The Body That Remains: The Prothesis in the Etruscan Urn from Civitavecchia and Its Contemporary Resonances

“The Body That Remains: The Prothesis in the Etruscan Urn from Civitavecchia and contemporary resonances”
Friday, May 29, 2026, at 5:30 p.m., at the National Archaeological Museum of Civitavecchia.

The exhibition, which runs through November 29, 2026, features an extraordinary Etruscan terracotta urn, made in Cerveteri at the end of the 6th century B.C., depicting the prothesis—that is, the public display of the body after death—a tradition of Greek origin that spread to Etruria.

The artifact, recovered through an operation by the Guardia di Finanza and subsequently restored and studied, is one of the most significant pieces in the National Archaeological Museum of Civitavecchia.
A comparison with a selection of contemporary urns by the artist Massimo Luccioli invites reflection on the continuity of funerary symbols and the dialogue between the ancient and the present.

The exhibition will be accompanied by an immersive video and an informative catalog published by Antiqua Res. The exhibition will open on the third floor of the National Archaeological Museum of Civitavecchia, where the artifacts recovered from seizures—which previously belonged to the Civic Museum and are now part of the state collection—will be on display.

Presentations:

Elisabetta Scungio: Regional Director of the National Museums of Lazio;

Lara Anniboletti: Director of the National Archaeological Museum of Civitavecchia and the Terme Taurine Archaeological Site;

Maria Antonietta Rizzo: Scientific Committee of the Regional Directorate of National Museums of Lazio;

Alessandro Mandolesi: Curator of the exhibition;

Martina Corgnati: Art historian at the Brera Academy;

Massimo Luccioli: Contemporary artist.

The exhibition is accompanied by a series of thematic lectures featuring presentations by scholars and experts, focusing on historical and archaeological content and the museum’s new layout, which will begin on June 5.

The meeting will be followed by an opening toast and a social gathering.
Admission is free and no reservation is required.

Summer Conference Schedule

Friday, June 5, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.

Presentation of the exhibition catalog *The Body That Remains: The Prothesis in the Etruscan Urn from Civitavecchia and Its Contemporary Resonances*, Volume 4 of the *Quaderni del Museo*, edited by Lara Anniboletti and Alessandro Mandolesi

Friday, June 19, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.

Ifke van Kampen: The Master of Civitavecchia in the World. Where Do the Sphinxes Come From, and Where Are They Going?

Friday, June 26, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.

Carlo Alberto Falzetti, Sandro Scotti, Maria Rosa Lucidi : Donations from the Centumcellae 1913 Association to the National Archaeological Museum of Civitavecchia