1. GARDINER – CHAPTER 9-1 PP. 223-234
THE ETRUSCANS
GARDINER – CHAPTER 9-1 PP

2. THE ETRUSCANS - BACKGROUND
“The Etruscans, as everyone knows, were the people who occupied the middle of Italy in early Roman days, and who the Romans, in their usual neighborly fashion, wiped out completely.” – D. H. Lawrence
Etruscan art -> deeply influenced by, yet different from, Greek art
Etruscan sculpture, painting, and architecture provided the models for early Roman art and architecture
ETRURIA = the territory the Etruscans controlled -> northern and central Italy
Lacked political cohesion

3. EARLY ETRUSCAN ART
Etruscan art divides into period mirroring Greek art –
ETRUSCAN ORIENTALIZING ART = BCE
ETRUSCAN ARCHAIC ART = BCE
ETRUSCAN CLASSICAL AND HELLENISTIC ART = BCE

4. ORIENTALIZING PERIOD OF ETRUSCAN ART
7TH century BCE -> mineral wealth transforms Etruscan society
Villages become cities -> international trade -> foreign goods - > taste for luxury objects
Local artisans inspired by foreign goods with Eastern motifs
Fibula with Orientalizing lions, from Regolini-Galassi tomb, Cerveteri, Italy, ca BCE, 1’ ½ “
FIBULA = clasp or safety pin -> used to fasten a woman’s gown at shoulder
Combines repousse and granulation -> the work is Etruscan but the lions are Eastern motifs

5. ETRUSCAN TEMPLES
Model of a typical 6th century Etruscan temple as described by Vitruvius
Wooden columns, terracotta tiled roof, walls of sun-dried brick
Narrow staircase at center of front of temple, temple sat on a high stone podium, columns only in front, deep porch
TUSCAN COLUMNS = unfluted wooden columns with bases
3 cellas
Pedimental statuary was rare -> life size terracotta narrative statuary on the peak of the temple roof

6. (2-31/1) TEMPLE OF MINERVA (VEII, NEAR ROME, ITALY) AND SCULPTURE OF APOLLO Temple of Minerva plan c BCE Original temple of wood, mud brick, or tufa (volcanic rock); terra cotta sculpture
FLASHCARD

7. (2-31/2) TEMPLE OF MINERVA (VEII, NEAR ROME, ITALY) AND SCULPTURE OF APOLLO Temple of Minerva elevation c BCE Original temple of wood, mud brick, or tufa (volcanic rock); terra cotta sculpture
FLASHCARD

8. (2-31/3) TEMPLE OF MINERVA (VEII, NEAR ROME, ITALY) AND SCULPTURE OF APOLLO Apollo c BCE Original temple of wood, mud brick, or tufa (volcanic rock); terra cotta sculpture
FLASHCARD
Apulu (Apollo), from the roof of the Portonaccio temple, Veii, Italy, ca BCE, 5’11”
Painted terracotta
Calls to mind the Archai korai of the Acropolis in Ionian garb -> but, striding motion, gesticulating arms, calf muscles and animated face are distinctly Etruscan

9. (2-29) SARCOPHAGUS OF THE SPOUSES Etruscan c. 520 BCE Terra cotta
FLASHCARD
Sarcophagus with reclining couple, from Cerveteri, Italy, ca. 520 BCE
Terracotta masterwork of a husband and wife reclining on a banquet couch
Sarcophagus was brightly painted, cast in four sections, monumental size 3’9” x 6”7”
No parallel in Greece -> image is uniquely Etruscan
Man and women are animated -> different rendering of upper and lower parts of the body -> basic legs, unnatural transition to torso -> focus is on upper half of the figures

10. BANDITACCIA NECROPOLIS
Tumuli/mound tombs in the Banditaccia necropolis, Cerveteri, Italy, 7th to 2nd century BCE
Tumulus = similar to Mycenaean Treasury of Atrues
Cerveteri tombs were subterranean multi- chambered tombs cut into the local limestone
Some as large as 130 feet
Tombs arranged along a network of streets
Interiors resembled houses of the living -> beds, chairs, doors and ceiling beams were carved out of the bedrock

11. TOMB OF RELIEFS
Most elaborate in decoration of the Ceveteri tombs Tomb of Reliefs 3rd century BCE
Painted stucco reliefs cover the walls and piers
Tools, mirrors, drinking cups and other items suggest a domestic context

12. (2-32) TOMB OF THE TRICLINIUM Tarquinia, Italy Etruscan c
(2-32) TOMB OF THE TRICLINIUM Tarquinia, Italy Etruscan c BCE Tufa and fresco
FLASHCARD
Interior Tomb of the Triclinium, Tarquinia, Italy, ca BCE
Mural paintings but not carved domestic objects decorate the underground tombs at Tarquinia
Tomb of the Triclinium is a single chamber w/ wall decorations painted in fresco -> takes its name from the three-couch dining room of the ancient Greco-Roman Mediterranean, known as the triclinium
Banqueting couples, servants, and musicians -> all make exaggerate gestures w/large hands
Celebrates life, food, wine, music, and dance -> tone is joyful

13. TOMB OF HUNTING AND FISHING
Diving and fishing, detail of a mural painting in the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing, Tarquinia, Italy, ca BCE
Recalls paintings in Egyptian tombs
Rocks resemble those in Theran Spring Fresco mural
Predates the Greek Tomb of the Diver at Paestum