An extraordinary collection of
ancient Roman bronze votive statuettes discovered at a Tuscan
spa town last year was inaugurated Thursday in a show opening
Friday at the Quirinale presidential palace in Rome.
The statuettes, which have been likened to the world-famous
Riace Bronzes, were fund at San Casciano dei Bagni in November
and have revealed hitherto unknown links between the Etruscan
and Roman worlds.
The exhibition, titled The Gods Return, runs from June 23 to
July 25, and then again from September 2 to October 29, at the
palace currently occupied by President Sergio Mattarella, who
inaugurated the show with Culture Minister Gennaro Sangiuliano.
Before returning home, the trove is then set to go on a
round-Italy tour, like the Riace Bronzes, ancient Greek warrior
statues that are one of the paramount sculptural achievements of
the ancient world, which went on a sell-out tour of Italy in
1981 before finding a permanent home in their native Reggio
Calabria, where they found in the sea in 1972.
Protected for 2,300 years by the mud and boiling water of the
sacred pools, the never-before-seen votive array re-emerged in
November from the excavations at San Casciano dei Bagni, in
Tuscany, with over 24 extremely finely wrought bronze statues,
five of them almost one metre tall, all complete and in a
perfect state of preservation.
Among the highlights of the show are a sick ephebe, a dancing
Apollo, a proud toga-garbed Haranguer, a tender putto holding an
apple in his hand, big-bosomed matrons, and a slew of hands,
feet, arms and ears offered as votive offerings to heal
maladies.
"It's a discovery that will rewrite history and one which more
than 60 experts from all over the world are already working on,"
archaeologist Jacopo Tabolli told ANSA in early November,
describing an "absolutely unique" treasure trove
which has been accompanied by an incredible quantity of
inscriptions in Etruscan and Latin - shedding new light on how
much the Etruscans influenced the civilization that superseded
and virtually wiped them out - as well as thousands of coins,
votive offerings and a series of equally interesting plant
offerings.
"The layering of different civilizations is a unique feature of
Italian culture," he enthused.
"It's the most important discovery since the Riace Bronzes and
is certainly one of the most significant discovery of bronzes
ever made in the history of the ancient Mediterranean," said the
ministry's director general of museums, Massimo Osanna, who
approved the purchase of a 16th century palazzo that will
house the marvels yielded by the Great Bath in the village of
San Casciano, a museum which will be flanked in the future by a
full-blown archaeological park.
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