After five years in storage, the Riace Bronzes are back on display at the Museo Archeologico di Reggio Calabria. The museum’s renovation, however, is ongoing. Made in Greece around 450 BCE, the bronzes were exported to the Italian peninsula but never arrived at their destination. Their loss at sea proved to be a boon for classical archaeology, as they are rare survivors of a medium known to have dominated ancient visual culture. Most ancient bronzes were melted down, but the Riace warriors were safe on the sea bed until their discovery by divers in 1972.
