Regional Archaeological Museum Antonino Salinas

The Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum is an archaeological institution in Palermo, Italy, dedicated to preserving and displaying artifacts from the island's ancient civilizations, particularly those of western Sicily. It possesses one of the richest collections of Punic and Ancient Greek art in Italy, alongside extensive Etruscan and Egyptian holdings. The museum documents Sicily's role as a crossroads of Mediterranean cultures, spanning from prehistory to the Middle Ages. Named after the Palermo archaeologist and numismatist Antonino Salinas, who directed the institution from 1873 until his death in 1914, the museum is located in the Olivella monumental complex and is owned by the Region of Sicily.

The museum originated in 1814 as the University Museum of Palermo, established when Giuseppe Emanuele Ventimiglia, Prince of Belmonte, bequeathed his collection to the University of Palermo. The university later sold this collection to the museum. It became a national museum in 1860. Following the 1866 law on the suppression of religious orders, the Olivella complex was confiscated from the Oratorian Fathers and repurposed as the museum's permanent home. Antonino Salinas directed the institution starting in 1873, significantly expanding its holdings through acquisitions and his own bequest upon his death in 1914, which prompted the museum to be renamed in his honor in 1977. During World War II, director Jole Bovio Marconi safeguarded the collection by moving all materials to the Abbey of San Martino delle Scale near Monreale, saving them from Allied bombing. The building suffered heavy damage during the war, and in 1949, Bovio Marconi oversaw its restoration, carried out by architect Guglielmo De Angelis d'Ossat. The museum closed for extensive renovations in 2009 or 2011, partially reopening in 2016, with further exhibition spaces continuing to open in phases as of 2022.

The museum's holdings primarily document the history of western Sicily, encompassing Phoenician, Punic, Greek, and Roman civilizations, as well as prehistoric and medieval periods. The initial core relied on private donations, including contributions from Bourbon rulers Francis I and Ferdinand II, and later grew through systematic excavations. The collection includes underwater archaeological finds such as stone anchors, lead strains, lamps, and amphoras. The Phoenician and Punic section features anthropomorphic sarcophagi and votive stelae from Mozia and Lilybaeum. Greek materials originate from key sites including Selinunte, Himera, Solunto, Megara Hyblaea, Tindari, Kamarina, and Agrigento. Roman period artifacts include sculptures and mosaics from villas at Piazza Vittoria in Palermo. Additionally, the museum houses prehistoric finds from local caves, Egyptian artifacts, and the most important Etruscan collection outside of Tuscany, the Pietro Bonci Casuccini collection from Chiusi, which features sarcophagi, gravestones, urns, and Attic pottery. The museum also maintains an archaeological library, a photographic and historical archive, and a numismatic collection significantly expanded by Salinas's bequest of 6,641 items, including approximately 6,000 coins, books, and manuscripts.

Among the museum's most significant holdings are the architectural sculptures from Selinunte, displayed in a dedicated room. These include a reconstruction of the east pediment of Temple C featuring the Gorgon, and several metopes with mythological reliefs from Temples C and E. The Temple C metopes, discovered in 1823 by British architects Samuel Angell and William Harris, were diverted to Palermo instead of the British Museum. The metopes of Temple E show a stylistic progression from archaic frontal reliefs to classical side profiles, with female figures carved from lighter material. Other notable Greek works include a bronze ram from the third century BC found in Syracuse, a Roman copy of a sculpture by Lysippus depicting Heracles catching the Ceryneian Hind, and a Roman copy of a marble statue by Praxiteles depicting a satyr. The Egyptian collection includes the Palermo Stone, a stela inscribed with hieroglyphs recording the annals of the first five dynasties of the Old Kingdom. In 2022, the museum permanently returned a fragment of the Parthenon frieze depicting the foot of the goddess Artemis to Athens. Acquired by the University of Palermo in 1820 from the widow of British consul Robert Fagan, the fragment was loaned to Athens in 2008 and formally exchanged in 2022 for a headless statue of Athena and a geometric amphora on a renewable four-year loan.

The museum is housed within the Olivella monumental complex, which also includes the Church of Sant'Ignazio all'Olivella and the adjoining Oratory of Saint Philip Neri. Designed by architect Antonio Muttone in the late sixteenth century for the Congregation of the Oratory, the building was completed in the seventeenth century and represents Sicilian ecclesiastical architecture of the period. The exhibition rooms are arranged across three floors around two interior courtyards with arcaded galleries that originally served as monastery cloisters. During renovations that began in 2009, a seventeenth-century polychrome wooden ceiling was uncovered in the former religious recreation room. The museum's third cloister was transformed into a glass-and-steel covered courtyard known as the agorà, which serves as a space for exhibitions and events. This courtyard displays seventeen lion-shaped gutter spouts from the Temple of Himera dating to around 480 BCE, some retaining traces of original paint, alongside a reconstructed pediment featuring the Gorgon from Temple C of Selinunte based on 1926 archaeological drawings. A section of the agorà floor is glazed, allowing visitors to view the ancient pavement beneath.

The Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum is located at Piazza Olivella in Palermo, Italy. It is accessible by public transport, including bus routes 101, 102, and 103. The museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday between 9:00 and 18:00 or 18:30, and on Sundays and public holidays from 9:00 to 13:00 or 13:30, with closures on Mondays. The facility is wheelchair accessible and offers downloadable audioguides. It features a bookshop, a cafe, and a library open for consultation on select weekdays. The museum also provides educational programs for schools and group visits by reservation. As of 2022, the reopening of exhibition spaces continues in phases, with portions of the museum accessible to the public.