More than one hundred and fifty years after the discovery of the Galeassi Tomb at Palestrina, this volume presents a new comprehensive study. This is one of the most important tombs of the Orientalising period in Latium vetus. The analysis of the documents published by Raffaele Garrucci and of archive documents allows us to specify the date of the excavation: October 1863, and not 1861, as is often said. The objects found were sold in 1865 (before the 27th March), some to Mr. Castellani and some to Mr. Milani. It is argued that we can identify Mr. Milani with Giovan Battista Milani, mentioned in the list of Roman Jewellers , together with Fortunato Pio Castellani. The objects found in the Galeassi Tomb entered the Castellani Collection, and they are now divided between the British Museum in London, where they arrived in 1872 with the acquisition of the Collection of Alessandro Castellani, and the Villa Giulia Museum in Rome, where they arrived in 1926 with the acquisition of the Collection of Augusto Castellani. The part sold to Mr. Milani is, unfortunately, impossible to find. The Galeassi Tomb was discovered in the Galeassi vineyard, located behind the church of San Rocco, along a side road off the Via Labicana - or road to Rome - and the Via della Marcigliana. It is now in an area close to Via Fratelli Bandiera at Palestrina. The name of the owner of the Galeassi property was from an early point confused with General Vincenzo Galassi, author of the discovery together with the Archpriest Alessandro Regolini of the famous tomb in the necropolis of Sorbo in Cerveteri. This confusion coupled with the presence of the same iconographic motifs on the jewelry of the two tombs has unfortunately caused the objects from the Galeassi Tomb at Palestrina to be attributed erroneously to the Regolini - Galassi Tomb in Cerveteri. This volume corrects as far as possible these methodological errors. The tomb is of a type called sepolti sotti i sassi (buried under the stones) which means that it was not a chamber tomb with a multiplicity of burials. The continuity of use of the Colombella necropolis, from the half of the eighth century B.C. until the late Republican age, will have favored contiguous burials and, in some cases, overlapping graves. Therefore, it seems reasonable to think that there were at least four female burials (contexts A1, A2, B, C), dating from the end of the eighth to the end of the sixth – early fifth century B. C. Nearly all of the objects found, which consist almost exclusively of jewelry, were produced at Cerveteri, while others are probably local productions that show close contacts with others found in Latium vetus and in the Picene region. The study of archive documents and objects highlights the sophistication and wealth of the Praenestine élite.
La Tomba Galeassi di Palestrina
Ambrosini L
2015-01-01
Abstract
More than one hundred and fifty years after the discovery of the Galeassi Tomb at Palestrina, this volume presents a new comprehensive study. This is one of the most important tombs of the Orientalising period in Latium vetus. The analysis of the documents published by Raffaele Garrucci and of archive documents allows us to specify the date of the excavation: October 1863, and not 1861, as is often said. The objects found were sold in 1865 (before the 27th March), some to Mr. Castellani and some to Mr. Milani. It is argued that we can identify Mr. Milani with Giovan Battista Milani, mentioned in the list of Roman Jewellers , together with Fortunato Pio Castellani. The objects found in the Galeassi Tomb entered the Castellani Collection, and they are now divided between the British Museum in London, where they arrived in 1872 with the acquisition of the Collection of Alessandro Castellani, and the Villa Giulia Museum in Rome, where they arrived in 1926 with the acquisition of the Collection of Augusto Castellani. The part sold to Mr. Milani is, unfortunately, impossible to find. The Galeassi Tomb was discovered in the Galeassi vineyard, located behind the church of San Rocco, along a side road off the Via Labicana - or road to Rome - and the Via della Marcigliana. It is now in an area close to Via Fratelli Bandiera at Palestrina. The name of the owner of the Galeassi property was from an early point confused with General Vincenzo Galassi, author of the discovery together with the Archpriest Alessandro Regolini of the famous tomb in the necropolis of Sorbo in Cerveteri. This confusion coupled with the presence of the same iconographic motifs on the jewelry of the two tombs has unfortunately caused the objects from the Galeassi Tomb at Palestrina to be attributed erroneously to the Regolini - Galassi Tomb in Cerveteri. This volume corrects as far as possible these methodological errors. The tomb is of a type called sepolti sotti i sassi (buried under the stones) which means that it was not a chamber tomb with a multiplicity of burials. The continuity of use of the Colombella necropolis, from the half of the eighth century B.C. until the late Republican age, will have favored contiguous burials and, in some cases, overlapping graves. Therefore, it seems reasonable to think that there were at least four female burials (contexts A1, A2, B, C), dating from the end of the eighth to the end of the sixth – early fifth century B. C. Nearly all of the objects found, which consist almost exclusively of jewelry, were produced at Cerveteri, while others are probably local productions that show close contacts with others found in Latium vetus and in the Picene region. The study of archive documents and objects highlights the sophistication and wealth of the Praenestine élite.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.