Artifacts from the centres of Este and Padua: the legacy of the ancient Veneti
Rooms 5 and 7 host the section dedicated to the ancient Veneti, with artifacts from the centres of Este and Padua, witnesses to the high level reached by the productions of this Iron Age population.
Room 5 is dedicated to the productions of Este, datable between the 8th and 1st centuries BC, largely coming from old findings of the Morlungo necropolis, on deposit at this museum from the National Atestino Museum of Este (Padua). Among the oldest artifacts stands out a boot-shaped vase (no. 3), found in the Morlungo necropolis. This type of vase seems to be associated with high-ranking female tombs, but there are also examples of use in couple burials.
Among the other forms referable to this older phase are cups, bowls, mugs, ollae and glasses, but also a vase that takes up the shape of bronze situlae (no. 1), an emblem of Este craftsmanship and is often used as a cinerary urn. You can also see a plaster cast, probably made specifically for this museum, of the most famous example of the so-called situla art, the Benvenuti situla (625 BC) which, for the richness of the narrative scenes on its surface, was defined by Giulia Fogolari, one of the greatest scholars of this artistic manifestation, “the epic poem of the Venetic people”.
Following, some of the vases exhibited, found always in the Morlungo necropolis, present a decoration with red and black bands, and belong to typical productions of the 6th and 5th centuries BC.
The class of grey pottery, characterized instead by reinterpretations of Etruscan-Padanian and Greek forms, represents the last phase of pottery production of the ancient Veneti until the period of Romanization (2nd-1st century BC). Used both in residential and sacred and funerary contexts, grey vases are attested in all major protohistoric Venetic centres.
Alongside the vases, moreover, other elements refer to the daily life of the ancient Veneti: a knife and a winged bronze axe recall hunting and timber procurement; while terracotta spools and spindle whorls used for spinning are typically associated with the female sphere.
The review closes with a votive offering of uncertain provenance, composed of different types of vases, including miniature ones, which is attributable to a votive context.
In room 7, artifacts from the Venetic necropolises of Padua are exhibited instead. Some of the objects found in the necropolis of the University Sports Centre “Piovego” are on deposit at the museum, from the Superintendence. Active between the 6th and 4th centuries BC, this burial area, systematically studied by the University of Padua, has actively contributed to the progress of funerary archaeology research on the ancient Veneti of Padua.
Looking at the side wall of the room you will encounter the Loredan II funerary stele, a slab of Berici Hills limestone (4th-3rd century BC) about another, more northern necropolis of the city. It is decorated with a bas-relief depicting a warrior on horseback moving to the right: a symbolic representation of his journey to the Afterlife.