In Venice, an exhibition tells the story of the power of water for the Etruscans and Venetians, between sects and sanctuaries – Venice – Arte.it

Venice – always privileged environments of contact with the divine, spaces of healing, but also places for the growth of community, seas, rivers, healing springs and thermal waters have played a fundamental role for the great civilizations of pre-Roman Italy.
The Etruscans and Venetians know this very well, at the center of a dialogue that, until September 29, in the rooms of the Doge’s Apartment in the Doge’s Palace in Venice, brings together archaeological finds of extraordinary value, many of which are unpublished and come from recent excavations.
Loans provided by important Italian museum institutions bring into dialogue two civilizations with different geographical areas and cultural roots, which have nevertheless maintained exchanges and relations thanks to trade routes, but also of ideas, cultures and knowledge.
Etruscans and Venetians. Waters, sects and shrines, Installation | Photo: Luca Chiandoni

The route, curated by Chiara Squarcina and Margherita Tirelli, organized by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia, with the patronage of the Ministry of Culture, the National Institute for Etruscan and Italic Studies, and created in collaboration with the Luigi Rovati Foundation of Milan, which will organize a second exhibition phase in the fall of 2026 (October 14 – January 10, 2027), is home to more than seven hundred finds. While the introduction to the Etruscan religious world is marked by the presence of the head of Leucothea from Pyrgi, an extraordinary loan from the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia, the complete exhibition of the votive deposit of Banditella presents to the public the oldest evidence known in Etruria of an outdoor cult related to a spring. Traveling to discover its miraculous waters, the visitor passes through the great medicinal sanctuaries of inland Etruria, Chianciano and Chiusi, up to San Casciano dei Bagni, the protagonist of the exhibition with a core of bronze statues from the most recent excavations of one of the most important thermal complexes of antiquity, exhibited to the public for the first time.
The storyline reaches Marzabotto, ancient Kainua, with the exhibition of precious ceramics imported from Greece, including a refined Attic kylix with black figures, lent by the monumental complex of the Fontile Shrine.

Etruscans and Venetians. Waters, sects and shrines, Installation | Photo: Luca Chiandoni

Attention then shifts to the ancient Venetian world, starting with the exhibition of some emblematic finds of Venetian religiosity, such as the bronze disc of Montebelluna. The medicinal waters are represented respectively by the thermal sanctuary of Montegrotto – characterized by the presence of numerous miniature cups and goblets, bronze statues of knights and horses, probably documenting how the healing power of the waters was also sought for animals – and by the place of worship of the therapeutic springs of Lagole di Calalzo. The final stop on this immersive narrative journey is the North Adriatic sanctuary of Altino, the sacred port of the Venetians, the hub of a cult aimed at welcoming and integrating different communities, as evidenced by bronze statues from the Etruscan, central Italian and Celtic areas, figurative plaques and votive monuments of great value.

Etruscans and Venetians. Waters, sects and shrines, Installation | Photo: Luca Chiandoni

“More than seven hundred finds from numerous museums spread throughout the national territory – said Margherita Tirelli, curator of the exhibition – will allow the public of visitors to the Doge’s Palace, enthusiasts and professionals to face, explore and appreciate this specific aspect of the Etruscan and Venetian religious sphere, which is reflected in the multifaceted and complex relationship between the waters and the sacred. This has been made possible because these are both two archaeological realities that we can now say we have knowing a lot about it thanks to the capillarity of field research and the proliferation of studies was therefore only possible thanks to the passionate collaboration of the protagonists of such research and the authors of the most recent publications, supervisory officials and university professors.”