Like Greek Art Etruscan Art Is Divided Into Five Periods

The Etruscan Civilisation

Etruscan guild developed in central Italia. The Orientalizing period continued Etruscan arts with eastern Mediterranean culture.

Learning Objectives

Discuss the Orientalizing period of Etruscan culture and their use of gold and ivory

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• Etruscan civilisation flourished in central Italy and expanded as far n every bit the Po River and as far south as the Tiber River and northern Campania.
• Despite having a distinct artistic fashion , due to Greek influence, Etruscan art follows the creative and stylistic developments of the Greeks, and is divided into similar artistic periods, including the Orientalizing (700–600 BCE), Archaic (600–480 BCE), and Classical (480–200 BCE) periods.
• Etruscan art during the Orientalizing period demonstrates oriental influences, like to those seen in Greek art, including the apply of intricate designs, patterning, and the depiction of animals—including lions, leopards, and composite animals like sphinxes and griffins.
• The Etruscans are known for their metalwork , and especially for their skill in crafting gold. Golden jewelry was popular among the Etruscans and often buried with its owners. The fibulas, earrings, bracelets, and other pieces of jewelry and ornamentation demonstrate Etruscan skill with repoussé and granulation .

Central Terms

• pyxis: A shape of vessel from the classical world, unremarkably a cylindrical box with a separate lid.
• granulation: The zipper of granules of precious metal to the underlying metal of jewelry.
• repoussé: A metalworking technique in which a thin sheet of malleable metallic is shaped by hammering from the reverse side to create a design in low relief.

Etruscan Civilization

The Etruscan civilisation thrived in central Italy during the first millennium BCE. Occupying the judge surface area of present-twenty-four hours Tuscany, the region derives its name from the give-and-take Etruscan.

During the eighth and seventh centuries BCE, the Etruscans became ocean traders and actively participated in Mediterranean trade. The civilization besides began to expand, and the Etruscans eventually settled as far northward every bit the Po River and every bit far south as the Tiber River and the northern parts of Campania.

Aside from trade, a large part of Etruscan wealth came from the rich natural resources of the territories they lived in. The soil was fertile for agronomics and the land was rich with minerals and metals, which were mined. Etruscan cities and regions appear to have been ruled over past a male monarch, and Etruscan kings are accounted for as the early rulers of Rome . While the Romans proudly recollect overthrowing their Etruscan rulers, many aspects of Etruscan order were adopted by the Romans.

Map of the Etruscan civilization, 750–500 BCE: The Etruscans eventually settled as far due north as the Po River and equally far s as the Tiber River and the northern parts of Campania.

Very trivial is known virtually the Etruscans through written records. The Etruscans did non leave any written historical accounts, and what is known today virtually their culture and history is from written records by the Greeks and Romans that take survived.

These records, while providing information, view Etruscan culture from an outside, foreign eye then tin can exist deceptive in their accounts of Etruscan society. Considering of this, well-nigh of what is known nearly the Etruscans comes from archaeological records.

Since many Etruscan cities accept been continually occupied since their foundation—first by the Etruscans, and then the Romans, upward to today—a bulk of Etruscan archaeological sites are tombs and necropoleis. Archaeologists and historians rely on Etruscan funerary civilization to derive ideas about the social club's civilization, community, and history.

Orientalizing Fine art

Despite the distinctive character of Etruscan art, the history and stylistic divisions  by and large follows the divisions seen within Greek art history and stylistic developments. The Etruscans established contact with Eastern cultures, including Greeks, Phoenicians, and Egyptians, around 700 BCE, and this marks the outset of the Orientalizing period of their civilization.

As is similar with the Greek Orientalizing period, the art of this flow in Etruria reflects Eastern themes and motifs . The patterning and depictions of animals were mutual— particularly lions, leopards, and mythological composite creatures such as sphinxes and griffins .

Gilt and Ivory

The Etruscans were master metal smiths and mined diverse ores including fe, tin, copper, silver, and gold; they even smelted bronze to work with. Artists who worked with metal were extremely talented and adult unique skills and specialized techniques, including granulation and repoussé.

Gold ornaments and jewelry depict both of these techniques, demonstrating the Etruscans' precision when working with gold to create intricate designs and patterns in incredibly fine detail. The gold jewelry that came from a wealthy Etruscan family's tomb (the Regolini-Galassi tomb), including an enormous gold fibula and golden bracelets that date from 650–600 BCE, displays these techniques.

The elaborate and intricate metallic piece of work was not isolated to the Orientalizing period simply continued to be created by the Etruscans through the next several centuries. A gold reel, possibly an earring stud, from the early fourth century BCE represents the combination of both the hammered relief of repoussé besides equally the careful and precise fusing of tiny gold granules.

The piece of work too shows lingering, oriental-inspired designs that depict repetitive images of Pegasus and the chimera. Another earring from the Archaic period combines repoussé and granulation with glass beads and intricate, patterned designs.

Golden Earring Stud: This earring from the Primitive period combines repoussé and granulation with glass chaplet and intricate, patterned designs,  c. 530–480 BCE.

Gold Stud with Pegasus and Bubble: Earring stud with Pegasus and Bubble. Gold. c. 4th century BCE.

Other objects besides the gold jewelry establish in the Regolini-Galassi tomb demonstrate the Orientalizing influences on Etruscan fine art. An ivory pyxis , which appears to imitate a Phoenican style, has a clearly Etruscan origin.

The ivory was imported into the region, likely from an Eastern source. The reliefs are carved in an Etruscan style, with egg-shaped man heads and distinctly thin, straight noses and oval optics. The sphinxes on the lid and on the bottom register , equally well equally the frieze of animals at the op, reverberate the Eastern theme. The centre register depicts a procession of horses and chariots.

Pyxis with a sphinx-shaped handle lid: Note the sphinx-shaped handle hat. This slice is made of ivory, c. 650–625 BCE. It is from the Regolini-Galassi tomb, Cerveteri, Italian republic.

Etruscan Ceramics

The Etruscans are known for their impasto and bucchero pottery, as well as local versions of blackness- and red-figure vase painting.

Learning Objectives

Evaluate the ceramic works of the Etruscan culture

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• The Etruscans are known for their impasto and bucchero pottery. Their contact with Greek settlements also influenced their production of blackness- and ruby-red-figure vase painting.
• Impasto is a coarse, unrefined dirt used in the production of funerary vases and storage vessels . Its popularity spread beyond the Etruscan civilization , becoming a major exported practiced to Greek colonies in southern Italy.
• Bucchero is a fine, often thin, black pottery that is fired and glassy to create a rich, lustrous polish. It was developed to imitate metal and became a luxury proficient in its own correct.
• Etruscan blackness-figure painting initially imitated the Corinthian and Attic styles before adopting a manneristic silhouette technique towards the cease of its existence.
• Etruscan red-figure painting began as pseudo-red-effigy, involving lighter figures painted on a black skid . Field of study thing grew increasingly minimalistic during the 2d one-half of the fourth century BCE.

Primal Terms

• hydria: A 3-handled ceramic vessel used for conveying h2o.
• symposium: In ancient Graeco-Roman civilisation, a drinking party.
• bucchero: A type of dark grayness Etruscan terracotta pottery.

The Etruscans were well known for their pottery, which was typically fabricated from 2 materials: impasto and bucchero.

Impasto

Impasto is a coarse form of pottery fabricated from a clay that contains fries of mica, a silicate, or stone. In its soft class, impasto clay tin range from red to brown. After it is fired, its surface becomes black and sleeky.

It was offset used past the Villanovan culture, which preceded the Etruscans, around the tenth century BCE. Between the eighth and 7th centuries BCE, the Greek colonies to the south of Etruria began importing impasto vessels, a attestation to their intercultural popularity.

The Etruscans used impasto for basic, commonsensical pottery, such as storage jars and cooking pots, besides equally for funerary urns during the Orientalizing menses. Artists incised the vessels with geometric designs, as well as stylized images of humans and animals.

The amphora in the epitome below depicts a spiral and a stylized bird, among other designs. Spiral motifs appear frequently in the art of numerous European cultures first in the Neolithic era. While their meanings are all the same a matter of fence, scholars hypothesize that spirals could symbolize astronomical phenomena or specific religious references.

The bird, on the other mitt, could be a reference to love or fertility. Turan (the Etruscan goddess of love, fertility, and vitality) was commonly associated with a multifariousness of avian species. Similarly the lynx, a bird-like animal in Etruscan mythology, also symbolizes love.

Etruscan impasto amphora: Spiral motifs announced frequently in the art of numerous European cultures get-go in the Neolithic era. This amphora is c. 700–680 BCE.

Bucchero

Bucchero pottery, adult effectually 675 BCE, was an Etruscan invention. It was created from a fine clay fired to produce a glossy black surface and burnished to smoothen. A finished bucchero surface imitated the appearance of metallic.

The Etruscans produced a multifariousness of objects—such as plates, chalices, vases, and pitchers—from bucchero, demonstrating the versatility of the textile. While less expensive than metal, it was still considered a luxury detail and was exported around the Mediterranean. Bucchero goods have been found as far east as Egypt and Syria.

During the Orientalizing period, objects could be every bit little as less than two millimeters. This is blazon of bucchero ware is known today every bit bucchero sottile, or delicate bucchero, and the thin frail walls further reinforced the textile's simulated of metallic.

Decoration on bucchero was frequently limited to abstract designs and did not usually include figures. Bucchero was frequently simply decorated with incised lines that formed geometric and abstract patterns. Some patterns were incised with a stylus and others with a toothed wheel or comb-similar instruments to create consistent rows of dots or patterns of dots in the shape of fans.

While bucchero thrived during the Orientalizing and Archaic periods, its production began to turn down during the Classical period as painted Greek pottery became more available and pop in Etruscan civilisation, and as appurtenances for funerary deposits.

Bucchero Etruscan plate: Ornament on bucchero was ofttimes express to abstract designs and did not usually include figures. This plate is in the Metropolitan Museum of Fine art, New York.

Vase Painting

Vase painting in the Etruscan culture thrived from the seventh to the 4th century BCE. Information technology was strongly influenced past Greek vase painting and followed the main trends in manner over the period. Too beingness producers in their own right, the Etruscans were the main export market for Greek pottery exterior Greece. Among the Etruscans, richly decorated vases were often interred with the dead.

Blackness-Figure Painting

Initially, Etruscan vases followed the examples of blackness-effigy vase painting from Corinth and East Hellenic republic. It is causeless that in the primeval phase, vases were produced mainly by immigrants from Hellenic republic.

They mainly produced amphorae, hydriai and jugs. Depictions included revelers, symposia , and animal friezes . Mythological motifs occur more rarely, only are already created with not bad care.

Past this fourth dimension, Etruscan vase painting began to take its main influence from Cranium vase painting. The black-figure way ended about 480 BCE. In its final phase, it developed a tendency toward a manneristic style of silhouette drawing.

Etruscan hydria with black-figure painting: The blackness-effigy style ended most 480 BCE. In its final phase, it developed a tendency toward a manneristic style of silhouette drawing.

Pseudo-Red-Figure Painting

The Etruscans developed an imitative adoption of the red-figure technique (known as pseudo-red-figure) around 490 BCE, nearly one-half a century after that style had been invented in Greece. As on some early Attic vases, this was achieved by covering the whole vase torso in black shiny slip, so adding figures on top, using paints that would oxidize into blood-red or white during firing .

In true red-figure painting, the red areas were left free of sideslip. In pseudo-red-figure painting, internal details were marked by incisions, like to the usual exercise in black-figure vase painting, rather than painted on, as is true in ruddy-figure painting. Even later on true red-figure painting became the dominant style, some workshops connected to specialize in pseudo-red-figure painting into the 4th century BCE.

Athena and Poseidon: A pseudo-scarlet-effigy krater by the Nazzano Painters,  c. 360 BCE.

Red-Figure Painting

Merely by the end of the fifth century BCE was the truthful red-effigy technique introduced to Etruria. In the second half of the fourth century BCE, mythological themes disappeared from the repertoire of the Etruscan vase painters.

Instead, the vase bodies were mostly covered with ornamental and floral motifs, and larger compositions just occurred in exceptional cases.

Etruscan reddish-figure stamnos: In the second half of the quaternary century BCE, mythological themes disappeared and the vase bodies were mostly covered with ornamental and floral motifs. This stamnos is c. 360–340 BCE.

Etruscan Sculpture

Primitive Etruscan art ofttimes includes terra cotta statues that are stylistically and aesthetically Etruscan but influenced past Greek fine art.

Learning Objectives

Describe the stylistic influences on Etruscan sculpture during the Archaic menses

Key Takeaways

Cardinal Points

• During the Primitive menstruation (600–480 BCE), the Etruscans began to build large wood and terracotta temples, create hush-hush burying chambers, and produce big-scale rock and terra cotta sculptures .
• The stylistic influences from the Greeks on Etruscan Archaic sculpture include the Archaic smile and the stylized patterning of hair and clothing. However, Etruscan sculpture was distinct. The figures had egg-shaped heads and almond eyes, were clothed, and their bodies had a higher caste of plasticity.
• The Centaur of Vulci is a subtractive sculpture straddling the Orientalizing and Archaic periods. It uses some Greek attributes merely modifies them in a manner to make the object uniquely Etruscan.The Apulu of Veii is an example of Etruscan Archaic sculpture. The figure, believed to take been fabricated by the Etruscan creative person Vulca from Veii, depicts Apulu in mid-step, with an outstretched arm. The effigy is more dynamic than Greek Archaic examples.
• The Sarcophagus of the Spouses depicts a couple reclining together on a dining burrow. The figures are distinctly Etruscan, animated through their gestures, with faces made from the aforementioned mold and distinguished past feminine or masculine characteristics.

Key Terms

• Archaic smile: A technique used by Greek Archaic sculptors, especially in the second quarter of the 6th century BCE, perchance to suggest that their subject was alive and infused with a sense of well-beingness.
• subtractive: A sculptural process in which the artist begins with more than material than he or she needs and gradually takes away material until the desired form is achieved.
• terracotta: Earthenware dirt later on information technology has been fired in a kiln.
• akroteria: Architectural ornaments placed on a apartment base of operations and mounted at the apex of the pediment of a building in the classical way.
• additive: A sculptural process in which the artist begins with picayune to no material and gradually attaches more material until the desired form is accomplished.
• sarcophagus: A stone coffin, oftentimes inscribed or decorated with sculpture.

Etruscan Sculpture

During the Archaic menstruation (600–480 BCE), the Etruscan culture flourished. The Etruscans began building rock and wood temples and creating subterranean tombs. Etruscan trade flourished, and the civilisation expanded to its furthest boundaries.

The period and style of art is named for its Greek analogue. Although there are similarities between Etruscan and Greek Primitive art, significant differences mark specific sculptures as uniquely Etruscan.

The Centaur of Vulci

The surface area of Italia that was dwelling house to the etruscan civilization is rich in volcanic rocks such as tufa and nenfro. Such materials provide ample media for sculptures that are made through subtractive processes similar carving and chiseling.

The Centaur of Vulci (c. 590–580 BCE), a nenfro statue discovered in a tomb in the necropolis of Poggio Maremma in Vulci Archaeological Park, appears to mark a transition between the Orientalizing and Primitive styles. Like to Greek centaur sculptures of this flow, the torso appears to describe a continuing human with a stylized cylindrical equine trunk emerging from the back.

Unlike the Greek Orientalizing and Archaic centaurs, this sculpture was produced without a tail. Its arms and legs below the knees are missing. Its easily are visible on the hips, suggesting a stiff pose like early Greek kouroi. Its eyes are large and almond-shaped, and it might accept worn an Primitive smile earlier it was damaged.

The centaur's pilus falls in stylized plaits similar its Greek counterparts. The style of braids, however, appears less like beads, as seen in the Greek kouros , and more like twisted plies of a rope. On the back of the centaur'south caput, three braids and several ringlets run in a horizontal design to connect with the braids on the left and right. Testify of drill piece of work can be seen in the curls that autumn across the centaur'south forehead.

Centaur of Vulci: A nenfro statue discovered in a tomb in the necropolis of Poggio Maremma in Vulci Archaeological Park.

Terracotta

Few examples of large-scale or monumental Etruscan sculptures survive. Very few Etruscan bronzes escaped being melted down for reuse, and the Etruscans did not often work in marble or other difficult stones. Instead, many surviving examples of Etruscan sculpture are in terracotta, or earthenware clay that has been fired in a kiln .

Working with terra cotta was a means for condiment sculpture. Different the subtractive sculptural techniques employed in the carving of rock or stone, this allowed for subtle modeling and more than expressive and dynamic features.

A pair of winged horses from the Altar of the Queen, an Etruscan sanctuary located in Tarquinia, are examples of the Etruscans' skill and modeling with terracotta. The horses are muscular, with strong chests, fine legs, and elongated bodies. They appear to prance as they wait to pull a chariot. Their necks arch , with manes blowing in the wind, and their heads are fatigued in, as if pulled back by a pair of unseen reins.

Winged Horses: Working with terra cotta lets the artist create subtle modeling and more expressive and dynamic features, as seen in these horses.

Apulu of Veii

The Apulu of Veii is a prime example of Etruscan sculpture during the Primitive menstruation. Apulu, the Etruscan equivalent of Apollo, is a slightly larger than life-size terra cotta akroteria figure in the Portonaccio Temple at Veii, an Etruscan city simply due north of Rome .

The figure was part of a group of akroteria that stood on the ridgepole of the temple and depicted the myth of Heracles and the Ceryneaian hind . The figure of Apulu confronts the hero, Heracles, who is attempting to capture a deer sacred to Apulu's sister, Artumes (Artemis). Apulu is the most intact surviving statue of the akroteria figures from this temple.

The figure of Apulu has several Greek characteristics. The face is similar to the faces of Archaic Greek kouroi figures. The face is simply carved and an primitive grin provides a notion of emotion and realism . The pilus of Apulu is stylized and falls beyond his shoulders and down his cervix and back in stylized, geometric twists that seem to correspond braids. The figure, like Greek figures, was painted in bright colors, and the edge of his toga appears to be lined in blueish.

Apulu of Veii: This painted terra cotta statue is a slightly larger than life-size terra cotta akroteria figure in the Portonaccio Temple at Veii, Italian republic.

Unlike Archaic Greek statues and kouroi, the figure of Apulu is full of movement and presents the viewer with an entirely different aesthetic from the Greek way. The figure of Apulu is dynamic and flexible. He strides forrad with an arm stretched out. He leans on his front human foot, and his dorsum pes is slightly raised.

The body is more faithfully modeled (comparable to later Greek kouroi), and instead of being nude, he wears a toga that is draped over i shoulder. The garment's folds are patterned and stylized but cling to the body, allowing the viewer to clearly distinguish the god's breast and thigh muscles. While the Etruscan artist applied an Archaic grin to Apulu, the effigy'southward lips are full and his head is more egg-shaped than round—both characteristics of Etruscan art and sculpture.

The Apulu of Veii is believed to have been made by the Etruscan creative person Vulca of Veii. Besides this sculpture, Vulca is credited by Roman historians with the creation of the cult statue for the Temple of Jupiter Optiumus Maximus, the most important temple in Rome. Vulca created this statue when the last Etruscan male monarch Tarquinius Superbus ruled Rome.

The Sarcophagus of the Spouses

A belatedly sixth century sarcophagus excavated from a tomb in Cerveteri is a terra cotta sarcophagus that depicts a couple reclining together on a dining couch. The sarcophagus displays not merely the Etruscan Primitive mode but too Etruscan skill in working with terracotta.

The figures' torsos are modeled, and their heads are in a typical Etruscan egg-shape with almond shaped optics, long noses, and full lips. Their hair is stylized, and their gestures are animated. The use of gesture is seen throughout Etruscan art, both in sculpture and painting. The woman might take originally held a small vessel , and the couple appears to be intimate and loving due to the fact that man has his arm effectually the woman.

Sarcophagus of the Spouses:  The sarcophagus displays not only the Etruscan Archaic style merely also Etruscan skill in working with painted terracotta. C. 520 BCE. Establish in the Banditaccia Necropolis, Cerveteri, Italy.

A close wait at the figures reveals some peculiarities. Outset, their faces are the same and in fact were most likely created from the aforementioned mold, a technique mutual in Etruscan terra cotta sculpture. The identical faces are differentiated past the add-on of female person and male person hairstyles, including the man's beard. Furthermore, despite the modeling of their upper bodies, the legs of the figures are flat and rather lifeless, an odd comparison to the liveliness of the figures' upper halves.

Etruscan Temples

Etruscan temples derive from Greek models but are distinguished past a high podium, deep porch, prostyle columns, and frontality.

Learning Objectives

Compare and dissimilarity Etruscan temples with their Greek counterparts

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• The superstructures of Etruscan temples were built from wood and mud brick that was often covered in stucco , plaster, or painted for decoration. The temple had a stone or tufa foundation, and the roof was covered in protective terracotta tiles.
• Despite their Greek origins, Etruscan temples are unique. They are frontal and centric and ofttimes take more than one cella . Etruscan temples stand up on high podia with a single central staircase located at the front. Prostyle Tuscan columns stand on a deep porch and support the roof.
• The temple's wide eaves, low pitch roof, and terra cotta tiles protect the edifice's organic materials. Antefixes further protect the edifice from the elements and animals past concealing the woods beams.
• Akroteria , life-sized terra cotta sculptures , were placed along the ridgepole and on the cornice and peaks to decorate the temple. These figures were often tied together thematically or through myths.

Key Terms

• antefix: The vertical blocks that terminate the covering tiles of the roof of a Roman, Etruscan, or Greek temple.
• hind: A female deer, especially a crimson deer at least ii years former.
• cella: The inner bedchamber of a temple where the cult image or statue is kept.

Etruscan Temples

Etruscan temples were adapted from Greek- manner temples to create a new Etruscan style, which, in turn would later influence Roman temple design. The temple was only one part of the templum, the divers sacred space that includes the building, altar and other sacred ground , springs, and buildings. As in Greece and Rome , the chantry used for sacrifice and ritual ceremonies was located outside the temple.

Today only the foundations and terra cotta decorations of Etruscan temples remain, since the temples themselves were primarily built of wood and mud brick that eroded and degraded over fourth dimension. The Etruscans used rock or tufa as the foundation of their temples.

Tufa is a local volcanic stone that is soft, easy to carve, and hardens when exposed to air. The superstructure of the temple was built from forest and mud brick. Stucco or plaster covered the walls and was either burnished to a shine or painted. Terra cotta roof tiles protected the organic material and increased the longevity and integrity of the building.

The foundation of an Etruscan temple at Orvieto: The fundamental stairway highlights the frontality of the temple that once stood at this site.

The Basic Temple Structure

Archæology and a written business relationship by the Roman architect Vitruvius during the late first century BCE allow us to reconstruct a basic model of a typical Etruscan temple. Etruscan temples were commonly frontal, centric, and congenital on a high podium with a single central staircase that allowed access to the cella (or cellas).

Two rows of prostyle columns stood on the front of the temple's portico . The columns were of the Tuscan order, a derivative of the Doric lodge consisting of a simple shaft on a base of operations with a simple capital . A calibration model of the Portonaccio Sanctuary of Minerva suggests that the bases and capitals of its columns were painted with alternate dark- and light-valued hues .

While nearly portico columns were made of wood, there is evidence that some were made of stone, as at Veii. They were tall and widely spaced across a deep porch, aligning with the walls of the cellas.

A model of Portonaccio Sanctuary of Minerva: C. 510 BCE, in Veii, Italian republic.

Etruscans often, although non always, worshiped multiple gods in a single temple. In such cases, each god received its own cella that housed its cult statue. Often the three-cella temple would exist dedicated to the main gods of the Etruscan pantheon —Tinia, Uni, and Menrva (comparable to the Roman gods Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva).

The wooden roof had a low pitch and was covered by a protective layer of terra cotta tiles. Eaves with wide overhangs helped to protect the organic material from rain.

Ground programme of an Etruscan temple: Etruscan temples were usually frontal, axial, and built on a loftier podium with a unmarried central staircase that allowed access to the cella (or cellas).

Many aspects of Vitruvius' description fit what archaeologists can demonstrate. However deviations did exist. It is clear that Etruscan temples could take a number of forms and also varied over the 400-twelvemonth menses during which they were being made. Nevertheless, Vitruvius remains the inevitable starting bespeak for a description and a contrast of Etruscan temples with their Greek and Roman equivalents.

Antefix

To further protect the roof beams from rain, insects, and birds, the finish of each row of roof tiles was capped by an ornament known as an antefix. Antefixes as well lined the expanse of the façade that corresponds to the summit of the frieze and bottom of the pediment on a Greek temple.

These flat ornaments were usually made of terra cotta from a mold, and were sometimes made of stone. The antefixes were brightly painted and often depicted images female and male faces or simple geometric designs. The male faces were often representations of the Etruscan equivalent to Dionysus or his followers, including Silenus or fauns.

Although some antefixes depicted women, many of the female figures were representations of Gorgons, such as Medusa. The Gorgon-faced antefixes frequently showed a wide-eyed, circular face up surrounded by either wings or snakes. The Gorgon and Dionysiac antefixes served apotropaic functions, intended to ward off evil and protect the temple site.

Antefix with the head of a Gorgon: The Gorgon and Dionysiac antefixes served apotropaic functions, intended to ward off evil and protect the temple site. This one is made of terra cotta, c. 6th–fifth century BCE.

Antefix with a Silenus face: The male person faces were often representations of the Etruscan equivalent to Dionysus or his followers, including Silenus or fauns.

Akroteria

For much of their history, the Etruscans did not decorate their temples in the Greek fashion with friezes or pedimental sculptures. Instead, they placed terra cotta statues called akroteria along the roof's ridge puddle and on the peaks and edges of the pediment.

These akroteria figures were generally built slightly larger than life-sized and were connected thematically. The Apulu of Veii is one example of an akroteria and is part of a sculptural group that depicts the story of Herakles and the Ceryneaian Hind .

Etruscan Tombs

Etruscan tombs, grave goods, and necropoleis provide invaluable evidence for the report of Etruscan society and culture.

Learning Objectives

Discuss the tombs, funerary practices, and grave goods of the early Etruscans

Key Takeaways

Key Points

• Etruscan burying methods include both cremation and inhumation. The funerary practices of the Etruscans changed from their use of cinerary urns in the shape of huts in the 9th and 8th century to subterranean tombs carved from tufa and living rock that was richly busy.
• The Banditaccia Necropolis at Cervetri is known for its tufa tombs craved into tumuli. These tombs often took the shape of Etruscan homes and included roof beams and thatching carved into the ceilings. The tombs hold beds or niches or sarcophagi for the remains of the deceased.
• The Tomb of the Reliefs is a richly decorated, multi-generation tomb. The walls and pillars of the tomb are carved with a diversity of objects that would exist used by the dead in the afterlife, from everyday to specialty objects, including dining utensils, helmets, and swords.
• The Monterozzi Necropolis outside of Tarquinia was used from the 9th century to the second century BCE. Information technology is most well known for its frescoed tombs that include painted scenes of symposia , dancing, hunting, line-fishing, and ritual .
• The and so-chosen Tomb of the Augurs was the first tomb in Tarquinia to depict Etruscan funerary community in addition to the already established mythological scenes. The Tomb of Hunting and Fishing and the Tomb of the Leopards depict typical Etruscan funerary imagery in a common Etruscan painting style . The scenes chronicle to Etruscan culture and society, and show the inclusion of women in a symposium and a close connection to nature.

Central Terms

• cippus: A low, round, or rectangular pedestal used as a funerary purlieus postal service past the Etruscans. The Romans would later utilise it for military purposes.
• dromos: A long, narrow passage to a tomb.
• necropolis: A large cemetery, especially one of elaborate construction in an aboriginal city.
• augur: A seer who bases his or her prophecies on interpretations derived from the behavior of birds.
• tumulus: A mound of earth, especially one placed over a prehistoric tomb; a barrow.
• apotropaic: Intended to ward off evil.

Etruscan Tombs

Tombs and necropoleis are among the most excavated and studied parts of Etruscan civilisation. Scholars learn about Etruscan club and culture from the study of Etruscan funerary practise. Burying urns and sarcophagi, both big and small, were used to hold the cremated remains of the dead.

Early on forms of burial include the burying of ashes with grave goods in funerary urns and small ceramic huts. After, in the seventh century BCE, the Etruscans began burying their dead in subterranean family tombs. The necropoleis at Cerveteri and Tarquinia are the most well known for their tumuli and frescoed tombs.

Hut urn: Etruscan cinerary hut urn with a door, made of impasto, 8th century BCE.

The grave goods found in these tombs betoken to the Etruscan belief in an afterlife that required the aforementioned types of goods and materials equally in the world of the living. Many examples of Greek pottery have been recovered from Etruscan tombs. These vessels , along with other foreign goods, demonstrate the extent of the Etruscan trade network.

Painted scenes of frivolity, celebration, hunting, and religious practice tell the viewer virtually Etruscan daily life, rituals, their belief about the afterlife, and their social norms. The imagery and grave goods found in Etruscan tombs help inform the modern-day viewer near the nature of Etruscan social club.

Banditaccia Necropolis at Cerveteri

The tombs of the Banditaccia Necropolis outside Cerveteri were carved into large, circular mounds known as tumuli. Each tumulus was the burial site for a single family unit, and 1 to four underground tombs were cut into the round tumulus.

Each tomb often represented a divide generation. The tombs were carved with a long, narrow entranceway known as a dromos that opened into a single or multi-room chamber. The decorative style of each sleeping room and tomb varied with the period and the family's wealth—the wealthier the family, the more intricately carved and busy the tomb.

Banditaccia Necropolis: This is electric current-twenty-four hour period photo of the Banditaccia Necropolis, c. 7th–2d BCE, in Cerveteri, Italian republic.

Most tombs causeless the shape and style of Etruscan homes. The ceilings were often carved to represent wood roof beams. Thatching and decorative columns were often added to a room. The entrances and the individual rooms inside were oft framed by doorways carved in a typical pattern.

Piers are topped with capitals carved in a stylized motif that resembles those from Corinthian columns. Each room independent beds or niches, sometimes with a carved tufa pillow, for the deposition of the body.

The most contempo tombs in Banditaccia date from the third century BCE. Some of are marked by external boundary posts called cippi (singular cippus). Cylindrical cippi exterior a tomb signal that its occupants are male person, while those in the grade of small-scale houses point female occupants.

Cippi exterior a tomb in the Banditaccia necropolis: The phallic shape of these cippi indicates that men are interred in the tomb.

The Tomb of the Reliefs

The Tomb of the Reliefs is i of the most well known, largest, and richly busy tombs from the Banditaccia Necropolis. This tomb is named for the numerous tufa reliefs of everyday objects inside.

The walls and piers are covered in carved and painted reliefs of everyday objects including rope, drinking cups, pitches, mirrors, knives, helmets, and shields. Not fifty-fifty companion animals were forgotten in the afterlife. A stretching cat adorns the base of the cavalcade on the left, while ane in mid-motility (stalking prey?) adorns the base of the column on the correct.

Elsewhere in the tomb, mythological discipline affair appears. In the center is a depiction of the three-headed dog, Cerberus, the guardian to the underworld.

Tomb of the Reliefs: This is the interior of the Tomb of the Reliefs. Information technology is equanimous of carved tufa and paint from the third century BCE.

Monterozzi Necropolis at Tarquinia

The tombs of the Monterozzi Necropolis exterior of Tarquinia are as well subterranean burial chambers. The graves from the necropolis date from the seventh century BCE until the beginning century BCE. The tombs hither are like to the secret, tufa cut tombs of Cerveteri that were accessed through a dromos.

The Tomb of the Augurs

The Tomb of the Augurs (530–520 BCE) was one of the starting time in Tarquinia to have figurative decorations on all four walls of its main or only chamber. Its proper name derives from a possible misinterpretation of two figures on the rear wall.

This tomb is likewise the first to depict Etruscan funerary rites and funerary games in addition to mythological scenes, which were already established in traditional funerary art .

A fresco depicting a door flanked by 2 men appears on the rear wall of the Tomb of the Augurs. Scholars have come to different conclusions as to the significance of the door. Some translate it as a representational illustration of the door to the tomb. Others debate that it is a symbolic door or portal to the underworld that acts as a barrier between the kingdom of the living and the kingdom of the dead.

The two men each extend one arm toward the door and places the other hand places the paw against his brow in a gesture of salutation and mourning. Past interpretations place the men as augurs. However, the word Apastanasar, which appears on the wall next to the man on the correct, contains the root of apa, which means begetter. This leads scholars to conclude that they two men are more likely relatives of the deceased.

Augurs: A fresco on the interior rear wall of the Tomb of the Augurs, c. 530 BCE.

The Tomb of the Leopards

The Tomb of the Leopards (early on 5th century BCE) consists of a single room and is one of the all-time-known tombs of Tarquinia. The Banqueting Scene, the most famous landscape in the tomb, is divided into 2 panels: the pediment and the frieze .

The pediment depicts ii white leopards in a heraldic composition . This depiction is reminiscent of the leopards from the pediment of the Temple of Artemis at Corfu. The felines are used for their protective features.

Beneath the pediment is the primary scene depicted on a central frieze that wraps around the room. This image depicts men and women with servants at a symposium. The scenes are festive and joyous. The men and women are distinguished respectively with dark and light skin tones .

The mere presence of women in the Banqueting Scene is unique for its time, suggesting a gender-inclusive culture. However, the women's assumption of the same positions as their male person counterparts and their apparently active participation in the festivities advise a level of gender equality unseen amid the Greeks or, afterward, the Romans.

The Banqueting Scene: A fresco on the interior back wall of the Tomb of the Leopards, c. 480–470 BCE.

The Tomb of Hunting and Fishing

The Tomb of Hunting and Fishing consists of two rooms. The frescos in the outset room are badly damaged but announced to describe Etruscans dancing exterior. Ii trees frame the doorway into the second room. This room gives the tomb its name, as information technology depicts a scene of men hunting and fishing.

Men in boats are line-fishing in a sea populated by fish and dolphins. On a rock outcropping in the h2o, i man prepares to swoop, while another climbs to the top. Meanwhile, another man aims a slingshot at the birds that flock overhead. This scene depicts the Etruscans' relationship with nature and the importance of hunting and fishing in Etruscan gild.

Tomb of Hunting and Fishing: This is a fresco on the interior back wall from the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing, c. 530–520 BCE.

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Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-arthistory/chapter/early-etruscan-art/

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