Museo Archeologico Nazionale delle Marche

Ancona's National Archaeological Museum of the Marches occupies Palazzo Ferretti and brings together finds from the region's prehistoric, Picene, Greek and Roman past. Its collections include prehistoric carvings, Iron Age grave goods, Greek inscriptions and Roman sculpture.

Why it matters

The museum presents the many cultures that shaped the Marche, from coastal Greek settlements and inland Iron Age communities to Roman colonies. Its Picene collection is especially important, with material from tombs at Numana and other centres. Palazzo Ferretti, a Renaissance residence enlarged in the eighteenth century, provides a historic setting for the collections.

What to notice

The prehistoric rooms include the small female figure known as the Venere di Frasassi, carved from a stalactite and found near the Frasassi caves in 2007. Picene grave goods include bronze armour, amber ornaments, ivory figures and vessels, while Attic red-figure vases attest to exchange across the Adriatic. The Hellenistic section includes Greek-inscribed stelae from the necropolis of Ankón. Roman portrait sculpture includes a veiled Augustus reported to have been found near the museum in 1863. Gold sheet crowns from Senone burials and frescoed palace rooms broaden the collection's range.

Context and history

The collection was established in 1863 and grew as archaeological work took place across the region. After occupying several temporary locations, the museum moved to Palazzo Ferretti in 1958; its earlier home had been damaged in the bombing of Ancona in 1943. The palace developed in stages, with contributions associated with Antonio da Sangallo the Younger and Pellegrino Tibaldi in the sixteenth century and additions by Luigi Vanvitelli in the eighteenth.

Franco Minissi's exhibition design, developed between 1955 and 1990, shaped the presentation of the collections for decades. The museum is now renewing parts of that display, with restored rooms and new exhibition arrangements introduced in stages.