A Divine Element

A journey through time and space, from the Tyrrhenian to the Adriatic coast during the Iron Age, in search of port sanctuaries, healing freshwater sources, lakes and medicinal springs, where water became, within religious practice, an instrument of purification and protection. Curated by Chiara Squarcina and Margherita Tirelli, the exhibition Etruscans and Veneti. Water, Cults and Sanctuaries, on view at the Appartamento del Doge at Palazzo Ducale until September 29, explores the original theme of water as a gateway to the divine and to the encounter between humanity and the supernatural, a presence shared by both the Etruscan civilisation and the ancient Veneti, whose rituals often bore striking similarities.
A “prologue” offers an overview of the journey visitors will undertake through the exhibition, with an informative map of the Italian peninsula highlighting the route between sacred healing springs in Etruria, from Vulci to the areas around Chiusi and Chianciano and San Casciano dei Bagni, and onward to the spring sanctuary of Marzabotto in the Po Valley; in Veneto, from Montegrotto to Lagole di Calalzo. The map also marks the principal ports and landing places along maritime and river routes, from Pyrgi to Spina and Adria, and as far as Este and Altino. Welcoming visitors among evocative quotations from Greek and Latin sources is a beautiful small head from the temple of Pyrgi depicting Leucothea, the white goddess of the sea and protector of sailors, known for having protected Odysseus on his journey towards the land of the Phaeacians. Anatomical votive offerings and artefacts connected with navigation, including ship models, representations of fish and pottery, from both the Etruscan and Venetic areas, introduce the exhibition’s two main themes: mineral and thermal waters with healing properties, and salt waters, where port sanctuaries offered divine protection to those setting out and to those who arrived safely.

The journey begins in Vulci, the wealthy aristocratic city of the Etruscan League on the Tyrrhenian coast, with the votive deposit of Banditella, the earliest known evidence of an open-air cult centred on spring water. Miniature vessels, ornaments and a refined and exceptionally precious small bronze horse dating from the Villanovan period, the 9th and 8th centuries BC, are among the objects on display. Particular attention is devoted to the sacred area of Pyrgi, the port of ancient and powerful Caere (Cerveteri), a major cosmopolitan sanctuary with cults connected to the sea. The presentation of models of the two monumental Archaic temples, a copy of the gold tablets – among the longest texts written in the Etruscan language – and deposits of objects recovered from excavated wells reveal the deities, rituals, offerings and relationships with the Greek, Carthaginian and Magna Graecian worlds: certainly one of the emblematic places of interaction and integration between different peoples. In the Chianciano and Chiusi gallery, one of the exhibition’s most spectacular artefacts takes centre stage: the acroterion depicting Thesan, the goddess of Dawn.

With its perfect proportions, graceful movement and flowing drapery, this Hellenistic terracotta sculpture is breathtaking. A central section of the exhibition is devoted to the gallery presenting the previously unpublished material from San Casciano dei Bagni, restored especially for the occasion. The story of this very recent discovery, a basin of hot medicinal water in which the objects were preserved intact as if vacuum-sealed, sheds light not only on religious cults but also on advanced medical practices. Votive offerings, buried thunderbolts and ritual seals mark the evolution and transformation of the sanctuary through and beyond the Roman period.
Passing through Marzabotto, the journey reaches the Adriatic coast, with artefacts discovered in the Etruscan settlements of the Po Valley at Spina and Adria, in the ancient Po Delta. The monumental krater attributed to the Kleophon Painter, dating to around 430 BC and connected with the cult of Delphic Apollo, from Spina, and the exquisite small Archaic bronze known as the Heracles of Contarina, are certainly worth the visit.

The exhibition concludes its journey through the Etruscan world before moving into that of the Veneti. An introductory gallery documents the cult of the sacred and the relationship with water. From the Montebelluna disc depicting the goddess Clavigera to the Altino sheet bearing a series of raised hands, from Venetic horses to wolves as a metaphor for the outsider, the exhibition continues with four in-depth sections devoted to the sanctuaries of Montegrotto, Este and Lagole di Calalzo, before concluding with Altino. Offerings bearing inscriptions in the Venetic language, the names of donors and male and female deities, objects used in water rituals, tools for spinning and weaving, and bronze tablets and writing styli reveal the richness and complexity of these sanctuaries.
We Are Bodies of Water, an immersive installation curated by Fondazione Bonotto and consisting of a large tapestry woven with optical fibres and yarns made from recycled plastic materials, brings the exhibition to a close and returns visitors to the present day. From the animals and plants of the Venetian Lagoon to the presence of the blue crab and the dolphin “Nane”, the work offers an invitation to reflect on contemporary environmental challenges.