Funerary statues of the afterlife army of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China are on display in Puglia until this August 2017.
We visited the display today with friends and were amazed at the relaxed accessibility to the scultures and artefacts.
The statues are in amazing condition with a high level of realism. Armour and clothing are finely detailed with even belts, buckles and straps being intricately moulded.
The military rank of the statues is comensurate with their height. Generals are taller than officers, who in turn are taller than the ordinary soldiers.
The hairstyles were also dependent on specialisation, with archers, crossbowmen, spearmen and cavalry all having definitive hairstyles.
Many were painted and lacquered, with good retention even nearly 2,000 years after being buried upright in military formations.
The realism is amazing with no two faces having the same features. It has been speculated that the sculptors used family members as “models” for the figures though this is not certain.
Originally 8,000 soldiers, 120 chariots and over 500 cavalry were buried with the late Emperor after his death.
There were also jesters, acrobats, strongmen and entertainers statues found buried at the same location.
A selection of 16 figures from the collection are currently on a world tour and are now on display in the city of Bari, Puglia.
The exhibition costs €4 entrance to visit and is located in Bari just 90 minutes from our Placeinpuglia Villas.
Plenty of on road parking surrounds the area off the main thoroughfares and the attraction is hosted in the “Archivio di Stato di Bari” building on Via Pietro Orestre 45, Bari.
We had really great day out today and it was a fascinating exhibit, with friendly helpful staff on hand to either answer queries or offer asistance.
Small booklets about the Terracotta army are also available for purchase for €4.