ETRUSCAN ARTChapter 6, part I

When?

10th century BCE to 270 BCE

Height: 7th – 6th centuries BCE

ETRUSCAN KEY IDEAS:

• We learned about Etruscan civilizations by studying their elaborate NECROPOLI filled with tombs that resemble large rooms in a home.

• Etruscan sculptures and temples are heavily influenced by Archaic Greek works

• Etruscans were experts at sculpting with bronze and terra-cotta clay

Who were the Etruscans?

• Etruscans lived in Italy before Romans arrived

• Existed in the bronze age- same as archaic period in Greece

• Language and customs different than Romans (used Greek alphabet)

• Never formed a unified nation- city states eventually fell to the Romans in the 4th and 5th centureis BCE.

First let’s look at their architecture…

Characteristics of Etruscan Architecture:

• Their tombs were tightly packed in NECROPOLI throughout Tuscany (in Italy)- named after the Etruscans

• Most tombs- round with door leading to large interior chamber• Interior chamber is brightly painted to reflect interior of a

house• Tombs have symbols of Etruscan lifestyle on walls• Entire families (w/ servants) are buried in one tomb• Architect Vitruvius wrote about their temples a lot• Inspired by Greeks- pediments, columns, cella• Etruscan buildings made of wood and terra-cotta, not stone• Single flight of stairs leading to main entrance (not steps

surrounding whole building)• Sculptures put on rooftops to announce presence of deity

within.

Model of an Etruscan Temple

Reconstruction of Etruscan Temple • No ruins because they were built of wood, unlike non-religious architecture• Design is similar to Greek temples- tall base (podium), deep porch, cella was

subdivided into 3 parts- religion based on a triad of gods• No assigned space for sculptures

• Written descriptions by Vitruvius help us imagine it

• Temples made of mud-brick and wood

• Steps in front bring your attention to deep porch

• Columns and capitals- Greek influence• Columns are unfluted- TUSCAN ORDER• Whole structure is raised on a PODIUM• Three doors represent three gods• We don’t know much about their religious

beliefs

Apollo from Veii(figure stood on top of a temple) More about him later!

Tuscan Order

Embellished with painting and terra-cotta sculpture

Large statue groups on roof, not pediment

Etruscan

Greek

Differences?

Etruscan- divided into three rooms- housed cult statues Greek

Cerveteri , 7th to 6th century BCE

• Tombs = homes for the dead• Didn’t preserve body (cremation instead)• Cemetery of La Banditaccia at Cerveteri- laid out like a town with

“streets” running between grave mounds• Covered with dirt and stones

TUMULUS: artificial mound of earth and stones placed over grave

Remind you of anything?

Philip JohnsonPainting Gallery (1965)

Influences?

Philip JohnsonGlass House in New Canaan, CT

Burial Chamber, Tomb of the Reliefs, in Cerveteri 3rd Century BCE

• Walls plastered and painted, fully furnished• Couches carved out of stone• Other furnishings made of STUCCO (a slow-drying type of

plaster that can be molded and carved easily.

Family dog in low relief

Tomb of the Seats and Shields, 7th – 6th centuries BCE

• Underground rock-cut tombs reflect domestic architecture

• Ceiling cut with pretend rafters

• Large armchairs frame doorway

• Windows, furniture, objects- all cut out of rock

• Stone objects are eternal in the afterlife

• Large circular shields hang from walls

Port Augusta, 3rd Century BCE

• Masters of architectural engineering (according to Romans)

• Very ordered urban planning- streets were centered along 2 main thoroughfares to form quarters

• Intersection of 2 main streets = business center

• Port Augusta was a fortified city gate and a façade- semi-circular true arches-first use of the integrated arch- combining with architectural orders which highly influenced the Romans

Tunnel-like passageway between two huge towersSemi-circular barrel vault over passageway

• Construction of wedge-shaped blocks called voussoirs, each pointing to the center

• Round arch discovered by the Egyptians, but used mainly underground and never in temples

• Used in Mesopotamia for city gates• Greeks confined its use to underground structures and gateways• Etruscans and Romans were the first to make widespread use of arches

and vaults

Now let’s learn about Etruscan painting…

• Surviving Etruscan painting is funerary• Done on walls and ceilings of tombs• About 280 chambers still exist• Brightly painted frescoes• Cheerful celebrating, dancing, eating,

playing music• Hard to draw parallels to Greek because

not much Greek painting from this time period exists

Tomb of the Leopards, 480-470 BCE

details

• Banquet couples recline, eating in ancient manner• Men darker than women• Trees between figures, bushes grow beneath couches (rural

setting?)• Maybe a funeral banquet, but emotions are of celebration!

• Ceiling with

checkerboard

pattern

• Circles may

symbolize time

• Dancing figures play musical instruments

• Festive celebration of the dead

DANCERS AND DINERS, TOMB OF THE TRICLINIUMTarquinia, Italy. c. 480-470 BCE

Tomb of Hunting and Fishing, 520 BC

• Elaborate murals in the burial chambers, perhaps to keep the spirit happy

• Rhythmic quality similar to Minoan, but not weightless

• Could be influenced by Egyptian tomb paintings, but its more lifelike

BOYS CLIMBING ROCKS AND DIVING, TOMB OF HUNTING AND FISHINGTarquinia, Italy. 6th century BCE

Diver tomb at Paestum (c. 475 BCE)

Musicians and two Dancers, 480 -470 BC

Full of energy, females differ from males in color, just like Egypt

Remind you of anything?

And now it’s time for some Etruscan sculpture!

Characteristics of Etruscan SCULPTURE:

• Terra-cotta, stucco, and bronze (sometimes stone)• Terra-cotta was modeled rather than carved• Fired large works in kilns• Shows some awareness of Greek Archaic art – but some

differences:

GREEK sculpture:• Kouros are stoic and proud• Occasional light smile• Broad shoulders of men• Stylized hair• Nudity

ETRUSCAN sculpture:• Figures move dynamically in

space• Figures aware of the world

around them• Broad shoulders, stylized hair• Avoided nudity

RECLINING COUPLE ON A SARCOPHAGUS FROM CERVETERIc. 520 BCE. Terra cotta, length 6'7”

What is this object? Where was it found? When was it made? What does it signify about the

culture that made it?

• Sarcophagus of married couple- ashes inside• Full-length portraits. Can you see the influence of ancient Greece?• Both held objects in hands- egg maybe? (to symbolize life after

death?)• Concentration on upper body (legs got little attention when sculpted)• Bodies make unrealistic L-turn to the legs • Tradition of reclining while eating- banquet couch• Man has protective gesture around woman• Woman is feeding the man (symbiosis)• Reflects high standing of women in society (relative equality)• Broad shoulders• Little anatomical modeling• Emaciated hands• Made in separate pieces and joined together

Sarhacopgus from Cerveteri

Apollo from Veii, c. 510 BCE, terra-cotta, 5’ 10”

• Veii had sculptures lining the ridge of the roof (including this one)

• One of four large figures that once stood on the temple

• Stood on roof = meant to be seen from below

• Muscular, details, in motion- more expressive than archaic Greek sculptures of the time

• Has spirit, moves forward quickly • Archaic smile• Made of terra cotta

c. 510 BCE

In Italy

c. 530 BCE in Greece

c. 490 BCE, Greece

CAPITOLINE SHE-WOLFc. 500 BCE (Boys underneath, 15th century CE).

Bronze, height 33-1/2”

• Alert, snarling, protective, aware, tense, watchful, fierce

• Very thin body (bones)• No mane or curly hair• Face isn’t wolf-like• Story of Romulus and

Remus suckled by the She-Wolf – later became founders of Rome

• Children added later in the Renaissance

• Scholars think this might be a Medieval copy of an Etruscan original

In 2006 the Italian art historian Anna Maria Carruba and the Etruscologist Adriano La Regina contested the traditional dating of the wolf on the basis of an analysis of the casting technique. Carruba had been given the task of restoring the sculpture in 1997, enabling her to examine how it had been made. She observed that the statue had been cast in a single piece using a variation of the lost-wax casting technique that was not used in ancient times; ancient Greek and Roman bronzes were typically constructed from multiple pieces, a method that facilitated high quality castings with less risk than would be involved in casting the entire sculpture at once. Single-piece casting was, however, widely used in medieval times to mould bronze items that needed a high level of rigidity, such as bells and cannon.

Romulus and Remus - 16th century addition

Chimera of Arezzo, 400-350 BCE, bronze

Chimera of Arezzo, 400-350 BCE, bronze

• Composite: lion head and body, goat’s neck springing from spine, snake for a tail

• Angry, snarling, wounded, posed for attack (look out!)• Richly articulated anatomy- spikelike mane, hurt defensive

posture

Engraved mirror back, c.400 BC

• Became master craftsmen in metal

• Produced small mirrors and statues for domestic use and export

• Probably inspired by Greeks but not Greek subject- winged person looking at a liver of a sacrificial animal

• Etruscans strongly believed in omens- will of the gods manifest itself through natural occurences (thunderstorms, flights of birds)

• Priests who could interpret omens were revered

• Priests “read” the liver of sacrificed animals to make predictions

Portrait of a Boy, 3rd century BC

• Portraiture showed up only after the influence of the Greeks

• Worked in Bronze- sensitive and gentle expression

ETRUSCAN VOCABULARY:

• NECROPOLIS: “city of the dead”- large burial area

• STUCCO: a fine plaster used for wall decorations and moldings

• TERRA-COTTA: hard ceramic clay used for buildings, pottery,

sculpture, etc.

• TUMULUS: an artificial mound of earth and stones placed over a

grave