THE ETRUSCANS GARDINER – CHAPTER 9-1 PP. 223-234 THE ETRUSCANS BACKGROUND “The Etruscans, as everyone knows, were the people who occupied the middle of Italy in early Roman days, and who the Romans, in their usual neighborly fashion, wiped out completely.” – D. H. Lawrence Etruscan art -> deeply influenced by, yet different from, Greek art Etruscan sculpture, painting, and architecture provided the models for early Roman art and architecture ETRURIA = the territory the Etruscans controlled -> northern and central Italy Lacked political cohesion EARLY ETRUSCAN ART Etruscan art divides into period mirroring Greek art – ETRUSCAN ORIENTALIZING ART = 700-600 BCE ETRUSCAN ARCHAIC ART = 600-480 BCE ETRUSCAN CLASSICAL AND HELLENISTIC ART = 480-89 BCE ORIENTALIZING PERIOD OF ETRUSCAN ART 7TH century BCE -> mineral wealth transforms Etruscan society Villages become cities -> international trade -> foreign goods > taste for luxury objects Local artisans inspired by foreign goods with Eastern motifs Fibula with Orientalizing lions, from Regolini-Galassi tomb, Cerveteri, Italy, ca. 650-640 BCE, 1’ ½ “ FIBULA = clasp or safety pin -> used to fasten a woman’s gown at shoulder Combines repousse and granulation -> the work is Etruscan but the lions are Eastern motifs ETRUSCAN TEMPLES Model of a typical 6th century Etruscan temple as described by Vitruvius Wooden columns, terracotta tiled roof, walls of sun-dried brick Narrow staircase at center of front of temple, temple sat on a high stone podium, columns only in front, deep porch TUSCAN COLUMNS = unfluted wooden columns with bases 3 cellas Pedimental statuary was rare -> life size terracotta narrative statuary on the peak of the temple roof APULU OF VEII Apulu (Apollo), from the roof of the Portonaccio temple, Veii, Italy, ca. 510-500 BCE, 5’11” Painted terracotta Calls to mind the Archai korai of the Acropolis in Ionian garb -> but, striding motion, gesticulating arms, calf muscles and animated face are distinctly Etruiscan CERVETERI SARCOPHAGUS Sarcophagus with reclining couple, from Cerveteri, Italy, ca. 520 BCE Terracotta masterwork of a husband and wife reclining on a banquet couch Sarcophagus was brightly painted, cast in four sections, monumental size 3’9” x 6”7” No parallel in Greece -> image is uniquely Etruscan Man and women are animated -> different rendering of upper and lower parts of the body -> basic legs, unnatural transition to torso -> focus is on upper half of the figures BANDITACCIA NECROPOLIS Tumuli/mound tombs in the Banditaccia necropolis, Cerveteri, Italy, 7th to 2nd century BCE Tumulus = similar to Mycenaean Treasury of Atrues Cerveteri tombs were subterranean multichambered tombs cut into the local limestone Some as large as 130 feet Tombs arranged along a network of streets Interiors resembled houses of the living -> beds, chairs, doors and ceiling beams were carved out of the bedrock TOMB OF RELIEFS Most elaborate in decoration of the Ceveteri tombs Tomb of Reliefs 3rd century BCE Painted stucco reliefs cover the walls and piers Tools, mirrors, drinking cups and other items suggest a domestic context TOMB OF THE LEOPARDS Interior Tomb of the Leopards, Tarquinia, Italy, ca. 480-470 BCE Mural paintings but not carved domestic objects decorate the underground tombs at Tarquinia Named for the leopards that guard the tomb from pediment of the rear wall -> reminiscent of panthers on each side of Medusa at the Temple of Artemis at Corfu Banqueting couples, servants, and musicians -> all make exaggerate gestures w/large hands Celebrates life, food, wine, music, and dance -> tone is joyful TOMB OF HUNTING AND FISHING Diving and fishing, detail of a mural painting in the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing, Tarquinia, Italy, ca. 530-520 BCE Recalls paintings in Egyptian tombs Rocks resemble those in Theran Spring Fresco mural Predates the Greek Tomb of the Diver at Paestum