Il museo, ospitato nel quattrocentesco Palazzo dell’Ospedale di Santa Maria della Morte – edificio quattrocentesco ristrutturato nel 1875 – nasce nel 1881 dalla fusione di due musei, quello Universitario, erede della “Stanza delle Antichità” dell’Accademia delle Scienze fondata da Luigi Ferdinando Marsili (1714), e quello Comunale, da poco arricchitosi della grande collezione del pittore Pelagio Palagi (1860) e di numerosissimi reperti provenienti dalle fortunate campagne di scavo condotte a Bologna e nel territorio circostante fra la seconda metà dell’Ottocento e i primi decenni del Novecento.
Formato dal congiungimento delle collezioni universitarie Aldrovandi, Cospi e Marsili, dalla ricca raccolta del pittore Pelagio Palagi e dai materiali archeologici provenienti dagli scavi di Bologna e del suo territorio, il museo si colloca tra le più importanti raccolte italiane.
Oltre alla Egyptian collection, one of the most important in Europe, among the historical collections, alongside the Etrusco-Italic and Roman – from which come the finds enriching the exhibition I Pittori di Pompei –, the Greek collection stands out, preserving the marble head of Athena Lemnia, an Augustan copy of Phidias’s bronze statue that once dominated the entrance to the Acropolis of Athens in the 5th century BC.
Among the rich Bolognese archaeological documentation, illustrating the oldest history of the city and its surroundings from the Paleolithic to the Roman age, the materials of the Etruscan civilization form the museum’s most important core, as through thousands of grave goods they document the development of Felsina (the Etruscan name of Bologna) from the 9th century BC to the beginning of the 4th century BC.
The life of the Roman city of Bononia, a Latin colony established in 189 BC on the site of Etruscan Felsina, is also widely documented. The milestones, remains of architectural decorations, and especially the numerous inscriptions, displayed in the atrium and courtyard, offer a vivid glimpse of the city’s history in the Republican and Imperial periods. The decoration of the theater, brought to light in the current city center, is marked by the beautiful headless statue of Nero.
The museum’s collections are completed by one of Italy’s most important numismatic collections, with over 100,000 specimens including coins, medals, punches, and dies, and the Gipsoteca.
Its heritage is primarily made up of rich collections documenting Bolognese archaeology from prehistory to the Roman age, including the numerous Etruscan Villanovan and Felsinean grave goods. The museum’s ordering, now extensively renewed from the original setup, is organized into sections exhibiting items from the Palagi and University Collections (Egyptian, Greek, Etrusco-Italic, and Roman Rooms), and those documenting the city’s history (Prehistoric, Etruscan, Lapidary Sections). Important collections are also gathered in the Egyptian section, holding about 3,500 pieces, including masterpieces like reliefs from Pharaoh Horemheb’s tomb, and ranks among the most important in Europe.
The museum also houses a relevant numismatic collection, consisting of about 100,000 coins and medals. In the recently renewed prehistoric section, the evolution of settlement in the Bolognese area is represented by a series of stone tools from the Paleolithic and numerous artifacts documenting the development of the Neolithic, Copper Age, and Bronze Age. Especially significant are the findings from the Farneto Cave, the Rocca di Badolo hoard (16th century BC), with its forty-one bronze axes, and artifacts from several settlement sites, including S. Giuliano di Toscanella, from which, among other things, comes a well-preserved casting mold for sickles and arrowheads. A very rich Etruscan section characterizes the exhibition path. The Villanovan phase of Bologna (9th to mid-6th century BC) is illustrated by a wide selection from the about four thousand burial equipment from necropolises (including those at Savena, S. Vitale, Benacci, Arnoaldi), comprising personal use objects and bronze tools, as well as pottery and bronze vessels. Notably, the famous Benacci askos, a very rare vessel form dated to the late 8th century BC, and the extraordinary “S. Francesco hoard,” found near the namesake basilica, stand out: a foundry deposit consisting of a large dolium containing over 14,000 bronze pieces, whole and fragmented, both local and foreign.
The fully urban phase of Felsina, Etruscan Bologna (the “Certosa” or Felsinian phase), is again mainly illustrated by burial goods, among which the exceptional “Large Tomb” and “Stool Tomb,” belonging to the Giardini Margherita necropolis, stand out. From the Certosa cemetery derives the name of the important bronze situla decorated with scenes of military, civil, and religious life. Also of great importance is the group of about two hundred and fifty sandstone figurative stelae, which marked the most prestigious tombs. The Villanovan culture of Verucchio, the main site of early Iron Age Romagna, has a dedicated room exhibiting a princely tomb characterized by rich wooden furnishings. Regarding the Roman age, the armored marble torso of Emperor Nero found in the 17th century in the theater area (Piazza dei Celestini) is displayed in the atrium, while rich collections of inscriptions, mainly dating from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD, are distributed between the atrium and courtyard, of interest both for the onomastic and magistrate documentation and for some decorations inspired by the deceased’s profession. In the courtyard are also some milestones from the Via Aemilia.
Moving to the sections dedicated to collection objects, in the Etrusco-Italic antiquities room, bucchero pottery and, among mirrors, the famous “patera cospiana” stand out. In the Greek section is displayed the celebrated marble head of Athena Lemnia from the Palagi collection, a beautiful Augustan copy of a Phidian bronze original. The series of Greek and Magna Graecian ceramics, gems, and goldsmith works is considerable. A special mention deserves the Egyptian collection, one of the most important in Europe, mostly from Palagi provenance, recently rearranged, rich with more than three thousand objects such as sarcophagi, stelae, ushabti, and various artifacts documenting three millennia of civilization. Among the most important pieces are the reliefs from Horemheb’s tomb in Saqqara (13th century BC), a monument rediscovered by recent excavations, to which a computer-graphics video is dedicated. The museum also features a computer section with stations for visitors to explore and deepen aspects and themes of its rich heritage.
The exhibition hall, located on the ground floor, is a space of almost 1000 sqm, functional and suitable for hosting exhibitions of great importance: over the last 40 years, hundreds of temporary exhibitions have been presented here to the public, both produced by the museum and organized in collaboration with other partners.
The museum is also known for the quality of its educational offer and lifelong learning, making it a primary reference point for the analysis of museum educational practices.
Finally, of fundamental importance for the enhancement of the permanent heritage are the relations with other national and international institutions connected to historical and scientific research activities, as testified by the numerous projects and the considerable number of loans in which the museum is engaged every year.
