Chimera d’Arezzo, the return of a masterpiece of Etruscan art: shines in Florence

That’s one of them archaeological objects most famous of Italian cultural heritage. There Chimera of Arezzosymbol ofEtruscan art and the success he always achievedthe last half millenniumoccupy one starting today room at all updated from National Archaeological Museum From Florencewhose entrance is active Piazza della Santissima Annunziata where the Brunelleschi area also faces Institute of the Innocentequestrian statue Ferdinand I de’ Medici – work from Giambologna – and the fountain of his beloved pupil, Peter Notch.

Right in the middle of the Medici era, a life-size bronze statue was discovered Height 80 centimeters length about 130. Defeated by BellerophoneChimera, a legendary creature from Greek mythology, represented by a lion with a strong body and flaming mane, head goat without, at the time of discovery, its tail snakeof which only parts were discovered, never recovered and restored in the second half of the eighteenth century. Work is back on November 15, 1553during you dig for development a defensive fortress on the walls of Arezzo, close by San Lorentino Gate.

According to the chronicles of that time, the statue immediately became famous for its amazing naturalness dramatic tension from the injured body. In the Considerations of the Magistrates, Priors and General Council of Arezzo, we read that “the following famous Etruscan monument was discovered. It is a bronze lion made with mastery and gracenatural sized, fierce looking, very angryperhaps because of the wound on his left thigh, he endured it hair and opened his jaws wide, and like a trophy for display, he carried on his back the head of a slaughtered goat, deprived of its blood and life.”

Soon, the sensational discovery of one of the greatest masterpieces of Etruscan art became important for the politics of Cosimo I de’ Medici, at that time Duke of Florenceinterested in bringing independent culture Italian society before domination Rome. The Chimera thus became a symbol of continuity with the great Etruscan civilization, independent of Rome and bearer of an autonomous ancient Italian identity, capable of fueling the myth of Florence, no longer just a city Renaissancebut also as the reborn capital of Etruria, of which Cosimo would have me proud with his Latin title Magnus Dux Etruriae.

For Giorgio Vasariwho also came from Arezzo, hence Cosimo I de’ Medici became “Tamer of all animals” and chose the most prestigious statue spot, viz Palazzo Vecchiocenter of power Power and the Medici residence. In a short time the Chimera became an object of worship, admiration and study. In his hybrid body – half animal, half symbol – Medici recognized the image force tamed by reasonthe essence of them political project: turning diversity and rebellion into harmony And government.

Over the centuries, Chimera then accompanied the events of the dynasty: in 1718 it was moved by order of Cosimo III to the Grand Ducal Gallery, while in 1737“handed over”, along with the rest of the Medici collection, to the new Grand Duke Francesco Stefano of Lorraine, and his descendants, through the hands of the last Medici heir, Anna Maria Luisaaccording to the terms of the “Family Pact” that tied the Medici legacy to the city of Florence.

So on 1871 the statue, along with the rest of the large bronze collection, was moved to the new Egyptian Etruscan Museum opened where it was before Fuligno Islamic Boarding School entered via Faenza, a stone’s throw from the current Santa Maria Novella train station. Ten years later, it was founded Royal Archaeological Museum Florence, the first dedicated to the archaeological identity of a unified Italy and now the National Archaeological Museum of Florence, Chimera also found a new location in Crocetta Palacein Piazza Santissima Annunziata and never moved from there, although from time to time someone expresses a desire to take it back to Arezzo, where it was discovered almost half a millennium ago, under the pretense that the work’s presence in Florence is now widespread and undeniable. historic.

Here his masterpiece now appears in a new settings allowing visitors to feel a personal and evocative connection with the work: even though the work is protected in its extraordinary nature deliciousness And fragilitydominates the center of the room by resting on a monumental base that elevates its location, emphasizing it plastic strength and narrative tension. Considered as one theater roomthis room has four benches arranged in a circle around an Etruscan statue that invites close and contemplative observation. Next, they integrated the exhibition space with scenographic curtains – similar to a theater curtain – Whereshadow Chimera that emphasizes the solemn and meditative character of the environment. Next there is a hanging display case guarding three people small Etruscan bronze originating from the same context in which the Chimera was discovered (depicting a griffin, the Etruscan god Tinia, namely Jupiter, and a young libation) produces a silent dialogue between the work and its history.

It should be noted that, in a contemporary context, the reopening of the Chimera space will also remain an important moment in the Museum’s history, marking the transition from the Regional Directorate of the National Museum of Tuscany to a new autonomous institution. National Archaeological Museum Florence, founded in 2024 and entrusted to the new director Daniele Federico Maras. Not only that: after this stage, the museum’s renovation commitment will continue rearrangement from a nearby room Etruscan statuewhere other masterpieces of Etruscan art such asOrator and it Chief Lorenzini and which will open in the coming months as part of an exhibition project dedicated to the long history of Florence’s grand ducal collection.

Museum Information

The museum is open Monday to Saturday from 08.30 to 14.00, with an extension until 19.00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Extraordinary openings dedicated to the new Chimera exhibition are also planned on the evenings of Wednesday 26 November and Wednesday 3 December, from 6 pm to 10 pm, the latter significantly coinciding with the “International Day of Persons with Disabilities”; also on Sunday 7 December from 8.30am to 2pm.