Massimo Pallottino

Who was Massimo Pallottino?

Massimo Pallottino was an Italian archaeologist specializing in Etruscan civilization and art.

Pallottino was a student of Giulio Quirino Giglioli and worked early in his career on the Temple of Apollo at Veii. In essence Pallottino created the modern discipline of Etruscology and trained many of its leading practitioners. He published a massive corpus of material during his career and established a research center in Rome, today known as C.N.R. per l'Archeologia etrusco-italica. He was also influential in establishing the Istituto Nazionale di Studi Etruschi e Italici and its journal, Studi Etruschi. His own work covered Etruscan art and culture, civilization, and language. One of his most influential works was the handbook Etruscologia originally published in 1942 in Milan, but today available in numerous languages and still consulted by scholars and students alike. Pallottino was a member of the faculty of the Università di Roma, "La Sapienza".

In 1937, Pallottino wrote an article debunking the so-called "Etruscan Warrior" purchased by the Metropolitan Museum of Art