A selection of soldiers from China's famed terracotta army will be among the star exhibits at a major new show in Turin.
The exhibition, which spans over 1,000 years of Chinese history, features some 200 rare artefacts, including six of the terracotta soldiers.
Spotlighting loans from China's 36 most important museums, the show charts the development of the country since it was first unified under Emperor Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC through to 960 AD, in the middle of China's Golden Age.
''We wanted to present China at the greatest period in its civilization,'' explained Maurizio Scarpari, one of the show's curators.
The exhibit's star attraction is the selection of striking terracotta figures from the 'army' of life-sized warriors, horses and chariots found near the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang.
A very rare collection of silk from the following century is also expected to be a crowd-puller.
The items, which include an entire outfit weighing just 60 grams, are highly unusual as silk usually degrades quite rapidly.
The funeral garments on show, among the best-preserved ever found, are studded with jade and other precious stones.
Jade was woven into shrouds and funeral garments during the Han Dynasty because it was believed it could keep the body from decomposing and thus allow the soul to survive.
A sarcophagus from 100 BC, also made of jade, reflects the same belief.
Other items on display include a part-painted, part-carved door from a Han tomb and a fascinating series of terracotta models of ancient houses, complete with miniature frescos.
Another section showcases artefacts from the tomb of the Marquis Yi of Zeng, discovered in 1977.
These include a lacquer coffin belonging to one of his concubines and a unique drum stand cast in bronze with a deer's antler.
Two finely engraved golden altars and a series of religious sculptures have been dated to the 4th and 6th century AD, when Buddhism first started taking hold in China.
'Il Celeste Impero. Dall'Esercito di Terracotta alla Via della Seta' (The Celestial Empire. From the Terracotta Army to the Silk Road) runs in Turin's Museum of Antiquities until November 26.
