Vatican Museums

Established in 1761 by Pope Clement XIII, the Profane Museum is among the most ancient Vatican Museums environment. Over the centuries it has undergone deep transformations, including acquisitions, thefts, relocations, and reorganisations. Among these ones, the 2013 exhibition highlighted the need of more extensive studies to offer an adequate consultation tool. This volume is born from these researches, as the result of a synergy of expertise that has led to the in-depth identification of many works.

This substantial catalogue analyses in particular a significant group of finds, chronologically contextualised in the pre-Roman, archaic, and proto-republican period, for the most part still unpublished. The first section analyses material of known provenance. The second section concerns objects of unknown provenance, and the third one shows artefacts identified as “fakes”. The arrangement of the finds is divided by classes, by typologies and lastly by chronology. Every piece is meticulously presented through a technical sheet, offering several pieces of information, concerning material, measurements, location, and inventory number. This is followed by the results of diagnostic investigations, which have made it possible to obtain fundamental data also useful to carry out preservative restorations, and by an accurate bibliography.