The Etruscans
900 BCE-89 BCE
Background
• People who lived in Italy before the
Romans
• Central area of Italy known as Etruria
(modern day Tuscany)
• Absorbed into Roman Empire 89 BCE
• Love of life
Culture
– Banquets, sports, festivals
• Women = men
• Sailors, Metalworkers, International traders
– Exported iron, tin, copper, silver.
• Strong belief in afterlife
Sculpture
• Terracotta and bronze
• Influence of Greek Archaic art.
• Differences—Nudity scarce, figures move
dynamically in space, aware of the world
around them, brilliantly painted.
• Both cultures emphasize broad shoulders
of men and stylization of the hair.
Paintings
• Funerary paintings done on the walls and
ceilings of tombs.
• Brightly painted frescoes reveal a world of
cheerful Etruscans celebrating, dancing,
eating, and playing musical instruments.
Architecture
Temples and Tombs
• Archaic Greek prostyle temples inspired
large scale architecture.
• Temple foundations reveal influence
• Tombs were unusual-inside a necropolis.
Cities of the dead. Burial mounds.
Provides most info about Etruscan Culture
Model of an Etruscan Temple,
Etruscan
• Temples on a high podium, with a flight of
stairs leading up to the entrance.
• Made of mud-brick and wood; roofs were
tiled
• Decorative sculpture atop the roofs made of
terra cotta- to announce the presence of the
diety within.
• Had a front porch
• Side walls are solid
• Temples had three cellas-one for each of
their chief gods
Plan of an Etruscan Temple
Compare Temple Styles
Etruscan Temple
• Three cellas
• Made of mud and
brick
• Deep porch/one
entrance
• Decorated rooftops
Greek Temple
• One cella
• Made of marble
• Viewed from all
sides/steps on all
sides
• Sculptural decoration
on frieze and
pediment
Apollo from Veii
• Temple roof sculpture-part of 4 figure set
about labors of Hercules
• Archaic Greek influenced (by the Kouros
figure)
• Similarities- Archaic smile, stylized hair,
flat surface patterns of the drapery folds.
• Differences– Clothed
– made of terra cotta instead of marble
– placed atop the temple roof
– appeared in motion
– huge drapery folds (remind us of the
kore figures)
– animated hands
Sarcophagus from Ceveteri
• Terra-cotta coffin of a married couple, whose
ashes were placed inside
• Husband and wife sharing the same
banqueting couch is uniquely Etruscan.
• They have long, stylized hair and gaze into
eternity
• Contented archaic smiles
• Figures stop abruptly at the waist Great
concentration on the upper body; less on
the legs. Unrealistic L-turn of legs
• Both once held objects in their handsperhaps an egg to symbolize life after
death
• Animated hand gestures.
• Symbiotic relationship: man has a
protective gesture around the woman; the
woman feeds the man; reflects the high
standing women had in Etruscan society.
Banditaccia Necropolis
City of the Dead
• Multi-tomb complex set away from cities
• Orderly layout with streets
• Each tomb– Round w/door
– Painted and furnished inside to look like house
interior
– Carved from tufa-soft volcanic rock
– Topped with tumulus-earthen burial mound
– Often held entire families, including servants
Tomb of the Leopards, 480-470BC
• Banqueting couples reclining while eating
• Ancient convention of men painted in
darker colors than women
• Dancing figures on right play musical
instruments in festive celebration of the
dead
• Leopards are guardians of the tomb
Capitoline Wolf, 500 BCE
• Bronze she-wolf portrayed as protecting her cubsteeth bared
• Just gave birth
• Stylized patterns of fur
• Infants were added during the Renaissance period.
• Roman myth that she nursed Romulus and Remus
abandoned by their parents; who later founded
Rome.