Anima Etrusca

The volume published for the exhibition Anima Etrusca / Etruscan Soul is not a traditional catalogue: the wide variety of materials on display — from archaeological works to gadgets from 1985, from Polaroids to archival documents, from design to contemporary art objects — led to the preference for a collection of essays rather than descriptive notes on individual works.

The book brings together contributions from scholars who explore the themes originating from the 1985 “ Progetto Etruschi” (Etruscan Project) and is structured in two parts: a section that reproduces most of the works on display and one consisting of essays and interdisciplinary testimonies.

The volume also addresses themes related to the 20th-century reception of the Etruscans, such as the case of San Gimignano and the 1926 “Convegno Nazionale Etrusco” (National Etruscan Conference). A photographic apparatus by Leonardo Morfini documents the exhibition's display choices.

Overall, the book offers a polyphonic and renewed interpretation of the Etruscans, intertwining archaeology, visual arts, history and design, and bringing together the past and present of the cultural project that began in 1985.