The Roman Lapidarium of the Civic Museum
The stories of the Mutinenses
late 1st century B.C. – early 2nd century A.D.
The Roman section of the Museum boasts monuments from the necropolises of Mutina, brought to light from the period following WWII until today. These remarkable monuments, which are on display on the ground floor of the Palazzo dei Musei, attest to the wealth Mutina achieved, and through the messages passed down by the epigraphs, provide a fresco of the varied social fabric of the city.
The exhibit is organized by topographical focal points referring to the late republican and imperial age necropolises that developed along the main roads into the city, which ended up becoming true sepulchral routes. Particularly relevant are the pieces related to the burial areas that extended along the Via Emilia east of the city, such as the monumental funerary altar of Vetilia Egloge, datable to the 1st century A.D. The altar (discovered in 2007), which is made of stacked blocks of calcareous stone that stand over four meters tall, is strikingly imposing. From the same necropolis also come several other pieces, including the extraordinary frieze portraying sea monsters and a procession of divinities (mid-1st century A.D.) that was originally part of an aedicule monument, and the altar of the centurion Clodio (early 1st century A.D.), complete with funerary enclosure.
In addition to the material on exhibit, the Museum keeps in storage collections from recent archaeological digs that are currently under study, and 19th century finds from both within the province and outside of it, which are gradually rediscovered and promoted.