Topic 2.4.1 Etruscan Art
Italy during the Etruscan Period
The Etruscan civilization flourished in central Italy between the 8th and 3rd century BCE. The culture was renowned in antiquity for its rich mineral resources and as a major Mediterranean trading power. Much of its culture and even history was either obliterated or assimilated into that of Rome conquering in 351 BCE.
The Etruscan and Greek architectural styles influenced the Roman artistic tradition.
The true arch was invented by the Etruscans before Rome adopted it and made it concrete.
Etruscan culture occupied the territory between the Arno and Tiber rivers in central Italy between ca. 700-89 BCE.
Periods of Etruscan culture includes the
900 to 700 BC – Villanovan period.
700–575 BC – Orientalizing period.
575–480 BC – Archaic period.
480–300 BC – Classical period.
Around 700 BCE, the Etruscans contacted Eastern cultures such as Greeks, Phoenicians, and Egyptians, marking the start of their culture's Orientalizing period.
Like the Greek’s Orientalizing period, Etruria's art reflects Eastern themes and motifs. Animals like lions, leopards, and mythological composite creatures like sphinxes and griffins were frequently depicted.
The Etruscans were sea-faring traders; although there were many Etruscan cities, they were not united. Their lack of unity eventually left them easy prey for the Romans.
Their historical periods mirror those of Ancient Greece and the Etruscans shared some traditions, gods, and heroes with the Greeks and others of the Italic culture.
The Etruscans developed distinct styles of painting and sculpture. The Romans destroyed most Etruscan art and literature to lessen the legacy of their kings. Most Etruscan artifacts were found underground. Roman architect Vitruvius recorded some Etruscan art.
Etruscan's worship of their gods and goddesses were not in monumental temples as the ones in Greece but rather in nature.
Ritual spaces were in groves and enclosures open to the sky.
The Etruscans were skilled metalworkers, especially in bronze, and traded widely in the Mediterranean.
The Etruscans emerged as a distinct culture during ca. 900-700 BCE. Trading with Mesopotamia inspired the incorporation of their motifs into Etruscan goods.
During their Archaic Period, they began to construct temples of mud brick and wood with columns and stairs only on the front and terracotta statuary on the roof.
Etruscans buried their dead beneath huge mounds of earthen tumulus that were multichambered tombs that resembled houses. These tombs featured fresco painting depicting banquets and funerary games.
Tumulus refers to a type of burial mound or burial mound that is typically created by piling up earth, stones, or other materials over a grave or graves.
During the Hellenistic period, artist excelled in bronze casting, engraving mirrors, stone sarcophagi. Architects constructed arcuated gateways often with engaged columns or pilasters.
Etruscan Temples are vastly different from Greek Temples
Only the foundations survived because of the materials they used.
Vitruvius commented about Etruscan architecture in his treatise
Italy in the sixth century consisted of Greek colonies to the south, Romans in Rome, Northern Italy a confederacy of a dozen Etruscan city-states.
Etruscans were conquered by Rome in the 3rd century BCE.
Etruscan Required Works
Sarcophagus of the Spouses. C. 520 BCE. Terracotta.
This sarcophagus from Cerveteri of about 520 BCE, made entirely of terracotta, depicts a husband and wife who are shown reclining comfortably, as if they were on a couch.
Rather than a cold, somber memorial to the dead, we see two lively, happy individuals rendered in sufficient detail to convey current hair and clothing styles.
These portrait coffins evolved from terracotta cinerary jars with sculpted heads of the deceased.
Their closeness and the way the husband seems to envelop his wife to convey affection. Couples are equal in status, reflecting ancient Etruria's view of women. Etruscan women did attend banquets and share a couch with their husbands. Aristotle noted the custom. It shocked and terrified the Greeks.
In contrast to Greek sculpture, Etruscan figures have no sense of skeletal structure and ‘stop’ abruptly at the waist, indicating the Etruscan preference for stylistic effects over anatomical accuracy.
The sharp bend at the waists and the animated gestures create the illusion of lively, sociable dinner companions, reclining in the style adopted for banqueting from the Greeks. The couple seems very much alive, as if to deny the fact of their deaths.
Temple of Minerva (Veii, near Rome, Italy) and sculpture of Apollo Master sculptor Vulca. c. 510–500 BCE. Original temple of wood, mud brick, or tufa (volcanic rock); terra cotta sculpture. 3 images
The tufa-block foundations remain, the main evidence as to the existence of the temple.
It follows the typical Etruscan temple plan
Divided into two parts with a deep front porch with widely-spaced Tuscan Columns.
The rear is divided into three separate areas known as a triple cella.
The three room configuration is associated with the divine triad associated with the temple.
One possibility is Minerva, Tinia (Jupiter/Zeus) and Uni (Juno/Hera).
Etruscan temples had a stone gable roof, wood columns, a tile covered timber roof and walls of sundried mud brick.
Columns were wood, unfluted and placed only at the front. These columns are known as Tuscan columns because the differ from the Doric order in that they have a base. Narrow staircase at the center of the façade leads to the entry.
Etruscan temple proportions are 6:5. The columns create a deep porch which occupies half the podium.
Greek temples differ in that they had steps and columns on all sides.
Apollo of Veii
Etruscans usually placed life sized sculptures on the roof of their temples. These were created from terra-cotta and not stone.
The Apollo can possibly be attributed to the artist by the name of Vulca.
Roman writer Pliny recorded that Vulca had been summoned from Veii to Rome to decorate their most important temple, the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus.
Sculpting in terracotta required much skill.
The sculptures would have been modeled in an additive process not a subtractive one.
Apollo wears an Archaic smile, but one that is much more animated than that of the Kouros figures found in Greece. His proportions are different as well from the strict proportion canon of the Greeks.
He looks directly at Hercules. Their faces and bodies are stylized, enlarged shoulders.
In Greek temples these sculptures would have been seen in the pediment; in Etruscan temples, the sculptures are placed on the roof top. Like the Greeks, their sculpture is highly painted.
Based on a tale where Hercules is sent to capture a large deer with golden horns, to annoy Artemis and he promises that once he has shown the king that sent him that he captured it it is returned.
Sculptures are full of movement and life.
Apollo strides forward while Hercules’ body leans with a raised knee emphasizes his musculature and animation
Tomb of the Triclinium; Tarquinia, Italy. Etruscan. c. 480–470 bce. Tufa and fresco.
The Etruscans amassed wealth based on Italy’s natural resources of metal and mineral ores that they exchanged through medium and long-range trade networks.
Found in the Monterozzi necropolis of Tarquinia, Italy, it consists of chamber tombs or subterranean rock-cut chambers accessed by an approach way (dromos).
A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave.
Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could also serve as places for storage of the dead from one family or social group and were often used over long periods for multiple burials.
The Tomb of the Triclinium is a single chamber with wall decorations painted in fresco. The tombs not only contained the remains of the deceased, but it included grave goods or offerings.
fresco: a painting done rapidly in watercolor on wet plaster on a wall or ceiling so that the colors penetrate the plaster and become fixed as it dries.
The tomb takes its name from the triclinium, the three-couch dining room of the ancient Greco-Roman Mediterranean.
Rear wall carries the main scene consisting of the banqueters enjoying a dinner party.
Figures recline on couches or klinai.
Each “couch” host a male and a female.
Diners are dressed in bright clothing.
Two attendants, one male, one female serve the guests.
Under the couches are a large cat, a large rooster and a bird.
The dinner party had entertainment with dancers flanking the left and right walls. On the left, four dancers, 3 female and one male, plus a musician playing the barbiton, ancient instrument like a lyre.
Etruscan funerals were never somber but festive with the aim of sharing a final meal with the deceased.
A portion of the meal along with the dishes and utensils for eating and drinking were left in the tomb.
Activities surrounding the funeral were meant to reinforce the socioeconomic position of the deceased person and a way for the community of the living to be reminded of their position in society.
In the fresco, the females’ skins are light while the males’ skins are dark.
An overall convivial tone of the Etruscan funeral; they were even often accompanied by funeral games.
Games are on the walls flanking the tomb’s entrance that show scenes of youths on horses.