Vulci. Goods for mankind. Goods for gods

Wednesday 20 March opens at the Fondazione Luigi Rovati: Vulci. Goods for Mankind. Goods for Gods, the major exhibition inaugurating the cycle dedicated to the Etruscan Metropolis. Vulci is among the most dynamic cities of southern coastal Etruria, and is distinguished by the production of refined bronzes and ceramics and impressive stone and terracotta sculptures. This dynamism fuelled an extensive network of trade relations and cultural exchanges with other Etruscan and Mediterranean centres, which in turn stimulated local artistic and craft production. In the continuity of the Foundation's vision that sees art as a historical continuum between the ancient and the contemporary, in the works exhibited Giuseppe Penone moulds the material-time with his own hands, in an ancient gesture that itself becomes contemporary sculpture.

The reconstruction of Vulci's value as a metropolis, from its origins to the Roman conquest, allows for a parallel reconstruction of the anthropological-cultural evolution of the ruling elites, the artisans-artists and the entire Vulci population.

A major exhibition that, alongside a selection of previously unseen artefacts from the Foundation's collection, displays masterpieces from the collections of important public institutions and private organisations, confirming the attractiveness of the exhibition project that the Foundation has been running since its opening.

Among the most spectacular finds are the pair of hands in silver, gold and copper alloy, and the bone collar, belonging to a Sphyrelaton, or polymaterial statue, found in 2013 in the Osteria necropolis; the unpublished terracotta ossuaries from the Fondazione Luigi Rovati collection; and a nucleus of ceramics attributed to the Pittore delle Rondini, exhibited together for the first time; among the unpublished bronzes, a candelabrum and two colini from the Rovati Foundation, the sword with scabbard and the imposing biconical urn and helmet-cover in bronze from the Mengarelli excavations of the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the province of Viterbo and southern Etruria; the bronze mask-visor, a unicum for Etruria, probably used for ceremonial purposes, from the Vatican Museums; the imposing, previously unseen nenfro figurative pillar from the Castiglione Bocci Collection of Ischia di Castro; equally extraordinary is the reconstruction of the aedicule of Ponte Rotto dedicated to the couple Dionysus and Ariadne, since 1889 part of the collections of the National Archaeological Museum of Florence and never exhibited in Italy since 1966.

Two works by Giuseppe Penone from the Fondazione Luigi Rovati collection and previously unpublished for the Italian public: Cocci, from 1982 and Colonna di menti, from 1981.

To support the visitor experience, a free booklet and audio guide dedicated to the exhibition are also available.

The Foundation's inclusion project "Museum for All" proposes an accessible guide for the exhibition for people with intellectual disabilities, created according to the rules of Easy to Read, a facilitated language regulated by the European Union. It will be available free of charge at the museum or downloadable online.

INFORMATION

Vulci. Goods for mankind. Goods for gods
20 March 2024 – 4 August 2024
Fondazione Luigi Rovati
Corso Venezia 52, Milano