The Etruscans

The Etruscans were a civilization that once inhabited Etruria (now known as Tuscany) and part of Umbria in Italy. Some archaeologists do not agree on where the Etruscan culture originated from but many think that they migrated from the Aegean region or even Northern Europe, while others believe that the culture developed in Tuscany itself.

The Etruscans lived from the 8th to the 2nd Century BC before the Romans took over their culture causing their civilization to deteriorate and be absorbed completely. However, before this happened the Etruscans had established a thriving, well organized civilization with a strong social structure and highly developed artistic style. Because of their proximity to the sea and central position in the Mediterranean, they had a very powerful and wealthy maritime force.

The Etruscans were very much influenced by the Greeks, who were already an established and thriving civilization. This had a strong impact on the types of artwork the Etruscans produced, many of their sculptures for example were similar to Greek sculpture. Although the Etruscans still had a definite unique character in their artwork (which is evident in much of their painting), they copied the Greek Alphabet and many aspects of Greek mythology. And because much of their language is still not completely understood and the meanings of the words and grammar still not deciphered it is difficult to detail precisely where their other influences originated.

Etruscan art, especially their paintings had warmth, character and vitality. The scenes they painted and recorded represented natural, realistic and playful settings and always recounted an event or told a story. They loved using color in their work. The Etruscans were a very religious people and their beliefs were a large feature in all their artwork. The decorations and artifacts that have been discovered in their tombs also help studies and research conducted by historians. These discoveries have shown that the Etruscans were a sensuous and fun-loving people who enjoyed their everyday life and what it brought. This mood is clearly represented in their artwork.

Banditaccia necropolis, Cerveteri, 7th to 2nd centuries BC.

The Etruscan obsession with elaborate burials leads us to suppose that they may have had an underlying belief, similar to the Egyptians that a part of the soul remained with the body, or at least that the body was important for the afterlife. Having said that, the earliest grave sites were cremations, with the ash being retained either in biconical urns, or urns fashioned to represent huts.

The most common tombs are those of the underground chamber and tumulus types, where the inner rooms imitate and at times faithfully reproduce the settings of the dwellings of the living. In the 5th century BC, a real city of the dead rose up with streets intersecting at right angles and areas devoted to worship.

Burial Chamber. Tomb of the Reliefs, Cerveteri, Italy. 3rd century BC.

The tomb is of the hypogeum type, dug to a considerable depth in the ground. The external entrance was originally watched over by a pair of lions carved out of the tufa. This is one of the few tombs in Caere where the colours of paintings have survived, as they were painted using a clay base to form reliefs.

The tomb consists of a single chamber, with shelves and hollows in the walls. The ceiling is supported by two pillars, with Aeolian capitals, on which are reproduced objects from domestic and military use through as well as animals (eg cats). The technique used sketching the object on the wall, and then using terracotta clay to create the objects some of which is done using stamps and moulds. All it has been then skillfully covered with vivid colors.

All around the walls runs a frieze of crews: helms, spears, shields, perhaps emphasizing the participation of the deceased in military campaigns. It should be emphasized that the tomb dates to the age of the wars with Rome, a little before end of the 4th Century BCE.

The beds reproduced in the niches around the walls were covered with cloths and pillows molded with remarkable realism

The two occupants probably belong to the family which founded the tomb, representatives of the Matuna family. On the two semipillars that frame the loculo objects are carved legacies to the life of the aristocratic family: on the left, for the man a water jug, a double handled drinking vessel (Kylix);to the right for the woman, there are two necklaces, a necklace of leaves, a stick and a fan.

Fibula with Orientalizing lions, from the Regolini-Galassi Tomb, Cerveteri, c. 650 - 640 BC. Gold, appprox. 12 ½"

high.

 

So what sort of art have the Etruscans left us? Most of it is small scale tomb goods, much of that found in the burials of Cerveteri and Tarquinia, on the coast a few miles north of Rome. Here is a golden fibula (shoulder-pin for holding a garment together), for a wealthy merchant’s wife. Fibula are an Italic utensil, but the five lions marching across this one have a distinctly Near Eastern look to them. The techniques of granulation (the five dot flowers in the borders) and repoussé (metal foil pushed out from behind) are also “Eastern,” according to our text. Also found in the tomb are a golden pectoral that covered the (deceased) woman’s chest and two gold circlets that may be either earrings or bracelets.

Tomb of Hunting and Fishing, Tarquinia, Italy. c. 520 BC

Surviving Etruscan painting in underground funerary vaults, consists of murals on the stone or plastered stone walls and ceilings of tombs. Frescoes frequently depict banquets, festivals, and scenes of daily life, sometimes have subjects from religion, some depict figures dancing or playing musical instruments. Figures are stylized, heavy, and often outlined in black. They painted little birds or animals which somehow do not seem out of place or look like merely decorations, but landed a natural harmony to the finished work.

The internal walls of Etruscan tombs such as those at Cerveteri and Tarquinii still contain the remains of magnificent murals which give us a considerable insight into the Etruscan way of life. A commonly recurring theme is the banquet, which in the case of the Necropolis paintings, carried a double meaning. For the banquet was also an intrinsic part of the religious ceremony at funerals. After all the formal funeral ceremonies were complete, the relatives of the deceased were treated to a sumptuous banquet, at which the spirit of the departed was believed to attend.

Ceiling: Polychrome checker board pattered. The columen is decorated with concentric circles (the circles symbolize time).

Main Wall: three scenes are shown. Every cline is matrimonial, ie for both man and woman (contrast with the Greek custom where women were excluded from the banquet).

The central shows two persons banqueting (perhaps relatives of the deceased) and look towards a servant who is carrying an oinochoe or wine jug. There is a series of small trees, which give an impression of the rural landscape in which the funeral banquet is carried out. The couple on the left scene appear to be engrossed in conversation without paying any attention to the others. The man on the right is offering a large egg to the woman. The egg is a symbol of life after death (cf. Easter eggs in the Christian tradition). All are wearing crowns of laurel for the festive occasion.

NOTE: Lighter skin for women….Egyptian art did this too.

Human-headed cinerary urn. C. 675 - 650 BC. Terra-cotta, height 25 ½".  

The Etruscans created artistic objects mostly for religious purposes. Important part of their art is associated with their funerary customs.

This urn obviously contained the ashes of the deceased.

Apollo, from Veii. c. 510 BC Terra-cotta, height 69".

 

 ACROTERIA: Small statues or ornaments placed at the apex and ends of a pediment.

Terracotta was, however, the favorite material for sculpture . It was used instead of stone or marble during nearly the entire period for the temple sculptures. The gables and friezes were of terracotta slabs, in high or low relief, fastened to the wooden framework. The acroteria and antefixes were usually figures, busts, or heads, in relief, of terracotta, and were used on a large scale throughout the south of Italy.

The Apollo has the Greek Archaic look and is similarly painted. but the work is stylistically more awkward in terms of the figure and lacks the serenity of the Greek Archaic.

Reconstruction of an Etruscan temple. [Model of a typical Etruscan temple of the sixth century BC, as described by Vitruvius.] 

 

Etruscans built palaces, public buildings, and early temples in wood and brick. . Unfortunately, the Etruscans didn’t follow Greek influence and use stone architecture back then. However, they used stone for the foundations of their temples, but used "wood for the superstructure of their temples and, consequently, these have not survived, as the beautiful stone architecture of the Greek world has done. The Etruscans did, however, cover the wooden elements of the temples with terracotta, using this medium both as a protection and for decoration, and the long series of temple terracottas, which often survive…provide much evidence both for the development of sculpture and, with the stone foundations, for the appearance of the temples.

From early times in Italy, the gods were worshipped and auspices taken in open air sanctuaries.The building of temples, the dwelling in which the image of the god was placed, came with a more anthropomorphic religious conception, when the gods were represented in human form. Ceramic models of temples, as well as traces of later stone structures, indicate how temples were built in enclosures and had tiled, gabled roofs supported on pillars, like their Greek counterparts. An Etruscan temple, to meet religious requirements, was located on a north-south axis and stood on a high podium with a four-columned porch. Roman temples were patterned on the form developed by the Etruscans.

   

  

Greek vs. Etruscan Temples

Similarities

Gable roof

General design

Columns

Triangular cornice

Differences The Etruscan temple:

Rests on tall base, or podium

Narrow stairway on south side

Steps lead to deep porch

Columns only in front

Cella divided into three zones

Constructed of wood, sun-dried brick and terra-cotta

The cult of the dead, similar to contemporaneous Egyptian practices, produced a highly developed sepulchral art. The sculptured lids of sarcophagi often represented a single figure or a couple with the haunting archaic smile so evident in early Greek sculpture.

This exceptional monument is in reality a large double cinerary urn. Heightened with bright polychrome painting, and harmoniously composed, it represents the deceased tenderly embracing. Reclining in the attitude of banqueters, according to a fashion born in Asia Minor, they are caught in the gesture of offering perfume, which is, along with the sharing of wine (symposion) -they are both propped up on wineskins- one of the essential components of Etruscan funerary ritual.

Both figures are propped up on their left elbow with the man close behind the woman. Both faces share a secret, tender smile. Sarcophagus from Cerveteri, c. 520 BCE,

terracotta, length 6'7"

Mars from Todiend of 5th cent. BChollow-cast bronzeheight cm 141

This is one of the very rare objects of ancient Italic statuary that has survived to our time. It shows a warrior dressed in armour and, originally, with a helmet, portrayed in the act of performing a libation before battle, pouring the liquid contained in a particular form of cup (patera) held by the extended right hand, while with the left he leans on an iron spear (the patera and remains of the spear, not visible in the photo, are in the showcase). The statue, which betrays the influence of Classic Greek art.(contraposto, naturalism.) It was found in Todi, buried between slabs of Travertine, perhaps after having been hit by lightning. The dedicatory inscription, in the language of the ancient Umbrians but in the Etruscan alphabet, recalls that the statue was given as a gift (dunum dede) by

a certain Ahal Trutitis.

The Chimera is a mythological animal having the body of a lion, the tail of a snake and the head of a goat on its back: the lion symbolizes strength and heat and therefore summer; the snake earth and darkness and therefore winter; the goat landscape and transition and so autumn and spring.The Chimera is a terrific animal which is finally defeated by Bellerophon thanks to a special winged horse the goddess Minerva had given him. It is thought that the statue was part of a bigger group representing Bellerophon fighting against the Chimera on his horse Pegasus: the animal has been deadly wounded and is fiercely trying to defend itself.

The Etruscans has demonic symbolism as the Etruscans believed that the the dead of the underworld were plagued by creatures like the chimera.

Chimera of Arezzo, 4th B.C.

NEW RESEARCH SAYS THIS MAY NOT BE ETRUSCAN

Etruscan mirrors were generally cast in bronze,which is an alloy of copper and tin. Etruscan mirrors were generally cast in one piece, with a blunt spike known as a tang. This tang was then inserted into a handle made from some other material such as wood, timber, bone or ivory. However in some examples, the mirror was cast entirely in bronze and included an integral bronze handle. The reverse of many Etruscan mirrors have a picture engraved or molded in low relief. The front of the mirror was highly polished using such materials as ground pumice or cuttle fish bone. The image on the priest examining the liver come from the art of divination- telling the past and future. First the animal was ritually slaughtered. Next it was butchered, with the haruspex examining the size, shape, color, markings etc. of certain internal organs, usually the liver (hepatoscopy), but also the gall, heart and lungs. There are often references to the Greek and Minoan myths in Etruscan works and it is also clear that divination was an important Etruscan activity.

Calchas, priest of Apollo, (mentioned in Homer's Iliad)examines the liver of a sacrificed sheep.Bronze mirror (Vatican City, Museo Gregoriano Etrusco)

Ficoroni cista from Praeneste (Palestrina), late 4th c

The Ficoroni Cista is a bronze container than held a women’s toiletries. They contained the mirrors, strigils, spatulae and other implements women needed for the care of their bodies. Think about an ancient“caboodle.”

This particular cista was inscribed as a gift from a noble woman as a wedding present for the bride from her mother. It was later placed in her tomb.

. These ornate cylindrical containers were made of sheets of bronze and decorated with engraved friezes.

This cista depicts a scene from the Greek story of Jason and the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece. It is thought that this work was inspired by a original Greel panel painting. On the lid of the cista is a representation of Dionysus flanked by two satyrs.

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Although She-Wolf of the Capitol (circa 500 BCE) is actually an Etruscan sculpture, it is associated with Roman art. The bronze statue, which stands 85 cm (33 in) high, is the symbol of the city of Rome. The mythological Romulus and Remus were supposed to have been kept alive by a wolf in order to fulfill their destiny as founders of the city. The figures of the infants were created during the Renaissance, but the wolf is Etruscan.

According to tradition, Rome was founded on  April 21, 753 BC.    The legend says that Romulus and Remus, the twins of the War God "Mars",  were cast adrift on the River Tiber and survived by being raised by a she-wolf. Romulus later,  during a family feud,  killed his brother Remus.   Romulus was not only the founder of Rome, but also its first King.   The Palatine Hill was already inhabited,  bearing traces of an Early Iron settlement.   The site was chosen,  it is said,   because the River Tiber could be more easily crossed at that point.

The Orator" - A second century BCE life-size representation of Aulus Metellus, magistrate and Master of the Etruscan Language. The inscription (above) on the statue is in Etruscan. and reads AULE-SHI METELI-SH VE VESIAL CLENSHI CEN FLERESH TECESAN-SHL TENINE TUTHINESH XISVLICSH", which may mean something like:"The sons of Aulus Metellus (deceased), holder of public office, placed this statue as a votive gift in his memory as pledged."

                                     

        

Obviously, it is a sculpture representing Roman or Etruscan of the city council and usual for the official to a pose of the orator. He stretches forward the right hand - gesture which becomes traditional and will be repeatedly repeated in the Roman products. Breed and length of a toga, characteristic for early time, confirm dating this monument about 100 years BC. The person is especially interesting; loss of inlaid eyes has deprived with his(its) known share of expressiveness. Nevertheless this portrait image of a real person... In this sculpture there are no elements of idealization of the image peculiar to the Greek portrait.

The Etruscans have indeed become Roman.