Villa Giulia Etruscan Museum

The Villa Giulia is a wonderful museum of Etruscan Art  just outside the Borghese Gardens. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the pre-Roman period in Italy. If you've had enough of the Roman, the Renaissance and the Baroque (which isn't too hard in Rome) this is the place to go. We've been meaning to make it here for years and were pleased to finally see the collection.
 
There is so much to see that it's a little overwhelming, the rooms seem to go on and on, I think almost anyone would run out of energy before the museum runs out of stuff. I suppose there's a lot to included when you're going back to  the Seventh Century BC!  On the day we visited the museum was empty. We were there several hours and saw three other visitors. Given the quality of the collection it's a shame it's so under utilized but then there's a lot to compete with. After all, we've been to Rome many times and this is the first time we've made it here.
There are lots of extraordinary and early ceramics, ironwork, personal effects, burial goods, architectural decorations, statues, busts and sarcophagi. The place is bursting and just when you think you're done there's another entire wing filled with innumerable vases and archeological finds. The building itself and the gardens are also very lovely.
I particularly liked the decorative ceiling and The Favorite Person below.
There are rooms after rooms of treasures including the elongated ironwork and horse figures often associated with the Etruscans  
Because the museum covers such a long time period the earthenware varies from the simple to the more complex.
Much of the burial goods give you a sense of everyday objects and the faces  below seem to look back at you from the past. They have far more of an effect, and seem so much more "real" than the sculptures of the 'great and the good' whose statues normally dominate  museum collections.
In addition to the usually exhibits the museum also includes two burial chambers which you will find below one of the first exhibition halls, don't miss them. 
The decorations are splendid and highly evocative.
Probably my favorite piece was this extraordinary sarcophagi in terra-cotta (which has a twin  at the Louvre) was one of my favorite objects. It is hard to see from my photo but the figures are life sized/
There really is just an overwhelming amount of stuff to see.
It's great stuff and it goes on and on...
Who could resist either of these objects?
Highly recommended - be prepared to be overwhelmed by the sheer size of the collection. I'm overwhelmed just by this blog post!

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