Italy before the Romans:

Etruscan Art
ART ID 111 | Study of Ancient Arts
Slide concept by William V. Ganis, PhD
NYIT Center for Teaching and Learning with Technology

With modifications by Arch. Edeliza V. Macalandag, UAP

ETRUSCAN CIVILIZATION

Etruscan civilization is the modern English name

given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area
corresponding roughly to Tuscany.
The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or
Etrusci. Their Roman name is the origin of the terms
Tuscany, which refers to their heartland, and Etruria,
which can refer to their wider region.
ETRUSCAN CIVILIZATION

The Etruscan civilization flourished in the region of

modern Tuscany in Italy for approximately 900 years, from
ca. 1000 to ca. 100 BCE.
Culture that is identifiably Etruscan developed in Italy
after about 800 BC approximately over the range of the
preceding Iron Age Villanovan culture. The latter gave way
in the 7th century to a culture that was influenced by the
Greek.
It was finally overwhelmed by the Romans, who
absorbed many of its features.
ETRUSCAN ORIGINS

The origin of the Etruscan people is not clear at all.

Their language, although written in a Greek-derived
script and extant in inscriptions that are still in large part
obscure, is unrelated to the Indo-European linguistic
family.
It is likely they were the result of a gradual fusion of
native and immigrant populations. The mixing of peoples
occurred between the end of the B ronze A ge and the so-
called V illanovan era.
Early Etruscan Art
THE CITIES OF ETRURIA

During the eighth and seventh centuries BCE, the

Etruscans, as highly skilled seafarers, enriched
themselves through trade abroad. The territories controlled
by the Etruscans coexisted, but never came together to
form a true Etruscan nation or kingdom.
Early Etruscan art, like Greek art, and equivalent to it
many respects, is divided initially into an Orientalizing
period followed by an Archaic period that lasted until the
fifth century BCE.
ORIENTALIZING ART
Etruscan wealth:
o Iron, tin, copper, and silver were all successfully
mined in Etruria. This great mineral wealth
transformed Etruscan society during the seventh
century BCE. Etruscan aristocrats quickly developed
a taste for luxury objects incorporating Eastern motifs.
Gold jewelry:
o One of the most spectacular objects from the
Regolini-Galassi Tomb is golden fibula made in the
Italic tradition, with five lions in the Orientalizing style.
 http://etruskowie.blogspot.com/2010/09/etruska-bizuteria.html
Fibula
with Orientalizing lions
from the Regolini-Galassi Tomb,
Cerveteri, Italy
ca. 650-64:0 BCE. Gold,
approx. 1' 1/2" high.
Fibula
with Orientalizing lions
from the Regolini-Galassi Tomb,
Cerveteri, Italy
ca. 650-64:0 BCE. Gold,
approx. 1' 1/2" high. http://etruskowie.blogspot.com/2010/09/etruska-bizuteria.html
Fibula
Etruscan jewelry set
Archaic Art and Architecture
Etruscan Temples:
o Etruscan temples were gable-roofed buildings built of
wood and sun-dried brick that stood on a high
podium with entrance stairs on the front side only.
o A deep porch with widely-spaced Etruscan (Tuscan)
columns occupied the front half of the podium, and a
walled enclosure with up to three internal chambers
occupied the other half.
o Exterior decorations made of terracotta included life-
size statues placed on the peak of the roof.
ca. 6th century B.C.E.
as described by Vitruvius
Models of Etruscan temples

http://www.fransite.net/Klassiek/Romeins/kunst/slides/Model%20of
%20a%20typical%20Etruscan%20temple%20of%20the%20sixth
%20century%20BCE,%20as%20described%20by
%20Vitruvius.html
Models of Etruscan temples
as described by Vitruvius
ca. 6th century B.C.E.
One example of a rooftop statue
is the life-size image of Apulu
from a temple in the Portonaccio
sanctuary at Veii.

Apulu (Apollo)
from the Portonaccio Temple, Veii, Italy
ca. 510-500 B.C.E.
painted terracotta
71 in. high

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQZdZycFDa_Zaf_l6eGsS5X-JSeNOREwQ5Jvr08V8yviQYCLCMi
Apulu (Apollo)

from the Portonaccio Temple,

Veii, Italy
ca. 510-500 B.C.E.
painted terracotta
71 in. high http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQZdZycFDa_Zaf_l6eGsS5X-JSeNOREwQ5Jvr08V8yviQYCLCMi
Archaic Art and Architecture
 Houses for the dead:
o Etruscan tombs in the form of mounds with internal rock-
cut chambers were arranged in organized cemeteries.
o The chambers were carved to resemble the interiors of
domestic houses and may also be decorated with
painted stucco reliefs.
o Other underground, rock-cut tombs were painted with
scenes of banqueting and outdoor scenes set in a
natural environment.
Banditaccia necropolis
from Cerveteri, Italy
7th to 2nd centuries B.C.E.
The Necropolis of Banditaccia was
designed as if it were to be inhabited by
living beings. From the principal
thoroughfare of "Via degli Inferi", there are
a number of secondary roads lined with
dozens of circular burial mounds, dug in to
the tuff. The interiors of the tombs are
similar to those of an Etruscan house.
The Tomba dei Rilievi (Tomb of the Reliefs,
3rd century BC) is by far the most
decorative, its walls painted with images of
domestic animals and various utensils for
every day use.

Banditaccia necropolis
from Cerveteri, Italy
7th to 2nd centuries B.C.E.
http://a1.l3-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/101/a9d9e7611a2e4e601ed5221ea812ef9b/l.jpg
Tumulus
from Cerveteri, Italy
7th to 2nd centuries B.C.E.
Tumulus
from Cerveteri, Italy
7th to 2nd centuries B.C.E.
http://eternallycool.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/tomb-entrance-w-figures.jpg
Interior
Tomb of the Reliefs (Tomba dei Rilievi)
Cerveteri, Italy | 3rd century B.C.E.
Interior
Tomb of the Reliefs (Tomba dei Rilievi)
Cerveteri, Italy | 3rd century B.C.E.
Sarcophagus with reclining couple
from Cerveteri, Italy
ca. 520 B.C.E. | painted terracotta | 45 1/2 in. high
Sarcophagus with reclining couple
from Cerveteri, Italy
ca. 520 B.C.E. | painted terracotta | 45 1/2 in. high
 Tarquinia's painted tombs:
o Large underground burial chambers hewn out of the
natural rock were also the norm at Tarquinia.
o But the tumuli do not cover the Tarquinian tombs, and
the interiors do not have carvings imitating the
appearance of Etruscan houses.
o In some cases paintings decorate the tomb chamber
walls.
Detail of mural paintings
in the Tomb of Triclinium| Tarquinia, Italy | ca. 530-52:0 BCE.
Detail of mural paintings
in the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing | Tarquinia, Italy | ca. 530-52:0 BCE.
Later Etruscan art is notable for
bronze sculptures, carved stone
sarcophagi, and the use of the arch
in gateway architecture.

Late Etruscan Art

C himera
(Greek mythology) is a
fire-breathing female
monster with a lion's
head and a goat's body
and a serpent's tail.

Chimera of Arezzo
from the Arezzo, Italy
1st half of 4th century B.C.E.
bronze
31 1/2 in. high
Chimera of Arezzo from the Arezzo, Italy
1st half of 4th century B.C.E. | bronze | 31 1/2 in. high
contested
Capitoline Wolf
(Remus & Romulus added)
from Rome, Italy
ca. 500-480 B.C.E.
bronze
31 1/2 in. high
The F icoroni C ista was found in
an Etruscan woman's tomb in
Palestrina, the center of Etruscan
bronze industry. The fact that his
piece was made by Novios
Plautios, a Roman artist, signifies
the growing importance of Rome
as an Italian cultural and political
center.

NOVIOS PLAUTIOS
Ficoroni Cista
from Palestrina, Italy
late fourth century BCE.
http://www.emforster.info/pages/malcolnia2a.htm
Bronze
approx. 2' 6" high.
http://www.emforster.info/pages/malcolnia2a.htm
Porta Marzia (Gate of Mars)
Perugia, Italy
2nd century B.C.E.
http://www.museumsyndicate.com/images/4/36649.jpg http://www.museumsyndicate.com/images/4/36649.jpg
Sarcophagus of Lars Pulena
from Tarquinia, Italy
Early second century BCE.
Tufa | approx. 6' 6" long.

In Hellenistic Etruria,
the descendants of
the magnificent
Archaic terracotta
sarcophagus from
Cerveteri were
made of local stone.

http://www.museumsyndicate.com/images/4/36661.jpg
http://www.museumsyndicate.com/images/4/36661.jpg
http://www.museumsyndicate.com/images/4/36661.jpg
G lo s s a r y
c h i m e r a A monster of Greek invention with the
head and body of a lion and the tail of a serpent. A
second head, that of a goat, grows out of one side of
the body.
c i s t a ( p l . c i s t a e ) An Etruscan cylindrical
container made of sheet bronze with cast handles
and feet, often with elaborately engraved bodies,
used for women’s toilet articles.
F i b u l a A decorative pin, usually used to fasten
garments.
G lo s s a r y
n e c r o p o l i s Greek, “city of the dead”; a large
burial area or cemetery.
N o v io s P la u t io s Creator of the Ficoroni
Cista, the Etruscan bronze cista depicting an
episode from the Greek story of the expedition of the
Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece.
p e c t o r a l An ornament worn on the chest.
p i l a s t e r A flat, rectangular, vertical member
projecting from a wall of which it forms a part. It
usually has a base and a capital and is often fluted.
G lo s s a r y
r e p o u s s é Formed in relief by beating a metal
plate from the back, leaving the impression on the
face. The metal is hammered into a hollow mold of
wood or some other pliable material and finished
with a graver.
t e r r a c o t t a Hard-baked clay, used for sculpture
and as a building material. It may be glazed or
painted.
T u s c a n c o l u m n The standard type of
Etruscan column. Resembles ancient Greek Doric
S ourc e s

• http://www.wadsworth.com/art_d/templates/student_resources/0155050907_kleine
r/studyguide/ch09/ch09_1.html
• http://websites.swlearning.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?
fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0155050907&discipline_number=436
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscan_civilization
• http://legacy.earlham.edu/~vanbma/20th%20century/images/surveydaynine.htm
• Art Through the Ages, 12th/11th ed., Gardner