The Monteleone
chariot is an Etruscan chariot dated to c. 530 BC. It was originally
uncovered at Monteleone di Spoleto and is currently part of the
collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
Though about 300 ancient chariots are known to still exist, only six are
reasonably complete, and the Monteleone chariot is the best-preserved and
most complete of all known surviving examples. Carlos Picón, curator
of the museum's Greek and Roman department, has called it "the grandest
piece of sixth-century Etruscan bronze anywhere in the world."
The Monteleone
chariot was part of a burial, containing the remains of two human corpses,
along with two drinking cups. Measuring 131 cm in height and
designed to be drawn by two horses, the chariot itself is constructed of wood
covered with hammered bronze plates and carved ivory decoration. The bronze plates are decorated with Homeric
iconography; the main panel depicts Achilles being handed his armor
by his mother, Thetis. The chariot's frame and plating is
additionally adorned with animals and mythological creatures, rendered in
detail. The chariot's decorations would also have included inlaid amber and
other exotic materials, but only the bronze and ivory decorations have survived.
The chariot's wheels have nine spokes (rather
than the classical Greek four, the Egyptian six, or the Assyrian and Persian
eight; excavated chariots from Celtic burials have up to twelve spokes).
Contemporary curators at the Museum had long suspected
that the chariot's original 1903 reconstruction was not historically accurate. In 1989, under the direction of Italian archaeologist Adriana
Emiliozzi, the Metropolitan Museum began a five-year reexamination and
restoration of the chariot. During the restoration, it was discovered that the
chariot had in fact been originally assembled incorrectly; additionally,
evidence was uncovered indicating that the chariot, previously thought to have
seen little actual use, had in fact been involved in a serious accident at some
point during its life. The newly restored chariot's reinstallation was
scheduled as part of the major renovations of the Metropolitan Museum's Greek
and Roman galleries, opening to the public on April 20, 2007.
It was found in 1902
in Monteleone di Spoleto near Spoleto in the province
of Perugia of Umbria, by a farmer named Isidoro Vannozzi who
inadvertently unearthed it while digging a wine cellar. According
to some accounts, Vannozzi hid the chariot in his barn, concerned that the
authorities might confiscate it, and later sold it to two Frenchmen in exchange
for two cows. Another account,
related by Vannozzi's son Giuseppe, holds that the chariot was immediately sold
as scrap metal, and the proceeds from the sale used to buy roof tiles. Changing
hands several times after its initial sale, the chariot was eventually
purchased in Paris by J. P. Morgan, who sent it to the Metropolitan Museum
in 1903, where its first restoration took place.
