Last minute Cascia: The small bronzes of the Vatican's Museums and the treasure of the valley Fuino

In the Vatican's museum are kept many beautiful things and among those are some little statues which deserve some attention from us ''Umbria visitors'', because they were found in the zone of Cascia. Indeed, the excavations carried out centuries ago were very important and they brought to light little bronze statues and coins, evidences of the civilizations that populated the territory in the past millenniums.

The excavations date back to 1794, when Giancamillo Bagnani was the governor of Cascia, and he was nominated the supervisor for the works. The discovery of the site happened accidentally, when an alluvion brought some objects in the Valle Fuino to the surface, which is the zone between the localities Civita and Maltignano.

The yield was an enormous amount of finds, which were collected, listed and brought into the rooms of the Vatican's museums. Among the finds were 146 little statues of fused metal and plates, a wolf-cub, 158 bronze coins, 10 silver coins, rings, earrings and clay pots.

These wonderful ancient works of art can be seen in the rooms of the Museo Profano of the Biblioteca Vaticana, where they are kept in a big showcase. One can admire the figure of the god Apollo which might be the most precious piece of the whole collection from Valle Fuino, a little bronze statue carried out perfectly which is the Warrior with Mask, a set of warriors, that might portray the god Mars and many others. These objects are, together with the coins and the other objects which the Valle Fuino has returned us, a precious evidence for the ancient civilizations which settled in the territory of Cascia, for their cultural and artistic history and their lifestyle.

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