Etruscan Urn of the Kiss Reveals Ancient Love Story in Perugia

The Urn of the Kiss, an Etruscan cinerary urn from the 2nd–1st century BCE, is displayed in the cloister of the National Archaeological Museum of Umbria in Perugia. It was looted after the discovery of the Palazzone necropolis in the 19th century and recovered by the Carabinieri in 1986. The urn depicts a rare farewell kiss between a married couple on its lid and a handshake on its front panel, with servants urging them apart. It belonged to the Veltsna-Luesna family tomb, which also contained three other urns and a female funerary assemblage including a bronze mirror, bone comb, cosmetic palette, and an ivory toilette casket with a hinge. The woman buried in the urn likely owned these items, though her name remains unknown. The necropolis was rediscovered in 1963 after decades of neglect.