The life and death of the Etruscans: pottery, bronzes, and the face of Varia Armasti.
Room 8 is dedicated to Etruscan productions made in terracotta and bronze, made between the 9th and 3rd centuries BC. Among the oldest artifacts are impasto pottery from the Etruscan-Lazio area (9th-7th century BC): they are hand-modelled vases with unrefined clay and fired in an environment with little oxygen (called reducing environment). These wares include bowls, cups, ollae and small amphorae, some decorated with incised or relief geometric motifs.
At the centre of the showcase is displayed the upper part (plate) of a Faliscan cup, coming from southern Etruria and dated to the mid-7th century BC, internally decorated with incisions of fantastic animals derived from the Orientalizing tradition, a stylistic current strongly influenced by decorative themes from the eastern Mediterranean area.
An important section concerns bucchero, a type of black, shiny, and light Etruscan pottery, obtained with a particular firing technique. There are examples of both thin bucchero (second half of 7th – early 6th century BC), with thin walls and shiny glaze, and heavy bucchero (late 7th – late 6th century BC), more robust and decorated with reliefs. Among the main forms are cups, kantharoi (double-handled chalices inspired by a similar form of Greek pottery), jugs and chalices.
Among the most recent artifacts are materials from the upper Adriatic area (late 5th – 3rd century BC), including black or figured tableware. These objects, coming from the necropolis of Spina, near Comacchio, were destined for the museum following a seizure, carried out by law enforcement, of artifacts from clandestine excavations in the 1950s. From the same area come two bronze candelabra of north-Etruscan production (5th-4th century BC). Both have tripod bases with lion paws while the more complete of the two presents a full-round statuette of a discus thrower on the top.
Also in bronze, two engraved mirrors of unknown provenance are exhibited (4th-3rd century BC): one depicts a winged figure, perhaps one of the Lasa (Etruscan deities), while the other shows two facing figures, probably the Dioscuri.
On the right wall are two funerary urns (2nd-1st century BC), intended to contain the ashes of the deceased. The larger one, in tuff, shows a farewell scene carved on the chest; the smaller one, in terracotta, decorated with a mould with the Gate of the Underworld, preserves traces of painting and bears the engraved name of the deceased: Varia Armasti. Both have lids that depict the deceased as a reclining female figure, with a cloak framing the face, closed eyes and slightly open mouth. Observing the face of Varia Armasti, you will therefore have the impression that she is a person in a serene and meditative attitude.