Volterra. The Guarnacci etruscan museum

The Guarnacci Etruscan Museum, one of Europe’s earliest public museums, is worth visiting just to see the impressive «modern» appearance of the elongated shapes in Ombra della Sera (Shadow of the Evening) or the disquieting gaze of the old couple portrayed on the Urna degli Sposi (Spouses’ urn). The nice building where thousands of Volterra’s Etruscan and Roman memorabilia are exhibited, the furnishings of some of its rooms, and the exposition criteria used in some cases are also part of a certain way of making culture. Thus, the visitors may have the impression of walking through a Museum with two faces and, may we say, with two souls: an ancient one perceived in the rooms with old furniture and many objects often placed one next to the other simply because made of the same material, and a contemporary one reflected in the modern perception of space with few important artifacts accompanied with captions and explanatory panels. The book is also available in Italian and German edition.