An exhibition at the Riva del Garda Museum to learn about prehistoric statuary in Italy

The MAG Museo Alto Garda in Riva del Garda offers in its halls until January 6, 2025 a journey into prehistory with the exhibition Talking Stones in Prehistory. Prehistoric Statuary in Italy, which gives the opportunity to discover the art and culture of ancient peoples, geographically distant but united by common spiritual and ideological roots. Indeed, the exhibition aims to enhance the extraordinary evidence of prehistoric statuary, a phenomenon that does not only concern Italy but extends to most of Europe, developing from the Copper Age (3400-2400 B.C.) to, in some cases, the Iron Age, in the middle of the 1st millennium B.C.

The exhibition symbolically connects four major Italian geographical areas-the Alpine arc, Lunigiana, Puglia and Sardinia-highlighting the unique features of each territory, but also the common cultural matrix that links these artistic expressions.

A choral project to rediscover prehistoric statuary

Produced by the Menhir Museum of Laconi (Oristano) in collaboration with Archeofoto Sardegna, the photographic exhibition involves the National Network of Menhir Stele Statue Museums. The objective is twofold: on the one hand to make known the main evidence of Italian prehistoric statuary, and on the other hand to connect the different realities that make up the National Network. It is in fact a “choral” project that involves different cultural realities of the Italian territory, brought together by a common language of which the stelae are an expression.

In addition to the Menhir Museum and the Alto Garda Museum, the other museum institutions involved are the Lunigiana Stele Statue Museum (Pontremoli), the San Giorgio Castle Museum (La Spezia), theAntiquarium Tellinum (Teglio), the National Museum of Prehistory of the Camonica Valley (Capo di Ponte), the Archaeological Civic Museum Carlo Gaetano Nicastro (Bovino), the National Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum Giovanni Antonio Sanna (Sassari), the Municipal Archaeological Museum (Santadi), the Civic Museum (Allai) and the Megalithic Area of Aosta.

Arco’s stele statues in dialogue with 36 giant photographs.

At the Museum of Riva del Garda, visitors will be able to admire 36 gigantographs of prehistoric statuary placed in dialogue with eight “real” stele statues found in Arco during excavations for the construction of the hospital between 1989 and 1990 and displayed in the archaeological section of the museum. The latter, originally located outdoors probably in a ceremonial area near the course of the Sarca stream, represent male, female and asexual figures. They are made in the round and were once possibly painted.

The female statues can be recognized by details such as breasts and clothing details, while the larger male statues are depicted with weapons and decorated belts. Some specimens, smaller in size and lacking specific anatomical connotations, may represent youths or non-adult individuals. Particular attention is paid to the depiction of weapons and to elements of ornamentation and clothing, such as checkered or vertically-striped cloaks, which could indicate the social rank or lineage of the individuals depicted.

A cultural legacy of power and memory

Scholars speculate that these statues were intended to commemorate distinguished ancestors or to represent symbols of legitimizing power for dominant Copper Age groups. Certain details, such as weapons and ornaments, suggest that the subjects depicted were people of high rank or, perhaps, images of deities. Their impressiveness, however, seems to be mainly related to the function of consolidating the prestige and authority of the social groups to which they belonged.

“This exhibition represents an important opportunity both to raise awareness of these exceptional testimonies of prehistoric art and to initiate collaborations and shared projects among the museums that make up the National Network of Museums of Menhir Stele Statues,” said Matteo Rapanà, director of MAG. “It is a starting point for launching future initiatives related to the research and enhancement of these monuments that still present many questions. We are very pleased to be able to host the exhibition in Riva del Garda where we have scheduled different appointments to tell the peculiarities of the stele statues exhibited at MAG and those made in other geographical areas, of which we can admire the extraordinary photographs made by Nicola Castangia. To Nicola, Giorgio Murru and Franco Marzatico, manager of the UMST Soprintendenza per i beni culturali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, go my sincere thanks for involving MAG in this interesting project.”

“The menhir statues, carved by prehistoric man in rough stone, are not mere monoliths, but true works of art, charged with an ancestral energy that overwhelms us. The exhibition at the Upper Garda Museum is a descent into the depths of our history,” explained MAG President Vittorio Sgarbi. “These ’speaking stones’ reveal a distant world, where every shape, every carved line had a deep meaning, a mystical force. Yet despite the distance of time, we feel a deep connection with these works. It is as if the emotions, the fears, the hopes of those primitive men still resonate within us. From Sardinia - with its extraordinary civilization - to the Alps, these powerful stone monuments now find a new home in museums and dedicated archaeological areas, and with the exhibition at the Museum of Riva del Garda they offer us a unique opportunity to reflect on our identity and deep roots.”

“I am very happy and proud of this first major exhibition project-which addresses the contemplation of a phenomenon as vast in its dimension as prehistoric statuary-for Sardinia and the rest of Italy. The exhibition comes after a long process of interlocutions between the Italian museum systems, which have networked after several meetings between the top management that also took place during TourismA Florence,” said Giorgio Murru, scientific director of the project. “What I want to say is that this is only the first important step toward the full knowledge and valorization of this phenomenon that is not only national, but invests the entire European continent up to Crimea, passing through the Middle East and North Africa. Sardinia is at the very center of such a remarkable and enduring expression of what we can call the first unifying religion of peoples. Religion, let us remember, because the statues represent deified heroes, both men and women.”

“Photography made it possible to make this kind of project feasible in the round, with a unified view of the phenomenon at the national level, resulting in an easily mobile and traveling exhibition. The lighting techniques we used made it possible to bring out the shapes and details of the statue-stelae and statue-menhirs, encouraging a better reading of the engraved and carved symbols. It was exciting work, an idea that took shape thanks to the important contribution of the Autonomous Region of Sardinia and the will of the National Network of Statue-Stele Museums. It is incumbent on me to thank the museum managements who welcomed us so willingly during our photographic tour of Italy and our island,” concluded Nicola Castangia, artistic director of the exhibition and author of the images.

During the opening period, the exhibition also offers guided tours given by museum operators and MAG director Matteo Rapanà and the exciting Santa Claus Treasure Hunt. For the holiday season, the collaboration between the Upper Garda Museum and the Pro Loco of Riva del Garda is renewed again this year. Until December 31, it will be possible both to visit only the Museum of Riva del Garda and to buy a single ticket to participate in the initiatives organized at the Santa Claus House and then visit the sections of the Museum.

Photo by Nicola Castangia of Archeofoto Sardegna.

An exhibition at the Riva del Garda Museum to learn about prehistoric statuary in Italy

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