Original scientific paper

Picenes in the Archaeological Museum Zadar - a note from Museum history

Natalija Čondić ; Arheološki muzej Zadar, Zadar, Hrvatska

Abstract

At the end of 1923, during the Italian rule in Zadar, the present-day Ar­chaeological Museum Zadar came under the jurisdiction of the Soprint­endenza alle Antichità delle Marche e degli Abruzzi (Administration for Antiquities of the Marche and Abruzzi Regions) in Ancona. The cultural integration of Zadar and Italy at that time was one of the issues important for the successful implementation of the Italianization process. For this purpose, but also in connection with the (almost parallel) arrangement of the new permanent exhibitions in the Zadar and Ancona museums, there was a series of exchanges of archaeological material between the Archaeological Museum in Zadar and its competent museum in Ancona. On several occasions, between 1925 and World War II, materials from the Roman necropolises of Zadar and Nin were taken to Ancona. As a favour to the Archaeological Museum in Zadar, the transfer of three rich Picenian graves from the necropolises of Cupra Marittima and Belmonte Piceno was carried out for the purpose of a new exhibition here. According to available documentation, the exchange was requested by the then Di­rector of the Antiquities Directorate, Giuseppe Moretti, and approved by the General Administration for Antiquities and Fine Arts in Rome on February 27, 1930. After the disbanding of the exhibition in St. Donatus and its transfer to the building of today’s University of Zadar, the graves are no longer exhibited and their contents are unknown today. However, there are several items stored in the museum’s repositories that can more or less be attributed to the three Picenian graves: a bronze helmet, a mas­sive bronze ring with a series of knobs, and a complete Apulian jug, and possibly a fragment of a slab with a carved figural representation. The article provides a brief description and basic interpretation of the mate­rial in question and the circumstances under which the exchange took place. In the case of the latter, the author relies on archival data recently published by Nicoletta Frapiccini, director of the National Archaeological Museum of the Marche Region in Ancona. The inter-museum exchange, which brought three richly furnished Picenian graves to the Archaeologi­cal Museum Zadar, is an interesting note from its history, which provides insight into the work of this institution during one of its difficult periods.

Keywords

Archaeological Museum Zadar; Italian rule; inter-museum exchange; Picenes

Hrčak ID:

237148

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/237148

Publication date:

21.4.2020.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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