Villa Giulia The Etruscan Gallery

  

Villa Giulia front facade

This Renaissance villa, built 1545-1548 for Cardinal Del  Monte, later elected Pope (Giulio) Julius III (1550-1555), houses the National Museum of Etruscan Art, and is thus suitable to start a visit of Rome's prehistory.          http://www.villagiulia.beniculturali.it/index.php?it/1/villa-giulia-sito-istituzionale 

Villa Giulia: Interior Court

Villa Giulia: Gardens

The site orginally covered a narrow valley descending from the Valentine hill (Monte Pincio) down to via Flaminia along the bankof the Tiber. Via Flaminia was the ancient Via Thriumphalis, where generals came down to celebrate their triumph and wait for permission to enter the Forum. It was continued by the Via Sacra.
The Villa Giulia was converted into a museum during the early Republic (end of the 1880's) when Etruria yielded its treasures to the early archaeologists. The National Roman Museum sponsored a first exposition of materials from Falerii - today Civita Castellana. The collection was then expanded with materials from Latium (Gabii,Alatri, Alba, Satricum,and Palestrina), and the great Etruscan centres such as Caere, Veii, Vulci, Tarquinia), before even materials from Umbria were added.

We have here funerary assemblages from the necropoles of Veii, Vulci and Tarquinia whichshow the long  influence of  late Bronze Age culture,  despite the fact that the Etruscans mined and worked iron since the 8th c,BC. Indeed  very few grave goods of iron can be seen.

Below from Osteria Necropolis, Vulci: Urn in form of  Bronze Age hut (early 8th c.BC).  Presumably containing the ashes from incineration - and remembering the house of the defunct in shape of a thatched hut.

Below : Cucumella Necropolis, Vulci: Bronze stamnos from the "Lord of the horses" tomb 3/1988 (570-560 BC)

 Above: Lid of the bronze vase from "Lord of the horses" tomb. Fotos from the Museum Catalogue.

At the end of the ground floor are grave goods from the Banditaccia Necropolis of Caere-for more info

http://etruriameridionale.beniculturali.it/index.php?en/156/necropoli-della-banditaccia-di-cerveteri
This site leads you to the major archaeological sites of Etruria.

From Banditaccia comes the Terracotta Sarcophagus of the Couple

In the basement are reproductions of chamber graves including the wall paintings from Tarquinia. cf.
http://www.villagiulia.beniculturali.it/index.php?it/138/Tarquinia.

On november 7, 2014  the Villa Poniatowski, closed during our visit, and which houses grave inventories from the Necropoles of Terni, Todi, Gualdo Tadino and Nocera Umbra (all in Umbria) as well as the famous Colombella tomb from Praeneste , and tombs from Satricum and Alatri (all towns of ancient Latium of Latin I -III)was briefly opened to visitors, South of Villa Giulia: Links below

http://www.villagiulia.beniculturali.it/index.php?it/170/villa-poniatowski

http://www.villagiulia.beniculturali.it/index.php?it/22/archivio-eventi/142/venerd-al-museo-7-novembre-apertura-straordinaria-di-villa-poniatowski

 Via di Villa Giulia and Villa Poniatowski on the right