Museo archeologico e d'arte della Maremma

The Museo archeologico e d'arte della Maremma (MAAM) is an archaeological and art museum located in the historic center of Grosseto, Tuscany, Italy. Founded in 1860 by canon Giovanni Chelli as part of the Chelliana Library, it preserves archaeological collections spanning from the Paleolithic to the late Middle Ages, with particular emphasis on Etruscan and Roman material. The museum serves as a primary center for the study and documentation of the archaeological history of the Maremma region, especially the ancient city of Rusellae (modern Roselle). Housed since 1975 in the former courthouse on Piazza Baccarini, the institution also incorporates the Museum of Sacred Art of the Diocese of Grosseto, creating a combined archaeological and artistic resource that documents both ancient and ecclesiastical heritage.

The museum originated on 1 March 1860 when Giovanni Chelli (1809-1869), a progressive priest active in the Tuscan Risorgimento, opened his collection to the public within the bishop's palace. Chelli had gathered books, artworks, and archaeological finds to create a cultural center promoting literacy, operating under antiquarian principles that valued rarity and preciousness over scientific classification. After failing to obtain state recognition, Chelli donated his collection to the city on 6 March 1865, forming the Biblioteca Chelliana with its museum section. The institution suffered instability through multiple relocations; in 1891, many significant artifacts were transferred to Florence's Topographical Museum of Etruria, causing decline. Canon Antonio Cappelli reorganized the museum in 1923 at Palazzo Mensini on Via Mazzini, though he later prioritized founding a diocesan art museum, opened in 1933 above the cathedral sacristy. World War II brought severe damage from bombings and the 1944 flood. Post-war, writer Luciano Bianciardi assisted reorganization, but the archaeological collection remained peripheral. The decisive revival came through Aldo Mazzolai (1923-2009), who from 1955 directed the newly independent Civic Archaeological Museum, opening a permanent exhibition in 1958 focused on local Etruscan and Roman sites. Space constraints led to the 1974 relocation to the former courthouse; in 1975, the museum merged with the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art, assuming its present name. Mariagrazia Celuzza succeeded Mazzolai in 1984, directing a major renovation from 1992 to 1999 that reorganized displays into 36 rooms. In 2019, following Celuzza's retirement, museum management was integrated with the Chelliana Library.

The museum's collections trace human presence in the Maremma from prehistory through the Middle Ages, with exceptional depth in Etruscan and Roman material. The holdings are organized to document settlement patterns, funerary practices, trade networks, and cultural transitions across the region. Prehistoric and protohistoric materials include documentation of habitation sites from the Paleolithic through the Iron Age, with significant Villanovan and orientalizing period objects. The Etruscan collections are particularly strong, featuring material from major cities including Roselle, Vetulonia, Vulci, Pitigliano, and Populonia, as well as from smaller sites such as Marsiliana and Pescia Romana. Roman collections illustrate the process of Romanization, the colonial period, and imperial-era infrastructure and commerce, including amphorae and anchors that attest to maritime trade. The sacred art section, derived from the Diocesan Museum founded in 1933, preserves ecclesiastical works from the Grosseto area. The museum also retains the original Chelli collection as a historical document of 19th-century antiquarian collecting practices.

Among the most significant objects is a 6th-century BCE bucchero bowl with an incised Etruscan alphabet, possibly from Roselle, which has been in the museum since 1875. From Roselle itself, the museum displays warrior stelae from archaic-period necropolises (6th century BCE), two major statue groups from the Roman forum (one public, linked to imperial cult around 50 CE, and one private, representing local family self-promotion from the early 2nd century CE), and the lead pipe with stamped seal that identifies Roselle as a Roman colony around the turn of the era. A room is dedicated to the reconstruction of the Hadrianic baths with their original marble architectural decoration. The Maremma archaeology section features a notable geometric Euboean krater from Pescia Romana (circa 730 BCE), an significant orientalizing Etruscan assemblage from Vetulonia (II Circolo delle Pellicce) and Marsiliana (Circolo degli Avori), and extensive collections of amphorae and anchors documenting archaic Etruscan maritime commerce. Carolingian architectural decorations from the early cathedral of Grosseto are preserved, and the sacred art collection includes the Madonna of the Cherries by Sassetta.

The museum occupies the former courthouse building (ex palazzo del Tribunale) on Piazza Baccarini in Grosseto's historic center. This late 19th-century palace provides three floors of exhibition space totaling 40 rooms. The building's adaptation for museum use was completed in 1974, and the new installation opened in 1975. A comprehensive renovation closed the museum from January 1992 until its reopening on 21 March 1999, when it was reconfigured into 36 rooms presenting Maremma's history from prehistory through the Middle Ages. The third floor is dedicated to the Museum of Sacred Art of the Diocese of Grosseto. The location in the heart of Grosseto's old city places the museum within walking distance of other historic structures including the medieval cathedral.

The Museo archeologico e d'arte della Maremma is located at 3 Piazza Baccarini, in the center of Grosseto. It is municipally owned and operates as a public cultural institution. The museum maintains an official website at https://maam.comune.grosseto.it/. Since 2019, its management has been integrated with that of the Chelliana Library, reflecting the shared origins of both institutions. Visitors encounter exhibitions arranged across three floors, with the archaeological collections on the lower two levels and the diocesan sacred art museum on the third floor. The chronological arrangement guides visitors from prehistoric materials through Etruscan, Roman, and medieval periods, with particular emphasis on the regional center of Roselle and the broader archaeological landscape of the Maremma.