CLAS242 Regal Period

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Tomb of the Shields and Chairs

Banditaccia necropolis, Cerveteri

Regal Period

753-509BCE

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Golden Fibula

Regolini‐Galassi tomb

Regal Period

753-509BCE

• made of solid gold

  • symbolizing high status

• kind of clasp/safety pin

  • for hair/cloak but more likely hair since it’s pretty big

• Fibula bones

  • in leg

  • zigzagging pattern on them

  • possibly representing two rivers that separate the overworld (upper lion panel) from the underworld (lower duck panel)

• “Orientalizing”

  • styles imported from Near East

  • term no longer used

  • Hathor

    • engraved sideways on piece

    • Etruscan’s trade/sharing of ideas with Egyptians

• Repoussé

  • indents/raised surface pushed out from back

  • seen in lions

• Granulation

  • bits of metal melted used to create patterns/shapes

  • leaves pattern surrounding lions

• Filigree

  • thin metal wires sautered onto the piece with metal gold

  • edges of bands

• Corinthian styles coming from trade through the city

  • one East port and one West

    • things imported through there and across land onto another boat

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Ivory Pixus, Pania burial, Chiusi

Regal Period

753-509BCE

• Northern Africa

• DNA Analysis - Hippopotamus

  • majority of ivory at the time

• Bands/Registers

  • dividing decorative piece into zones to aid in narrative composition

• Seen a lot in Corinth

• Burial context giving status symbol

• Two registers filled with scenes of Homer’s Odyssey

  • escape from Polyphemus

  • escape from Scylla

  • introduction of Greek narrative into Etruscan art

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Terracotta “canopic” urn

Chiusi

Regal Period

753-509BCE

• Not essentially canopic

  • just people trying to justify their own ideas of where the Etruscans came from

• Urn is made to look human, ressembling person inside - made of 3 pieces:

  • Head

    • holes in face to place death mask when not in use

    • style of face is very Etruscan

  • Body

    • holds the ashes inside

    • handles on sides broken, but originally meant to be like arms with hands resting on hips

  • Chair

    • known Etruscan symbol passed down to Roman to show signify Elite male status

    • many different ideas associating a status to this person

      • could be sat receiving people into their home

      • could be from the Roman military

      • could be a throne

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Couple sarcophagus from Cerveteri

Regal Period

753-509BCE

• Common to eat/sleep in reclined chairs such as this

• VERY taboo to show woman doing this, such as in this statue

  • since women are private

  • Etruscans known to show more of women doing these things

    • sports, eating, etc.

    • seemingly different status for women than in other cultures

      • slightly more equal to men

• faces closer to a Greek style

  • almond eyes, pointed chins, goofy little smiles, kind of braided hair.

• Intimacy

  • man’s right arm around woman’s back

• hands possibly holding things associated with burials

  • jewelry, wine cup, perfume, garland, etc.

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Apollo of Portonaccio Sanctuary

Veii

Regal Period

753-509 BCE

• best example of mixture culture

  • Etruscan Apullu - Greek Apollo

  • not exactly the same worship strategies

  • same iconography/ideology

• Acroterion

  • decorative sculpture on roof on the temple

    • meant to be seen from distance

• Terracotta

  • would’ve been painted

• Kouros

  • statue of young male in his prime

  • 18-22 years old

  • gifts to deities

  • early versions often straight-backed with little to no movement

  • defined as being naked

    • as a hero = nudism

• this statue is different from a kouros

  • clothed, though very thin fabric to still show everything off

  • very dynamic posing - in mid stride

    • due to Etruscan style and use of terracotta - easier to create dynamics than marble

• Greek influences

  • kouros

  • face styles, hair, body

  • support column in middle has Ionic designs seen on columns in Ionia

  • very inspired by Eastern Greek styles

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Minvera Tritonia

Lavinium, Latium

Regal Period

753-509BCE

• very Etruscan and Greek iconography

  • Helmet + Armour + Shield

  • Snake

• shows no point of intersection with Greek styles

  • very slender/up an down posture/columnar

    • unlike Greek

• Medusa Cloak

  • medusa myth - head put onto cloak

• Triton

  • half-man half-fish

  • association non existent in Greek mythology

  • very Etruscan localized

  • showing her association with the sea

• Acroterion

  • originally painted

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House urn

Forum Romanum

Regal Period

753-509BCE

• found in Roman cemetery at the north end of the forum

• kept cremation tradition from Etruscans

• putting ancestors into houses seemed important

• Replication of Roman house

  • ground impressions of real things only true evidence aside from these smaller versions

  • single room

  • wattle and daub roof

    • woven branches for support covered in mud

      • essentially reinforced mud

    • thatched to deter water away from mud walls of homes

• Roman pit burials

  • sometimes placed in large terracotta jar with other grave goods before being buried

  • simple burials

  • shows difference between Etruscans and Romans

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Temple of Fortuna acroterion of Hercules and Athena

Regal Period

753-509BCE

• low slope of Capitoline Hill

• Terracotta

• Acroterions

• Hercules

  • known from lion skin cloak with buckled belt

    • myth of him fighting the Nemean lion

    • style can be traced to Cyprus

• Athena

  • helmet and spear

  • Greek features and body proportions

• Together

  • mythology of Hercules’ ascension into Godhood

    • Athena brought him in

    • Apotheosis

• Temple itself was Etrusco-Italic

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Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus plan/model

Regal Period

753-509BCE

• Capitoline Hill

• later becomes most important Roman structure throughout history

  • hosted senate meetings

  • triumphs parades through the city would end here

  • public sacrifices (done outside at front)

• Capitolline Triad

  • Jupiter, Juno, Minerva

  • 3 rooms inside (celli) for each one

  • temples considered to be the houses of the Gods

  • very rare in Greek architecture

• Earliest kings made earliest version of the temple

  • consistently burnt down/destroyed and rebuilt

• example of Roman/Italic temple

  • square rather than rectangular

  • no columns around back

  • basic form different from Greek

    • deep front porch

    • focused on one entrance

• First temple to appear on Roman coinage

  • Emperor Petillius coin 43BCE

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Murlo (Poggio Civitate) reconstruction illustration of Archaic phase buildings

Regal Period

753-509BCE

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Murlo (Poggio Civitate) terracotta plaque of horse race

Regal Period

753-509BCE

• Horse race

  • game? competiton?

• Torch holder at left end

  • piece to end composition

  • turning point in the track

    • did truly exist

• Horse dynamics

  • not true to life but rather to just get the impression of movement across

• Hierarchy of Scale

  • representing status/importance

  • stylistic choice

  • if humans were to stand they’d be bigger than the horses

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Murlo (Poggio Civitate) terracotta plaque of banquet scene

Regal Period

753-509BCE

• Greek style banquet

• Reclined dining

  • signifying elite status

  • another rare example of women dining alongside men in art

• Distinction of Men vs. Women

  • men have red hairbands

  • difference in hairstyles between the two

  • hierarchy of scale

    • women are smaller

• not an example of everyday Etruscan dining

  • cups and dining wares are ceremonial vessels from Greece and Near Eastern reliefs

  • possibly signifies a religious context of the piece?

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Murlo (Poggio Civitate) terracotta plaque of assembly scene

Regal Period

753-509BCE

• context of scene hard to discern

• Hieros gamos - “holy marriage”

  • Woman drawing veil over her face

    • very specifically marriage

    • fancier chair than the rest

  • may refer to marriage between god and goddess

    • Jupiter and Juno

• Seated men

  • bigger than standing

  • showing importance

  • holding various different objects

    • Axe - Hephaestus in hieros gamos

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Wall painting of Achilles and Troilus

Regal Period

753-509BCE

• Etruscan tomb painting in Tomb of Bulls

  • painting of Achilles in tomb

  • Someone liked the story?

  • A hero buried in this tomb?

  • More so just a story representing death

• Myth of Achilles and Troilus

  • there was prophecy that Troy would not fall if Troilus, prince of Troy, reached his 20th birthday

  • Achilles went to where Troilus was known to bring his horse to drink and killed Troilus

• Demonstrates how Etruscans paid attention to Greek myths/were a part of that literary sphere

• Body proportions very Greek

• Horror Vacui

  • fear/horror of emptiness/blank spaces/vacuum

  • Etruscans filled everything in with art so there would be no blank spaces

  • using plants to help composition

• Below panel

  • four trees - four seasons? representing passage of time

  • Garlands - not reality, but rather myth/fiction

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Wall painting of events from funeral games

Regal Period

753-509BCE

• Funeral games

• Etruscan thick thighs

• More direct styles from Greece

  • beard/art style

• Difference in facial hair showing age difference?

• Attempt of torso profile rather than twisted nonsense

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Elite dining and outdoor scenes

Regal Period

753-509BCE

Upper panel

• Dining scene

  • fond of dining? funeral feast?

  • garlands showing symbolic nature of it

Lower Panel

• hunting/fishing scene

• boat fishers

• slingshot at birds

  • most deadly weapon in antiquity

• time for hunting

  • leisure time

    • don’t have to spend every second working, can take the time to do something “fun”

  • warcraft practice

• garlands

  • not actual

  • possible vision of the afterlife?

    • “this is what i liked doing during life, this is what I will do all the time in the afterlife”

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Remains of the Doric temple in the Triangular Forum

Regal Period

753-509BCE

• Pompeii

• first Roman building of a Greek style

• very close to Greek colonies

  • possible reason to why it took on a Greek style

• Greek signifers":

  • low three step platform

  • surrounding colonnade on all sides

  • Doric capitals

  • possibly dedicated to Minerva and Hercules

    • two cella, one for each

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