National Museum of Roman Art, Merida
The National Museum of Roman Art in Merida is the main museum of Augusta Emerita, capital of Lusitania. It links a museum collection with one of the most important archaeological complexes of Roman Spain.
The museum is important for understanding a provincial capital: sculpture, mosaics, inscriptions, architectural details, coins, domestic pottery and funerary material are connected with the city, theatre, amphitheatre, circus, houses and water supply.
National Museum of Roman Art, Merida: MNAR (Mérida) Exterior 01.
National Museum of Roman Art, Merida: Interior of the Museo Nacional de Arte Romano.
National Museum of Roman Art, Merida: MNAR (Mérida) Interior 01.Collection and Historical Context
Merida should not be treated as a typical small community: it was a veterans' colony and provincial capital. preserve this scale, otherwise the museum evidence will look too universal.
Work with this museum requires three levels to be kept separate: display, catalogue and archaeological context. The display shows the object's form and scale, the catalogue clarifies date, material, inventory number and collection history, while context explains whether the object came from a house, cemetery, sanctuary, fort, workshop or urban monument.
A single famous exhibit is not always typical. Series are more reliable: several vessels of one type, a group of inscriptions, a funerary assemblage, repeated military fittings or several related sculptural solutions. National Museum of Roman Art, Merida should therefore be read not only through its most famous objects, but through the links between galleries, collections and findspots.
Display and Main Materials
Mosaics, portraits, inscriptions, urban architectural fragments, cemetery material, cult objects and the link between collection and Merida's monuments deserve attention. The museum architecture itself is also important because it is built around the idea of Roman space.
In the museum display it is important to look not only at individual masterpieces but at the neighbourhood of objects: sculpture, inscriptions, pottery, coins, architectural fragments and everyday items often explain one another better than an isolated photograph.
Roman mosaic of a victorious charioteer called Marcianus depicted commanding a quadriga (a four-horse chariot), 4th century AD, National Museum of Roman Art, Mérida. Object from the collection: National Museum of Roman Art, Merida.
Mosaic depicting a hunter, possibly the owner of the estate, with a panther, from the Roman Villa "Las Tiendas", mid 4th century AD, National Museum of Roman Art, Mérida . Object from the collection: National Museum of Roman Art, Merida.
Funerary relief of Lutatia Lupata (Merida, MNAR CE8241). Object from the collection: National Museum of Roman Art, Merida.Related Topics
- Museums of Antiquity
- MNAT: National Archaeological Museum of Tarragona
- National Archaeological Museum, Madrid
- Roman Archaeological Sources
Official Pages and Catalogues
Funerary relief of Lutatia Lupata 02 (Merida, MNAR CE8241). Object from the collection: National Museum of Roman Art, Merida.
Funerary relief of Sentia Amarantis (Merida, MNAR CE676). Object from the collection: National Museum of Roman Art, Merida.
Funerary relief of T Vettius Pomponianus and Caesia Felicissima (Merida, MNAR CE4402). Object from the collection: National Museum of Roman Art, Merida.
Portrait head of man (Merida, MNAR CE27805). Object from the collection: National Museum of Roman Art, Merida.
Portrait head of woman (Merida, MNAR CE33137). Object from the collection: National Museum of Roman Art, Merida.
Portrait head of woman (Merida, MNAR CE686). Object from the collection: National Museum of Roman Art, Merida.
Portrait head of woman (Merida, MNAR CE688). Object from the collection: National Museum of Roman Art, Merida.
Relief of a sacrifice 02 (Merida, MNAR CE4416+4954). Object from the collection: National Museum of Roman Art, Merida.
Statue of Mercury dedicated to Mithras (Merida, MNAR CE89). Object from the collection: National Museum of Roman Art, Merida.
Inscription with a prayer to St Eulalia (Merida, MNAR CE489). Object from the collection: National Museum of Roman Art, Merida.
Portrait head of man (Merida, MNAR CE685). Object from the collection: National Museum of Roman Art, Merida.
Portrait head of man (Merida, MNAR CE690). Object from the collection: National Museum of Roman Art, Merida.Interested in Ancient Rome beyond reading? Join Legio X Fretensis or explore our reenactment directions.
