"Obscure but interesting Italian Museums" Topic

Hi, war-gamer friends, Donna and I find ourselves loose in Italy, and want to report on a couple of obscure museum collections discovered here.

In Rome ten days ago we searched out the "Museo Fanteria" or the "Infantry Museum", very well hidden near Porto Maggiore, with zero signs to it anywhere. There were only two sets of visitors that day, and we were assigned our own enlisted-man "minder" to follow us around, make sure we didn't misbehave, and turn the lights of each floor on and off for us. Saw lots of interesting machine guns and little infantry guns from WWI and WW2. Also pieces of WWI German aircraft shot down by the Italians.

But the best part was the colonial collection. Plenty of really great-looking Ethiopian edged weapons were on display, in all their different curves and strange shapes. The high point for me was touching (through my scarf, so as not to get oils on it) one of the Rhino-hide Ethiopian shields openly displayed. Always wanted to feel one, and the rhino hide is extremely durable, yet light. The Italians made a big 1/72nd diorama of the battle of Adowa, the worst defeat of a European power in all of the colonial period. It bore zero relationship to any accounts of that battle I have read, with well-formed bodies of Italian soldiers and Eritrean Ascarii firing down gentle slopes at hordes of Ethiopian Cavalry. On one end of the line, Ethiopian foot had infiltrated the bersaglieri unit and it was beginning to fracture.

Then last week in Florence while on a self-guided walking tour we stumbled across the Museo Ethnographico. Turned out a ticket we had already purchased allowed us free entry, so we investigated. This little museum has an AMAZING collection of indigenous peoples' weapons from the mid to late 19th century, lots of fascinating stuff. We took photos of Dyak shields aboriginal Australian weapons, loads of Micronesian and Melanesian pre-metal-age weapons, and even a padded ‘lifida' armoured Knight of the Savannah. Also noted were plenty of African and North African weapons. The photos will be very useful, as I am in the middle of assembling my excellent Pulp Figures Melanesians and need to know of what materials (Stone? Wood? Bone?) the many interesting bashing weapons are made. Also, my Dyaks are still in process of painting.

So, anybody with a trip planned to Italy might want to check out these two little-known and interesting collections.

Thanks for the heads up, Chick! Next time I'm in the boot, will definitely try to check them both out, especially the colonial collection at the Infantry Museum in Rome.

When visiting Italian museums you quickly learn a word, 'chiuso' which means 'shut'. Only after paying full whack for your ticket do they let on that half or more of the galleries are 'chiuso', & in fact some of them will have been chiuso for decades or even centuries.