DeVoti Etruschi. La riscoperta della raccolta di Veio del Museo Civico di Modena

Technical Information

The DeVoti Etruschi exhibition is the result of the third rediscovery project of the Museum's 396th-century archaeological collections conserved in depots, after Stories of Egypt and Primordi. The articulated research project that preceded it, characterized like the previous ones by an interdisciplinary approach that combines scientific and humanistic disciplines, demonstrates how the Museum, despite the closures due to the pandemic and the recent interventions to replace the lighting equipment, has continued to carry out the activities that form part of its mission: research, conservation, enhancement of the visible and invisible heritage. The Civic Museum holds in its deposits a precious nucleus of terracotta votive offerings from the city of Veio, one of the most important Etruscan cities in terms of evidence relating to places of worship, such as the famous statue of Apollo in the Portonaccio sanctuary. In addition to the extraordinary nature of the monuments and finds found, Veii is known for its ten-year resistance to Rome, which managed to conquer it in 50 BC by decreeing the definitive entry of the Romans into the Etruscan territory. The exhibition stages the faces of the bidders, the devout Etruscans, represented by over XNUMX heads surrounding a large statue, and observe the visitor from a panel framed in the mold of the portal of the Nonantola abbey, almost as if to evoke a dense place of spirituality and at the same time the function of welcoming ex-votos that the churches still exercise. The video mapping that accompanies the installation brings the terracotta heads back to life by illuminating them with the original colors identified thanks to the analyzes performed by the DI.AR Laboratory with the most advanced multispectral techniques and gives all the faces the appearance they were supposed to have at the time of deposition. The suggestion is strengthened by a sound installation that recalls with soft whispers the dedications addressed to the divinities in Etruscan and Latin.