This museum, in the Palazzo della Crocetta, concentrates on the Etruscan civilisation that flourished in central Italy north of Rome and traded throughout the Mediterranean from 900BC to 100 AD. The collection originated with Florence's great family, the Medicis, and contains a wide variety of Etruscan antiquities. In gold, the Etruscans great achievement was granulation; they perfected the technique of soldering tiny droplets of gold to the surface of gold sheet, achieving a delicate finish. Among the unique gold objects in this museum are a long gold pin decorated with fine granulation from around 600 BC, a clasp made of double gold sheet decorated with animals in powder granulation, and a similar one with a line of nine golden birds standing along its top.

See also Villa Giulia, Rome.

Museo Archeologico
Via della Colonna 38
50100 Florence
Italy

Tel.     +39 055 23575
Fax     +39 055 242213
Web    www.mega.it/archeo.toscana/esamufi.htm
           www.mega.it/eng/egui/monu/musarc.htm

Open

Tuesday to Friday, Sunday 9 -19.00
Saturday 9 - 14.00
Monday 14 - 19.00