Etruscan and Roman

Italian Peninsula End of bronze age (1000 BCE) – north &west occupied by northern people central areas by various peoples, italic languages, Latin too c. 750 BCE - Greeks established colonies in Sicily and the mainland The Etruscans 7 th, 6 th cent. BCE – one people get control of most of north and central Italy, Etruria, and then down till Campania Wealthy farmers and metal workers – bought art made by the Greeks (originals and had copies made); borrowed Greek architecture techniques (temples), Greek gods and heroes Rome 509 BCE – formation of the Roman Republic 5 th cent to end of 3 rd cent. BCE – gradual expansion of Rome and integration of Etruscans into Roman culture; Romans commission and buy much art from Etruscans Impossible to make clear distinctions between Greek, Etruscan and Roman art

Our sources (1 st and 2 nd cent. CE) Vitruvius (Roman), Ten Books on Architecture, compilation of Etruscan and Roman architecture Pliny the Elder (Roman), Naturalis Historia, encyclopedia including art Pliny the Younger (Roman) (domestic architecture) Ovid (Roman), Metamorphoses (Greek and Roman myths and transformations) Virgil (Roman), Aeneid, (Greek v. Roman characters) Pausanias (Greek), writer and traveler, descriptions of Greece Plutarch (Greek) (art v. artist)

Political system – king-based system and a federation of a dozen cities City plan – city divided by 2 main arteries intersecting at business center; protective walls Domestic architecture (known from tombs) – houses around an uncovered central courtyard (atrium) with a pool or cistern fed by rainwater

Porta Augusta, Perugia 3 rd – 2 nd cent. BCE protective walls

Arch, Vault, and Dome

The ARCH voussoirs influence of Greek entablature, Doric frieze (roundels + pilasters) Voussoirs, springing, impost, buttressing Roundels and pilasters

Etruscan Temple Reconstruction and plan based on archeological evidence and descriptions by Vitruvius Podium and staircase Frontal orientation Projecting roof Roof statuary Shape and space division Mud brick, wood or tufa Variations on the column orders Based on Greek temples yet different Reconstruction of the Elevation of the Portonaccio Temple in Veii, B.C.

Roman architectural orders Tuscan order (Vitruvius)

Terra cotta sculpture from Veii, c. 500 bce Head of Hermes (Mercury) Apollo, c. 6 ’ Roof statuary (walking along roof ridgepole) Archaic smile Apollo, Hercules, Diana and Mercury

Vigor and purposeful movement

Underground tombs corbel vaulting, tufa Funerary practices Tombs = homes for the dead No preservation of body = cremation Celebration of life The cemetary at Ceverteri = small town

Burial chamber, tomb of the Triclinium, Tarquinia, BCE

Tomb of the Lionesses Tarquinia, 5 th bce

Tomb of Hunting & Fishing

Tomb of the Reliefs, Ceverteri, 3 rd bce Excavated from rock Plastered, painted walls Stone and stucco furniture

Sarcophagus from Cerveteri, 520 BCE, 6 ’ 7 ” terra cotta sculpture reclining on a triclinium archaic smile

Sarcophagus from Ceverteri, terra cotta, 6 ’ 7 ” long, 520 bce

Etruscan sarcophagi

Cinerary urns, terra-cotta c. 600 and 400 BCE

Terra cotta portrait heads 2 nd cent. BCE Portrait

Bronze Portrait Heads c. 300 bce Brutus (founder and first consul of the first Roman republic) ? Bronze and painted ivory, 12 ” h. masters of the art of bronze sculpture Vitruvius and Pliny the Elder write about how valued these statues were in Italy and Beyond

Head of young Man, Cervereri, 3rd Cent BCE

Etruscan She-Wolf, c. 500 BCE bronze, glass paste, 33 ” Naturalism and stylization

Chimera, bronze, 5 th – 4 th cent. BCE "a thing of immortal make, not human, lion-fronted and snake behind, a goat in the middle, and snorting out the breath of the terrible flame of bright fire “ Homer, The Illiad.