Paolo: Norchia. Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Rome 1978.
  • Santuari d'Etruria. Electa, Milan 1985.
  • Tuscania. Città e necropoli dell'Etruria. Nuova immagine editrice, Siena 1990.
  • Strutture teatriformi in Etruria. In: Spectacles sportifs et scéniques dans le monde étrusco-italique. Actes de la table round. Ecole Française de Rome 1991, ISBN 9782728302734 .
  • A proposito degli the del Fegato di Piacenza. In: Studi Etruschi. 59, 1994, p. 321 ff.
  • Altorilievo di Pyrgi: dei ed eroi greci in Etruria. L'Erma di Bretschneider, Rome 1996.
  • with Laura Ambrosini: Il santuario di Portonaccio a Veio. L'Erma di Bretschneider, Rome 2002, ISBN 8876892095 .
  • Italia ante romanum imperium. Scritti di antichità etrusche, italiche e romane (1958–1998) Vol. 1–4. Istituti editoriali e poligrafici internazionali, Pisa 2005, ISBN 9788881473311 .
  • Italia ante romanum imperium. Scritti di antichità etrusche, italiche e romane (1999–2013) Vol. 5–6. Istituti editoriali e poligrafici internazionali, Pisa 2016, ISBN 9788881474400 .

literature

  • Domenico Caiazza: Italica ars: studi in onore di Giovanni Colonna per il premio I Sanniti. Caserta 2005, p. 11 ff.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Colonna, Giovanni
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian archaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH September 4, 1934
PLACE OF BIRTH Rome