Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia site features

The Sarcophagus of the Spouses

Terracotta, 530-520 BCE by the museum's own dating, from Cerveteri, nearly life-size. A couple reclining together on a banqueting couch, both smiling, the woman's hand raised mid-gesture. It is the museum's most famous single object and the reason most visitors come.

The Apollo of Veii

Dated by the museum to 510-500 BCE, from Veio. Striding, not standing — a cult statue designed to be seen on a roofline.

The Pyrgi tablets

Gold sheets bearing an Etruscan-Phoenician text, which the museum dates to the end of the 6th century BCE, from Pyrgi at Santa Severa.

The Head of Leucothea and the Pyrgi high relief

Two more of the five objects the museum itself calls its masterpieces, both from Pyrgi at Santa Severa: the Testa di Leucotea, 340-330 BCE, and the Altorilievo di Pyrgi, 470-460 BCE.

The nymphaeum

Ammannati's sunken court, three levels of covered loggias with marble statues and balustrades around a central fountain. Garden architecture rather than a gallery, and the part of the visit people most often miss.

The Ficoroni Cista

A bronze jewellery casket, and one of the named objects of the collection.