The Urn of Bottarone re-emerged from the mud on display in Florence

The Bottarone Urn is visible again, sixty years afterflood of 1966which submerged Florence under two meters of water and mud. From mud to rebirth. The water that invaded the Tuscan capital also reached therestoration laboratoryl’photographic archiveand the remains of theEtruscan civilisation del National Archaeological Museum of Florence.

Now, within the scope oftourismA 2026– Archeology and Cultural Tourism Exhibition, organized by Archeologia Viva, the museum presents an absolute preview of the exhibition ‘The colors of alabaster. The restoration of the Bottarone Urn sixty years after the flood of Florence’. Ashowcelebrating the completion of a majorconservative interventionwhich he returnedbrightness and intensity to the original colors dell’urna di alabasterbringing the timeless embrace of the to its ancient splendorEtruscan married couplecarved over 2400 years ago.

A successful restoration

“L’Urn of Bottaroneit was asuccessful restoration experimentwith multi-level collaboration between professionals, public resources and the use ofinternational funds. An excellence that sends a positive message for the future ofcultural heritageentrusted to us: from the catastrophe offloodto a new life forEtruscan urnand for the Museum”, says Daniele Federico Maras, director of theNational Archaeological Museum of Florence.

The history of the Bottarone Urn

Made between425 e il 380 aC in white alabasterwith gray veins, the urn was discovered in1864under unknown circumstances in the localityBottarone(O Butarone) under pressureCittà della Pieve. It passed into the collection of Giorgio Taccini and was subsequently purchased by the Florentine collector Giuseppe Pacini, and then arrived in 1887 in the collections of the National Archaeological Museum of Florence. The Urn of Bottarone is one of the Etruscan masterpieces overwhelmed by the mud from the 1966 flooda find of exceptional beauty.

The first post-flood restoration and restoration center

The sculpted lid represents ahusband and wife couplea unique fact in the panorama ofChiusine funerary sculptureof the time, which usually sees the deceased accompanied by a winged female demon. After thefloodl’Urn of Bottaroneis the subject of afirst restoration intervention tra il 1969 and 1970directed by Francesco Nicosia, in a decisive phase for the history ofprotection in Florence. In those same years, in the premises ofNational Archaeological Museum of FlorencetheArchaeological Restoration Center of Tuscany: a structure equipped withcutting-edge equipmentcreated to respond in a systematic and scientifically advanced way to the very serious damage suffered by thearchaeological heritage. After this first intervention, limited to the removal of the mud, the surfaces of the urn are progressively grayed and the male head presents problems ofstructural stabilitywhich make a new restoration necessary.

The new restoration campaign and the chromatic discoveries

The moment comes in2022when the exhibit is selected among the winners of theCall for financial aid destinati al restoration of movable cultural heritagewithin the framework of the international agreement betweenItalian government e il Swiss Federal Council. The contribution allows you to start anew study, diagnostic and restoration campaignon the urn, but also to create apermanent restoration laboratoryinside the Museum, named after Erminia Caudana. Among the most significant results obtained from the restoration are the identification and mapping of theEgyptian blueinsieme a ochres and cinnabarwhich allowed us to reconstruct theoriginal chromatic impact dell’opera.

The importance of imaging investigations

“Le imaging investigationshave given exciting results: we have identified theEgyptian blueand was able to map thepolychromyimagining the urn in its original appearance”, explains Giulia Basilissi, the Museum’s conservator-restorer official.