Restoration of the Sarcophagus of the Spouses gets underway in Rome.

Italy's national Etruscan Museum in Rome is carrying out a restoration of its star attraction, the Sarcophagus of the Spouses, and is offering the public a close-up look.

The terracotta sarcophagus, which dates back some 2,500 years, is considered the "absolute masterpiece of Etruscan art", the Italian culture ministry said in a statement.

The world-famous artefact is at the centre of a major restoration and long-term conservation project following an agreement between the Etruscan Museum at Villa Giulia and the culture ministry's Central Institute for Restoration, with financial support from the Banca Popolare del Cassinate.

The move comes more than a century after the first restoration that allowed the 'sposi' to be recomposed from hundreds of fragments, in a single tender embrace, and more than half a century after it last underwent maintenance works.

The sarcophagus portraying a reclining man and woman on a cushioned banqueting couch was found in the Etruscan Banditaccia necropolis of Cerveteri, north-west of Rome, in 1881.

However the ancient masterpiece was far from intact when it was unearthed as a pile of more than 400 fragments of terracotta.

Its arrival in Rome was the result of the "stubborn determination" of Italian archaeologist and founder of the Etruscan Museum, Felice Barnabei, who purchased the heap of broken terracotta before having it painstakingly reassembled into the iconic treasure we know today.

Villa Giulia will open the doors of the restoration laboratory to the public two days a week: every Tuesday and Thursday from 10.00 to 13.00, allowing visitors to observe the restorers at work.