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Chapter 9 Italy Before the Romans: The Art of the Etruscans Notes
“The Etruscans, as everyone knows, were a people who occupied the middle of Italy in
the early Roman days, and whom the Romans, in their usually neighborly fashion, wiped
out entirely” So writes D. H. Lawrence in Etruscan Places (1929), one of the earliest
modern essays that treated Etruscan art as more than a debased form of Greek art.
Lawrence goes on to say “Most people despise everything BC that isn’t Greek, for the
good reason that it ought to be Greek if it isn’t.” Deeply influenced by, yet different
from, Greek art, Etruscan sculpture, painting, and architecture not only provided the
models for early Roman art and architecture but also had an immediate impact on the art
of the Greek colonies in Italy.
The origins of the Etruscan peoples are somewhat of a mystery. Yet they were very
likely the result of a gradual fusion of native and immigrant populations. This mixing of
peoples corresponded with the Geometric period in Greece.
During the eighth and seventh centuries BC, the Etruscans, as highly skilled seafarers,
enriched themselves thought trade abroad. By the sixth century BC, they controlled most
of northern and central Italy from such strongholds as Tarquinia, Cerveteri, Vulci, and
Veii. But these cities never united to form a state, so it is improper to speak of an
Etruscan “nation” or “kingdom,” only of Etruria, the area occupied by the Etruscans.
The cities coexisted, flourishing or fading on their own. Any semblance of unity among
them was based primarily on common linguistic ties, religious beliefs and practices. This
lack of political cohesion eventually made the Etruscans easy prey for the Romans.
Early Etruscan Art - Orientalizing
The Etruscans gained great wealth from the iron, tin, copper, and silver that was
successfully mined in their territory. This great mineral wealth transformed Etruscan
society in the seventh century BC, turning modest villages into prosperous cities engaged
in international commerce. Etruscan autocrats quickly developed a taste for luxury
objects with Eastern motifs. This was the orientalizing period of Etruscan art.
One fine example of the oriental influence on Etruscan art is this gold fibula, from the so
called Regolini - Galassi Tomb (named for the excavators) at Cerveteri. This unique
shape would fasten to a woman’s gown at the shoulder. The form is of Italic tradition,
but the five lions that walk across the the gold surface were borrowed from the Orient.
The technique of emulating Eastern imports is masterful, combining hammered relief and
granulation (the fusing of tiny metal balls or granules to a metal surface).
Archaic Art and Architecture
Though influenced by Greece, Etruscan artworks depart markedly from their prototypes.
Though their are superficial similarities with Greek temples, the differences far outweigh
them. Because of the materials Etruscan architects used, only the foundations of temples
exist today, providing sufficient information as to the plan of the edifices. The Roman
architect Vitruvious wrote a treatise on architecture near the end of the first century BC.
His information on Etruscan temple design greatly supplements our understanding.
Our example of an Etruscan temple is a model constructed by archeologists based upon
Vitruvious’ account. The structure resembled contemporary Greek stone gable - roofed
temples, but was made of wooden columns and wooden roof, with walls made of
sun-dried bricks. Entrance was possible only through a narrow staircase at the center of
the front of the temple, which sat on a high podium that was the only part of the building
made of stone. Columns were restricted to the front of the building creating a deep
porch that occupied roughly one half the podium setting of one side of the structure as the
main side. In contrast Greek temples were the same in the front and back and had
columns and stairs on all sides. The Etruscan temple was not meant to be seen as a
sculptural mass from the outside and all directions, as were Greek temples. Instead it
functioned primarily as an ornate home for the grand statues of Etruscan gods. It was a
place of shelter, protected by a wide overhang of its roof.
Etruscan columns resembled Greek Doric columns, but were made of wood, were
unfluted and had bases. Because of the lightness of the superstructure they had to
support, Etruscan columns were, as a rule, much more widely spaced than Greek
columns. Unlike their Greek counterparts, Etruscan temples frequently had three
cellas - one for each of their three main gods, Tinia, Uni, and Minrva. Pedimental
statuary was exceedingly rare in Etruria. The Etruscans normally placed narrative
statuary - made of terra-cotta rather than stone - on the peaks of their temple roofs.
Apulu (Apollo)
The finest of these roof top statues to survive today is a life sized image of Apulu which
displays the energy and excitement that characterize Etruscan Archaic art in general. It is
one of a group of at least four painted terra-cotta sculptures that adorned the top of the
temple roof at Veii. The bright paint and rippling folds of Apulu’s garment remind one
of the Ionian korai of the Acropolis. The huge swelling contours, plunging motion,
gesticulating arms, fan like calf muscles, and animated face are distinctly Etruscan. The
statue was discovered in 1916.
Etruscan Sarcophagi
Another Etruscan terra-cotta masterpiece is the sarcophagus in the form of a husband and
wife reclining on a banqueting couch from a tomb in the Cerveteri narcropolis. The
sarcophagus was cast in four sections and is of monumental size, but contained only the
ashes of the deceased. Cremation was the most common means of disposing of the dead
in Italy at this time. This kind of funerary monument had no parallel at this date in
Greece, where there were no monumental tombs that could house such sarcophagi.
The Greeks buried their dead in simple graves marked by a stele or statue.
The image of a husband and wife sharing the same banqueting couch is uniquely
Etruscan. While Greeks commonly depicted banqueting scenes on their vases, only the
men dined at the symposia. The independent spirit and relative freedom women enjoyed
in Etruscan society horrified and threatened Greek and Roman authors at the time. The
idea of women attending banquets with their husbands and reclining on common couches
was also shocking and frightening to Aristotle. Only men, boys, slave girls, and
prostitutes attended Greek symposia. The wives remained at home, excluded from most
aspects of public life. Etruscan women also attended sporting events which was not
allowed for Greek women. Etruscan women were also mentioned in inscriptions
commemorating someone. The mother and father were both mentioned father than just
the father.
The man and woman on the sarcophagus are as animated as was Apulu, even though they
are at rest. They are the antithesis of the stiff and formal Egyptian figures and are a
striking contrast to the contemporary Greek statues with their emphasis on proportion and
balance. Typically Etruscan is the manner in which the sculptor rendered the upper and
lower parts of each body. The legs were only summarily modeled, and the transition to
the torso at the waist is unnatural. The Etruscan artist focused on the upper half of the
figures creating vibrant faces and gesticulating arms. This gesturing is still an important
ingredient in Italian conversation today. The Etruscan figures speak to viewers in away
that the cerebral aesthetic of the Greek statues could never do.
The Houses of the Dead at Cerveteri
The Etruscan tombs at Cerveteri are in the form of a mound called a tumulus. Etruscan
tumulus covered one or more subterranean multi chambered tombs cut out of dark local
limestone called tufa. These burial tombs sometimes reached colossal size, with
diameters in excess of 130 feet. They were arranged in cemeteries in an orderly manner
along a network of streets, prodding the effect of veritable cities of the dead called
necropolis in Greek, and were always located some distance from the cities of the living.
The underground chambers cut into the rock resembled the houses of the living. One
cannot help but notice the differences in values between the Greeks and the Etruscans.
The Etruscan temples no longer stand because of the materials they were made of, but
their grand subterranean tombs are as permanent as the bedrock itself. The Greeks
employed stone for shrines of their gods but only rarely built monumental tombs for their
dead.
The most elaborate of the underground tombs in decoration and plan is the so called
Tomb of the Reliefs. It accommodated several generations of a single family as other
Etruscan tombs. The wall and piers were as usual, gouged out of the tufa bedrock, but in
this instance brightly colored stucco reliefs depicting stool, mirrors, drinking cups,
pitchers, and knives cover the walls. These motifs suggest a domestic context and
underscore the connection between the houses of the dead and those of the living.
Painted Tombs at Tarquinia
Large underground burial chambers hewn out of natural rock were the norm at Tarquinia.
The tombs however were not covered with tumuli and the interiors were not relief
carvings giving the appearance of an Etruscan house. Some did however have paintings
that decorated the chamber walls. Statistically rare, paintings were the privilege of only
the wealthiest Etruscan families.
A characteristic example of a tomb painting is from the fifth century BC and has been
called the Tomb of the Leopards, named for the beasts that guard the interior of the
painted chamber from their perch within the rear wall pediment. Mythological figures
were uncommon in Tarquinian murals. Banqueting figures, male and female, adorn the
walls - painted versions of the terra-cotta sarcophagus from Cerveteri. Pitcher and cup
bearers serve them, and musicians entertain them. In characteristic Etruscan fashion, the
figures all make exaggerated gestures with unnaturally large hands. The man on the
couch at the far right on the rear wall holds up an egg as a symbol of regeneration. The
tone is joyful. The painting is a celebration of life, food, wine, music, and dance rather
than a somber contemplation of death.
Later Etruscan Art
The fifth century BC was the golden age in Greece but not in Etruria. In 509 BC, the
Romans expelled the last of their Etruscan kings, replacing the monarchy with a
republican form of government. In 474 BC, the Cumaean Greeks and the Sicilians
defeated the Etruscan fleet ending their dominance at sea and with it their prosperity.
With this decline, Etruscan culture declined and grew smaller. The quantity of tombs and
the quality of work grew lesser. Etruscan art did not cease, but grew less productive,
even though terra-cotta and bronze works were still impressive.
Classical Art
The best known of these later Etruscan statues - one of the most memorable portrayals of
an animal in the history of world art - is the Capitoline Wolf. The statue is a somewhat
larger than life-size hollow-cast bronze portrayal of the she wolf that, according to
legend, nursed Remus and Romulus after they were abandoned by infants. When the
twins grew to adulthood, they quarreled, and Romulus killed his brother. On April 21,
753 BC, Romulus founded Rome on the Palatine Hill and became the cities king. The
statue of the she-wolf seems to have been made, however, for the new Roman Republic.
It became the new government’s totem. The defiant image has remained the emblem of
Rome to this day. The Capitoline Wolf is not a Roman work of art but the product of an
Etruscan work shop. The suckling infants are additions by the Italian Renaissance
sculptor Antonio Pollaiuolo. The ferocity and tenseness of the animal is among the
greatest rendering of animal temperament and matches if not surpasses the Assyrian
reliefs.
Arezzo’s Bronze Chimera
Another masterpiece of Etruscan bronze casting found in 1553 and greatly admired
during the Renaissance, is the Chimera of Arezzo, which dates a century later than the
Capitoline Wolf. The Chimera is a monster of Greek invention with a lion’s head and
body and a serpent's tail. A second head that of a goat grows out of the lion’s left side.
The goat’s neck bears the wound the Greek hero Beller-ophon inflicted when he hunted
and slew the composite beast. As rendered by the Etruscan sculptor, the creature is
nowhere near defeated. Defiant till the end
Etruscan Art and the Rise of Rome
At about the time the Chimera of Arezzo was fashioned, Rome began to take over
Etruscan territory through siege, negotiation, and annexation. This growing power is
indirectly referenced on the Ficoroni Cista. Etruscan artists produced such cistae, made
of sheet bronze with cast handles and feet and elaborately engraved bodies, in large
numbers from the fourth century BC forward. Along with engraved bronze mirrors, they
were popular gifts for both the living and the dead. The Etruscan bronze cista industry
was centered in Palestrina where our piece was found. The inscription on the cista’s
handle states that Dindia Macolnia, a local noblewoman, gave the bronze container to her
daughter and that the artist was one NOVIOUS PLAUTIOS. According to the
inscription, his workshop was not in Palestrina but in Rome, which by this date was
becoming an important Italian cultural and political center.
The engraved frieze on the Ficoroni Cista depicts an episode from the Greek story of the
expedition of the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece. Scholars agree that the
composition is an adaptation of a lost Greek panel painting, perhaps one on display in
Rome. This testifies to the growing wealth and power of Rome. The Greek source for
the engraving is evident in the figures seen entirely from behind or in three-quarter view,
and in their placement on several levels in the Polygnotan manner.
Torment in the Underworld
Descendants of the terra cotta sarcophagus from Cerveteri were made of local stone. The
sarcophagus of Lars Pulena was fashioned in the early second century BC and placed in
his family’s tomb. The deceased is shown in a reclining position, but not at a festive
banquet, and his wife is not present. His expression is somber; a far cry from the smiling
confident faces of the Archaic period when Etruria enjoyed its greatest prosperity.
Similar heads - realistic but generic types, not true portraits - are found on all later
Etruscan sarcophagi and in tomb paintings. They are symptomatic of the economic and
political decline of the once - mighty Etruscan city - states.
Also attesting to the gloomy assessment of the future is the theme chosen for the coffin
proper. The deceased is shown in the underworld, attacked by two Charuns (Etruscan
death demons) swinging lethal hammers. Above on the lid, Lars Pulena exhibits a
partially unfurled scroll inscribed with his life’s accomplishments. Lacking confidence in
a happy afterlife, he dwells instead on the past.
Etruscan or Roman
The portrait of Aule Metele, is supremely self - confident. He is portrayed as a
magistrate raising his arm to address the assembly - hence the modern nickname
Arringatore (Orator). This life-size bronze statue was discovered in 1566, near Lake
Tranimeno, and is another Etruscan masterpiece known to Italian Renaissance sculptors.
The statue of the Orator proves that Etruscan artists continued to be experts of bronze
casting long after the heyday of Etruscan prosperity. The orator is Etruscan in name
only, for by this time all Italy became Roman with the conferring citizenship on all of
Italy’s inhabitants at the end of the so called Social War which ended in 89 BC. The
portrait of Aule Metele is indistinguishable from contemporary Roman portraits.