Museo Archeologico e d'Arte della Maremma
 Entrance to the museum |
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| Data | |
|---|---|
| place | Grosseto |
| Art |
Archeology of the Maremma
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| opening | 1860 |
| operator |
Comune di Grosseto
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| management |
Mariagrazia Celuzza
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| Website | |
The Museo Archeologico e d'Arte della Maremma is the museum of archeology and sacred art of the city of Grosseto ( Tuscany ). It shows ancient archaeological finds from the Maremma on two floors . The third floor houses the Sacred Art Museum of the Diocese of Grosseto.
The museum was founded back in 1860, but has recently been redesigned. It is located in the old town of Grosseto in Piazza Baccarini. It shows finds from the Villanova culture , the Etruscans as well as from Greek and Roman times. The finds come mainly from the Etruscan cities of Roselle , Vulci , Vetulonia , Pitigliano and Populonia .
history
The founder and donor of the museum was the canon Giovanni Chelli (Siena 1809 - Grosseto 1869), an intellectual Sienese with for his time quite progressive views. The first germ of the museum was in some ancient objects when the canon opened his library to the public in March 1860. In the same year he collected archaeological finds with the intention of creating a museum that complemented the library.
In 1923 Antonio Cappelli (Grosseto 1868–1939) was director of the Bibliotheca Chelliana , the city museum and the art gallery . He was also a cleric and enabled the museum and library to be moved to the palace of the former seminary in Via Mazzini, where the library is still located today. In addition to archeology, he was also interested in sacred art. He therefore campaigned for the construction of a diocesan museum, which was opened in 1933 in renovated rooms above the sacristy of the cathedral.
In 1975 the two museums were given a joint seat on Piazza Baccarini in a palace from the late 19th century. In January 1992 the museum was closed for renovation. The reopening with many new acquisitions and a completely new line-up took place on March 21, 1999.
Departments of the museum
The collection of Giovanni Chelli (1860–1869)
The first room of the museum is dedicated to the relics of the first Grosseto museum. It is a very heterogeneous group of objects that Chelli bought in Tuscany and Rome. The consistent local core consists of Etruscan urns from the Hellenistic period of Volterra and Chiusi. Ceramics from Volterra , Volsinii (Orvieto) and a lot of Bucchero goods from Chiusi have also been preserved, partly adulterated with irrelevant additions and colors according to the restoration art of the time.
The most important piece in the collection is a Bucchero bowl with an incised Etruscan alphabet. It dates from the 6th century BC. BC - possibly by Roselle - and has been in the museum since 1875.
Roselle
In rooms 2 to 12, the example of Roselle shows the development of a settlement / town in the Maremma through the centuries. A terrain model shows the embedding of the Etruscan city in the landscape of that time with the salt lake (Lacus Prelius), which no longer exists today, and the city of Vetulonia opposite .
Parts of buildings, votive offerings and local handicraft products are shown from the archaic period . One room is dedicated to the oldest necropolis; Numerous grave goods and grave steles, two of which are large with depictions of warriors, give an insight into burial culture. In room 5, the attempt to reconstruct an archaic building with terracotta decorations can be seen.
The other rooms show exhibits from the classical and Hellenistic phase up to the Romanization of Roselle (294 BC) - a time when life became poorer due to the increasing swampiness of the lagoon. Rooms 9 - 11 refer to the Roman Empire and the Imperial Era: a lapidarium with Latin inscriptions, a selection of wine and olive oil amphorae from the Imperial Era and the lead pipe with an embossed stamp that identifies Roselle as a Roman colony at the turn of the century .
A small room is dedicated to the reconstruction of the Hadrianic baths and the original marble architectural decoration. The large hall 11 offers space for Roman statues; in the middle are portraits, small sculptures and fragments as well as the model reconstruction of the forum and the center of the city. Room 12 spans the period from the late Roman period through Christianization and the Middle Ages - with the abandonment of the city - to modern times. Decorations of the church of Roselle from the Carolingian period are exhibited here.
Archeology of the Maremma
In rooms 13 to 23 finds from the rest of the Maremma from prehistoric times to antiquity are shown. In the first room there is a documentation of residential areas and houses from the Paleolithic to the Iron Age . This is followed by a description of the orientalizing period, concentrating mainly on the sites of Vetulonia and Marsiliana. The Archaic is represented by numerous finds, including a few from local production, Etruscan, Punic and Greek amphorae.
The phase of conquest and Romanization, which coincided with Hellenism (3rd – 1st century BC) in these areas , is presented in two rooms. The evidence for the continuation of the Etruscan culture (language, writing, burial customs) and for the innovations made by the conquerors (votive offerings, rural settlements) are juxtaposed.
The Roman times gave the opportunity to present the subject of trade and transport on land and on water. The collection of amphorae and anchors provides the background for the elaborate repair of roads and ports. The documentation of late antiquity completes this section.
Museum of Sacred Art of the Diocese of Grosseto
The Diocesan Museum occupies rooms 24 to 34 on the third floor. It has been linked to the archaeological museum since 1975 by agreement between the diocese and the parish. The exhibition is structured chronologically and begins with the collection of the museum's founder, Monsignor Cappelli, consisting of works that were mainly bought in and around Siena. Among them are many high-quality pieces, such as two saints attributed to Sano di Pietro and the Maestro-dell'Osservanza (mid-15th century) and a Santa Cecilia by Bernardino Mei .
The collection of works from the churches of the diocese is very valuable, mostly Sienese artists worked for the center of the Maremma. These include: the Last Judgment attributed to Guido da Siena and his workshop (13th century), the Pietà by Pietro di Domenico (late 15th century), the Madonna of Girolamo di Benvenuto (16th century), the Madonna with the cherries by Sassetta (mid-15th century) from the Cathedral of San Lorenzo, but also the fragments of sculptures from the same cathedral ( Agostino di Giovanni , 14th century) and the angels in marble (GA and B. Mazzuoli, 1708). The Diocesan Museum also collects liturgical implements, vestments, book illumination and testimonies of popular piety.
Medieval archeology in Maremma and history of Grosseto
Rooms 35 to 40 of the museum show the history of the city of Grosseto. The classic prehistory of the city is represented by finds from some parts of the city. Then there is a connection between the early medieval phase of Roselle and its region with the cemeteries of Grancia and Casette di Mota and the findings of Grosseto. Other finds from the late Middle Ages and modern times come mostly from the excavations at the fortress, and to a lesser extent they are accidental finds from the historic city center. Medieval and modern finds made of terracotta and ceramics from various centers in the Maremma will conclude.
literature
- Mariagrazia Celuzza, Museo archeologico e d'arte della Maremma. Museo d'arte sacra della Diocesi di Grosseto , Nuova Immagine, Siena 2007, ISBN 978-887145-265-4 .
Web links
Coordinates: 42 ° 45 '41.5 " N , 11 ° 6' 49.31" O