Professor Valentino Nizzo, an Etruscologist at the University of Naples, identified a precious Etruscan mirror thanks to the program "Chi l'ha visto?" (Who Has Seen It?). This artifact was recovered in 2021 by the "Fiamme Gialle" (Yellow Flames) of the Colleferro Company during a search ordered by the Velletri Public Prosecutor's Office at the home of a collector. The collector owned a private museum containing approximately seven thousand pieces, many of which were of significant historical and archaeological interest.
The collection, seized for illicit possession and lack of information on its provenance, was entrusted by the Public Prosecutor's Office to the Archaeological Museum of the Toleriense territory (Colleferro, Rome).
The appeal for the identification of the artifact was launched in November 2022 through the broadcast's social channels "Who has seen?" by journalist and ancient art historian Annalisa Venditti, in agreement with the Museum's director, Angelo Luttazzi.
The Etruscan bronze mirror, decorated and inscribed, dates back to the Hellenistic period (second half of the 3rd - early 2nd century BC) and features on the back a rare scene from the Iliad: the family council to convince Paris/Alexander to fight in single combat against Menelaus, the husband of Helen, whose abduction had triggered the Trojan War.
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Valentino Nizzo, former director of the National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia, responded to the appeal. Through careful examination of the video and a direct examination of the artifact, he confirmed the piece's authenticity and reconstructed its history.
The artifact was initially discovered in 1879 in the Vulci necropolis of Mandrione di Cavalupo, during excavations promoted by Prince Alessandro Torlonia and conducted by Francesco Marcelliani. It was subsequently transferred to Rome, to the Torlonia Museum at Lungara, where the Torlonia family had assembled their valuable collections, including an Etruscan section derived from excavations on their property near Vulci (between the municipalities of Canino and Montalto di Castro, in the province of Viterbo). The collection was acquired by the heirs of Lucien Bonaparte, a renowned collector and pioneer of Etruscan art since 1828. Among the pieces in this collection are frescoes removed from the François Tomb (discovered in 1857), a key monument of Etruscan art and history, famous for its depiction of an episode from the archaic history of Rome during the Tarquinian monarchy.
The identification of this mirror is of exceptional scientific interest, as it has allowed it to be reconnected to its original context, a rare feat for similar finds, which have often been the object of clandestine thefts, thus losing crucial information for archaeological research.
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