Etruscan Egyptians. From Eugene Berman to the Golden Scarab

The meeting and comparison between two great Mediterranean civilizations is at the centre of the fascinating Etruscan Egyptians exhibition; from Eugene Berman to the Golden Scarab that marks the debut, next December 21st, of the new space for temporary exhibitions at the Centrale Montemartini. The exhibition offers the opportunity to compare the two ancient cultures drawing inspiration from precious Egyptian objects, dating from the 8th to the 3rd century BC, and found in the recent excavation campaigns conducted in Vulci, an important city in southern Etruria. The precious Egyptian finds of the Berman Collection and the works on loan from the Egyptian Section of the National Archaeological Museum of Florence are added to the unpublished discoveries of Vulci. They all talk about trade but above all about the cultural dialogue between civilizations that shared ideals of royalty, symbols of power and religious practices.

A comparison that also aims to represent an opportunity for reflection on the value of dialogue between cultures, a relationship that has always been a source of progress for the peoples.
The exhibition is accompanied by an introductory section that allows you to capture the taste of nineteenth-century collecting, in particular that of two lovers of the great civilizations of the ancient world, Augusto Castellani and Giovanni Barracco, who lived and worked in the same years.

The exhibition ends with a reference to the activity of the Carabinieri Command for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, with the public presentation of the precious funerary goods and relics of the Tomb of the Golden Scarab, found in Vulci in 2016 as part of the activity to combat illegal excavations.

On the occasion of the inauguration of the exhibition, the restoration of the façade of the museum will be presented, for which we thank ACEA, Areti S.p.a.