Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia
Encyclopedia
Reggio Calabria
Reggio di Calabria , commonly known as Reggio Calabria or Reggio, is the biggest city and the most populated comune of Calabria, southern Italy, and is the capital of the Province of Reggio Calabria and seat of the Council of Calabrian government.Reggio is located on the "toe" of the Italian...
, southern Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, housing an archaeological collection from sites in Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia
Magna Græcia is the name of the coastal areas of Southern Italy on the Tarentine Gulf that were extensively colonized by Greek settlers; particularly the Achaean colonies of Tarentum, Crotone, and Sybaris, but also, more loosely, the cities of Cumae and Neapolis to the north...
.
Initially formed with a nucleus of material ceded from the city's Museo Civico in the 19th century, the Museo Archeologico Nazionale della Magna Grecia then grew via many discoveries in various excavation campaigns in the ancient city-state
City-state
A city-state is an independent or autonomous entity whose territory consists of a city which is not administered as a part of another local government.-Historical city-states:...
s of Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
, Basilicata
Basilicata
Basilicata , also known as Lucania, is a region in the south of Italy, bordering on Campania to the west, Apulia to the north and east, and Calabria to the south, having one short southwestern coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea between Campania in the northwest and Calabria in the southwest, and a...
and Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
by the Soprintendenza Archeologica della Calabria right up to the present day, including the Riace bronzes. They are extremely important for studies of the 8th century BC, but also has several objects from the prehistoric and protohistoric periods which preceded it and the ancient Roman and Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...
eras which followed. Today new finds in Calabria are no longer displayed and conserved in a single museum, but exhibited where they have been found, since the quantity of new discoveries has allowed smaller local museums to be set up for them (at Crotone
Crotone
Crotone is a city and comune in Calabria, southern Italy, on the Ionian Sea. Founded circa 710 BC as the Achaean colony of Croton , it was known as Cotrone from the Middle Ages until 1928, when its name was changed to the current one. In 1994 it became the capital of the newly established...
, Locri
Locri
Locri is a town and comune in the province of Reggio Calabria, Calabria, southern Italy. The name derives from the ancient Greek town Locris.-History:...
, Roccelletta di Borgia, Sibari, Vibo Valentia
Vibo Valentia
Vibo Valentia is a city and comune in the Calabria region of southern Italy, near the Tyrrhenian Sea. It is the capital of the province of Vibo Valentia, and is an agricultural, commercial and tourist center . There are also several large manufacturing industries, including the tuna district of...
and Lamezia Terme
Lamezia Terme
Lamezia Terme, commonly named Lamezia, is an Italian city of 71,287 inhabitants in the province of Catanzaro in the Calabria region.-Geography:...
). These are taken together as the museo reggino.
The Museo Nazionale
The most notable of its collections include:- The two large, well-preserved 5th century BC Riace bronzes, found in the province of Reggio, are thought to be the most significant bronze sculptures from the Greek period and among the few survivors of works by its master sculptors. Recent studies suggest they may represent TydeusTydeusIn Greek mythology, Tydeus was an Aeolian hero of the generation before the Trojan War. He was one of the Seven Against Thebes and was mortally wounded by Melanippus before the walls of the city. The goddess Athena had planned to make him immortal but refused after Tydeus in a rage devoured the...
and AmphiarausAmphiarausIn Greek mythology, Amphiaraus was the son of Oecles and Hypermnestra, and husband of Eriphyle. Amphiaraus was the King of Argos along with Adrastus— the brother of Amphiaraus' wife, Eriphyle— and Iphis. Amphiaraus was a seer, and greatly honored in his time...
from a larger group of the Seven against ThebesSeven Against ThebesThe Seven against Thebes is the third play in an Oedipus-themed trilogy produced by Aeschylus in 467 BC. The trilogy is sometimes referred to as the Oedipodea. It concerns the battle between an Argive army led by Polynices and the army of Thebes led by Eteocles and his supporters. The trilogy won...
. - The Head of a PhilosopherHead of a PhilosopherThe Head of a Philosopher is a 5th century BC ancient Greek bronze sculpture produced in Magna Graecia. It is part-damaged, lacking its laurel wreath, left eye and the hair on the back of its head, while the mangled fragments of a hand and a cloak were found with it, which has led to the head's...
from Porticello is a rare example of Greek portraiture. - The marble Reggio KourosKourosA kouros is the modern term given to those representations of male youths which first appear in the Archaic period in Greece. The term kouros, meaning youth, was first proposed for what were previously thought to be depictions of Apollo by V. I...
is a recent acquisition by the museum (shown at the 2006 Winter Olympics2006 Winter OlympicsThe 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...
at Turin as the archetype of a victorious Greek athlete). - A marble head of ApolloApolloApollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
, from CiròCiròCirò can refer to:*Cirò, Calabria, Italian comune in the province of Crotone*Cirò Marina, Italian comune in the province of Crotone*Cirò , wine made in the environs of Cirò... - The group of the Dioscuri falling from their horse in the battle of Sagra, from Locri Epizefiri
- The bronze tables, from the archive of the temple of ZeusZeusIn the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
at Locri Epizefiri - The vast collection of pinakesPinaxIn the culture of ancient Greece and Magna Graecia, a pinax or a "board", denotes a votive tablet of painted wood, terracotta, marble or bronze that served as a votive object deposited in a sanctuary or as a memorial affixed within a burial chamber. In daily life pinax might equally denote a...
, terracotta ex votos with the rape of PersephonePersephoneIn Greek mythology, Persephone , also called Kore , is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter, and queen of the underworld; she was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld....
from Locri Epizefiri - A rich collection of jewellery, bronze mirrors, coins and medals
- The city art gallery or Pinacotaca comunale is currently housed in the Museum until a dedicated structure for it is completed, and includes the two St. Jerome and Abraham panelsSt. Jerome and Abraham panels (Antonello da Messina)St. Jerome Penitent and Abraham Served by the Angels are two paintings by the Italian Renaissance master Antonello da Messina. They are housed in the Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia, Reggio Calabria....
by Antonello da MessinaAntonello da MessinaAntonello da Messina, properly Antonello di Giovanni di Antonio was an Italian painter from Messina, Sicily, active during the Italian Renaissance...
Palazzo Piacentini
Marcello Piacentini
Marcello Piacentini was an Italian architect and urban theorist.-Biography:Born in Rome, he was the son of architect Pio Piacentini...
(from whom it takes its name) and built between 1932 and 1941. Characterised by its massive volume and monumentality, it consists of a ground floor in 'bugnato' black lava stone, linking the different heights of the Corso Garibaldi and the Via Vittorio Veneto
Vittorio Veneto
Vittorio Veneto is a city and comune situated in the Province of Treviso, in the region of Veneto, Italy, in the northeast of the Italian peninsula, between the Piave and the Livenza rivers.-Geography:...
. On this rest grand travertine
Travertine
Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, and cream-colored varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot...
pilasters and large windows for the first floor exhibition galleries. These large windows make the galleries open, airy and light and allow smoother and more continuous routes between them. On the main facade is a series of large illustrations of the ancient currencies of the cities of Magna Grecia. After the opening many rooms on the ground floor were also opened to the public as galleries (though not designed as such) and today the Museum occupies all the available space on all the floors (three floors and a basement).
Floors
- ground floor:
- Prehistory and Protohistory, with objects from Calabria
- the first of two sections on the colonies of Magna Grecia, with objects from digs at Locri Epizephiri;
- first floor:
- section part of the section on colonies, with objects from digs at Rhegion, Matauros, MedmaMedmaIf you are looking for software/IT company Medma then go to their official website Medma or Mesma If you are looking for software/IT company Medma then go to their official website Medma or Mesma If you are looking for software/IT company Medma then go to their official website Medma or Mesma...
, Kaulon, and other digs in progress; - numismatics;
- Roman and Byzantine;
- second floor:
- the Pinacoteca comunale, awaiting a dedicated building;
- basement:
- underwater archaeologyUnderwater archaeologyUnderwater archaeology is archaeology practised underwater. As with all other branches of archaeology it evolved from its roots in pre-history and in the classical era to include sites from the historical and industrial eras...
section, set up in 1981, including a vast collection of anchors and amphoraAmphoraAn amphora is a type of vase-shaped, usually ceramic container with two handles and a long neck narrower than the body...
e as well as the Riace bronzes and the Porticello Bronzes.
History of the museum
Paolo Orsi
Paolo Orsi was an Italian archaeologist and classicist.-Life:Orsi was born in Rovereto, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and now in the province of Trento in Italy. After studying at a gymnasium in Rovereto, Orsi moved to Vienna to study ancient history and archaeology...
- it carried out intense excavations at Reggio, Locri, and in the main centres of archeological interest in Calabria. After the earthquake of 1908
1908 Messina earthquake
The 1908 Messina earthquake and tsunami took some 100,000–200,000 lives on December 28, 1908 in Sicily and Calabria, southern Italy.-Quake:On December 28, 1908 from about 05:20 to 05:21 an earthquake of 7.2 on the moment magnitude scale occurred centered on the of city Messina, in Sicily. Reggio...
, which destroyed the city, Paolo Orsi suggested the creation of a National Museum, to exhibit objects from state excavations alongside those from Reggio's city collections.
The Soprintendenza Archeologica was set up in 1925 in Reggio and in 1932 it initiated construction of the building for the Museo Centrale della Magna Grecia or Museo Nazionale della Magna Grecia. It was designed by Marcello Piacentini
Marcello Piacentini
Marcello Piacentini was an Italian architect and urban theorist.-Biography:Born in Rome, he was the son of architect Pio Piacentini...
, one of the most famous Italian architects of the first half of the 20th century, who created Italy's first purpose-built museum building (rather than a museum set up in an existing building). Its first stone was blessed by archbishop Carmelo Pujia
Carmelo Pujia
Carmelo Pujia was an Italian bishop and archbishop.-Offices:*Bishop of Anglona-Tursi - appointed 13 July 1897, ordained bishop 16 January 1898*Archbishop of Santa Severina - appointed 30 October 1905...
, and then laid by the prince of Piedmont
Umberto II of Italy
Umberto II, occasionally anglicized as Humbert II was the last King of Italy for slightly over a month, from 9 May 1946 to 12 June 1946. He was nicknamed the King of May -Biography:...
, with the following letter walled into it:
- "In the august presence of HRH UmbertoUmberto II of ItalyUmberto II, occasionally anglicized as Humbert II was the last King of Italy for slightly over a month, from 9 May 1946 to 12 June 1946. He was nicknamed the King of May -Biography:...
and Maria Josè of SavoyMarie-José of BelgiumMarie José of Belgium was the last Queen of Italy...
, with solemn ritual and popular celebration, during the month of May in the tenth year of the Fascist Era, [this museum was] given to the Fatherland by Benito Mussolini. [Umberto] laid the first stone of this Museum, whose treasures survived great destructive adversities and perpetuate the Millenial civilisation of the First Italy."
The new building opened in 1932 but closed on the outbreak of the Second World War, which led to its objects being transferred to safer locations.
The new headquarters were inaugurated in 1932 but they had to be closed up because of the war, which forced the transfer of the materials to safer sites. In 1954, the collections of the Museo Civico were reunited with those of the Museo Nazionale, which was re-opened to the public in 1959. In 1962, the prehistory, protohistory and Locri rooms were opened, whilst the lapidary
Lapidarium
A lapidarium is a place where stone monuments and fragments of archaeological interest are exhibited - stone epigraphs, statues, architectural details like columns, cornices and acroterions, as well as tombstones and sarcophagi....
gallery and art gallery were opened in 1969 and the numismatic gallery in 1973.
After the very important find of the Riace Bronzes (which, along with the Head of a Philosopher, have contributed to the museum's reputation) an underwater archaeology gallery was created in 1981, dedicated to the memory of superintendent Giuseppe Foti, who died just before its opening. In 1982 the galleries on the Greek colonies and Ionic and Tyrrhenian sub-colonies were re-arranged, thus opening the first and second floor to the public and adding 40 more galleries. There are now plans to move the medieval and modern art galleries (currently on the second floor) to another building to make room for thematic archaeological displays which are in preparation. The museum is currently divided into six sections and an art gallery, arranged in chronological and topographic order and spread over 4 floors.
Collections
The entrance is from Piazza De Nava and the visitor is immediately welcomed by the view of a tuff Telamone, coming from a public building from the second century BC and found at Montescaglioso.Prehistory and Protohistory
This section, which was recently reorganized with modern didactical criteria and with the construction of various rooms, collects Calabrian materials of sure date and origin, prehistoric findings (which come from stratified excavations) presented in chronological order through the documentation from the different sites, and displayed in the long room dedicated to them.The most antique objects, coming from the Lower Paleolithic
Lower Paleolithic
The Lower Paleolithic is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 2.5 million years ago when the first evidence of craft and use of stone tools by hominids appears in the current archaeological record, until around 300,000 years ago, spanning the...
date back to 600,000 years ago, are “choppers” (splintered rocks), found near Casella di Maida in the center of Calabria.
At the entrance of the room are two large dioramas with life scenes from the people of the Middle and Upper Paleolithic
Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity and before the advent of...
. Next, there is the reproduction of the engraving representing the Bos Primigenius a bovid dating back around 11,000 years ago (thus from the final part of the Upper Paleolithic). It was discovered on a boulder in 1961, together with two other smaller figures and many linear signs, at the Riparo del Romito in the municipality of Papasidero, along the river valley Lao, which is at the border with Basilicata. The reproduction of the engraving has a great artistic value (beside its historical value) because the assurance of the line and the tridimensional effect make it the most significant figure, among all those found in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, of the Paleolithic realism.
Next to the engraving, simulating what was found at the Romito, a tomb has been recreated, in which one can see the skeletons of two people who have been buried contemporaneously in an unusual position, laying side by side and partially overlapping. The female skeleton laying underneath slips her left arm, as if in an affectionate gesture, around the neck of the young man partially above her who, as it is visible, is deformed by rickets
Rickets
Rickets is a softening of bones in children due to deficiency or impaired metabolism of vitamin D, magnesium , phosphorus or calcium, potentially leading to fractures and deformity. Rickets is among the most frequent childhood diseases in many developing countries...
. Maybe these are the skeletons of the guardians, pro tempore, of this sacred place, which has bovine engravings that are the images used during the rites before the hunt.
Continuing further we find another diorama constructed to show scenes of life of the Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
(8,000- 5,000 years ago), followed by some show windows exhibiting terracotta, bronze, and iron objects, such as: vases, pitchers, calices, ax, swords and fibula, which go from the Neolithic to the next ages, coming from Calabrian places such as: Praia a Mare, Torre Galli, Santa Domenica di Ricadi, Roccella Ionica, Amendolara, Cassano allo Ionio.