12 Giugno, 2011. Etruscan Museum in Villa Giulia.

Ok, contrary to the title of this post, the actual date of my visit to the Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia was the eleventh (I am writing this on the twelfth, hence the heading – also, I didn’t really feel the need to discuss what I saw today). I just went alone while just about everyone else went to the Gay Pride Parade. I have absolutely nothing against gay people (do whatever makes you happy), but I absolutely detest Lady Gaga, who was in attendance at the parade and was set to perform at its conclusion. So I opted out and instead went to the Etruscan museum. I made the right choice. The museum itself is housed within the Villa Giulia, which was built between 1550 and 1555 by Pope Julius III (he commissioned it, he didn’t actually build it). The grounds of the villa itself are beautiful, and seeing as how I could only take pictures outside, the images you see before you are of the outdoor areas of the villa.

The museum itself houses tons of incredible artifacts, dug up from various Etruscan burial mounds dotting the Italian peninsula. The collection is representative of several different periods of Etruscan craftsmanship, and these different periods/areas of origin are all wonderfully distinct. It was amazing to see how their different interactions with other contemporary cultures influenced their own art. For example, a whole section of the pieces looked Greek, while others looked Egyptian. The entire collection was too massive to take in in one visit, so my plan is to return, perhaps with others in the group, most likely tomorrow. I’d have more to say about the experience, but I forgot to take my notebook out of my bag before I checked it at the door, and, like I mentioned earlier, photos weren’t allowed (even without flash). Further contributing to this lack of info was the fact that all of the description cards in the exhibit were in Italian. The larger informational panels were in Italian and English, however, and I did learn a bit from those (but, again, no notes; and my memory sucks for these kinds of things. This is why I’m terrible in history classes). I intend to remedy this upon my return, however, so maybe tomorrow I’ll have more to say.