Ecomuseo dell'Alabastro

The Alabaster Ecomuseum in Volterra interprets the stone, craft traditions and trade that shaped the city's alabaster industry.

Why it matters

Alabaster has been known and worked in the Volterra area since Etruscan times, though it became a major industry only in the eighteenth century. The museum documents extraction, carving and commerce, showing how the material contributed to the city's economy and international reputation.

What to notice

A reconstructed workshop demonstrates the pole lathe once used by alabaster carvers. The collection includes Etruscan urns, medieval capitals and later vessels and decorative objects. Works by Volterran sculptors such as Giuseppe Bessi, Albino Funaioli and Raffaello Consortini illustrate the craft's modern artistic development.

Context and history

The museum is housed in the medieval tower-house known as Palazzo Minucci-Solaini. Its interpretation follows alabaster from deposits in the surrounding hills through carving and trade in Volterra. Nineteenth-century merchants helped spread knowledge of the city's work across Europe and the Americas. The ecomuseum connects the history of production with the objects preserved in Volterra's other collections.