Museo Egizio di Torino Opens 5 New Biographical Galleries

The Museo Egizio in Turin has inaugurated five new galleries that narrate the institution's own history, from its 17th-century origins to the present. The expansion follows a structural renovation completed in autumn 2019, less than five years after the museum's major 2015 reconfiguration. The new spaces, located on the hypogeum level where visitors begin their tour, include a faithful reconstruction of a 19th-century gallery with objects displayed without labels in period vitrines, evoking an era when access was restricted to a few. The galleries were curated by Beppe Moiso and archivist Tommaso Montonati, with visual communication design by the museum's offices in collaboration with Nationhood for multimedia products. Highlights include the statue of Ramesses II, the Mensa Isiaca, and a 3D visualization of a cabalistic head from the Museo di Antichità di Torino. On loan from the Musei Reali di Torino, a selection of over 3,000 Ptolemaic and Roman coins and medals from Bernardino Drovetti's collection is also displayed. Director Christian Greco stated that the need to update the exhibition layout within five years stems from the museum's nature as a living, evolving institution driven by research and community engagement. The project also builds on the museum's TPOP (Turin Papyrus Online Platform) initiative launched in October 2019, which provides open data access to its papyrus collection of about 700 complete manuscripts and 17,000 fragments.