Italy before the Romans: Etruscan ArtART ID 111 | Study of Ancient Arts

Slide concept by William V. Ganis, PhD NYIT Center for Teaching and Learning with Technology

With modifications by Arch. Edeliza V. Macalandag, UAP

ETRUSCAN CIVILIZATION

Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci. Their Roman name is the origin of the terms Tuscany, which refers to their heartland, and Etruria, which can refer to their wider region.

ETRUSCAN CIVILIZATION

The Etruscan civilization flourished in the region of modern Tuscany in Italy for approximately 900 years, from ca. 1000 to ca. 100 BCE. Culture that is identifiably Etruscan developed in Italy after about 800 BC approximately over the range of the preceding Iron Age Villanovan culture. The latter gave way in the 7th century to a culture that was influenced by the Greek.It was finally overwhelmed by the Romans, who absorbed many of its features.

ETRUSCAN ORIGINS

The origin of the Etruscan people is not clear at all. Their language, although written in a Greek-derived script and extant in inscriptions that are still in large part obscure, is unrelated to the Indo-European linguistic family. It is likely they were the result of a gradual fusion of native and immigrant populations. The mixing of peoples occurred between the end of the Bronze Age and the so-called Villanovan era.

Early Etruscan Art

THE CITIES OF ETRURIA

During the eighth and seventh centuries BCE, the Etruscans, as highly skilled seafarers, enriched themselves through trade abroad. The territories controlled by the Etruscans coexisted, but never came together to form a true Etruscan nation or kingdom.Early Etruscan art, like Greek art, and equivalent to it many respects, is divided initially into an Orientalizing period followed by an Archaic period that lasted until the fifth century BCE.

ORIENTALIZING ARTEtruscan wealth:o Iron, tin, copper, and silver were all

successfully mined in Etruria. This great mineral wealth transformed Etruscan society during the seventh century BCE. Etruscan aristocrats quickly developed a taste for luxury objects incorporating Eastern motifs.

Gold jewelry:o One of the most spectacular objects from the

Regolini-Galassi Tomb is golden fibula made in the Italic tradition, with five lions in the Orientalizing style.

Fibula with Orientalizing lions

from the Regolini-Galassi Tomb, Cerveteri, Italy

ca. 650-64:0 BCE. Gold, approx. 1' 1/2" high.

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Fibula with Orientalizing lions

from the Regolini-Galassi Tomb, Cerveteri, Italy

ca. 650-64:0 BCE. Gold, approx. 1' 1/2" high. http://etruskowie.blogspot.com/2010/09/etruska-bizuteria.html

Fibula

Etruscan jewelry set

Archaic Art and ArchitectureEtruscan Temples:

o Etruscan temples were gable-roofed buildings built of wood and sun-dried brick that stood on a high podium with entrance stairs on the front side only.

o A deep porch with widely-spaced Etruscan (Tuscan) columns occupied the front half of the podium, and a walled enclosure with up to three internal chambers occupied the other half.

o Exterior decorations made of terracotta included life-size statues placed on the peak of the roof.

Models of Etruscan templesas described by Vitruvius

ca. 6th century B.C.E.

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Models of Etruscan templesas described by Vitruvius

ca. 6th century B.C.E.

Apulu (Apollo)

from the Portonaccio Temple, Veii, Italy

ca. 510-500 B.C.E.painted terracotta71 in. high

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQZdZycFDa_Zaf_l6eGsS5X-JSeNOREwQ5Jvr08V8yviQYCLCMi

One example of a rooftop statue is the life-size image of Apulu from a temple in the Portonaccio sanctuary at Veii.

Apulu (Apollo)

from the Portonaccio Temple, Veii, Italy

ca. 510-500 B.C.E.painted terracotta71 in. high

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQZdZycFDa_Zaf_l6eGsS5X-JSeNOREwQ5Jvr08V8yviQYCLCMi

Archaic Art and Architecture Houses for the dead:o Etruscan tombs in the form of mounds with

internal rock-cut chambers were arranged in organized cemeteries.

o The chambers were carved to resemble the interiors of domestic houses and may also be decorated with painted stucco reliefs.

o Other underground, rock-cut tombs were painted with scenes of banqueting and outdoor scenes set in a natural environment.

Banditaccia necropolis

from Cerveteri, Italy

7th to 2nd centuries B.C.E.

Banditaccia necropolis

from Cerveteri, Italy

7th to 2nd centuries B.C.E.

The Necropolis of Banditaccia was designed as if it were to be inhabited by living beings. From the principal thoroughfare of "Via degli Inferi", there are a number of secondary roads lined with dozens of circular burial mounds, dug in to the tuff. The interiors of the tombs are similar to those of an Etruscan house. The Tomba dei Rilievi (Tomb of the Reliefs, 3rd century BC) is by far the most decorative, its walls painted with images of domestic animals and various utensils for every day use.

http://a1.l3-images.myspacecdn.com/images01/101/a9d9e7611a2e4e601ed5221ea812ef9b/l.jpg

Tumulus

from Cerveteri, Italy

7th to 2nd centuries B.C.E.

Tumulus

from Cerveteri, Italy

7th to 2nd centuries B.C.E. http://eternallycool.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/tomb-entrance-w-figures.jpg

Interior Tomb of the Reliefs (Tomba dei Rilievi)

Cerveteri, Italy | 3rd century B.C.E.

Interior Tomb of the Reliefs (Tomba dei Rilievi)

Cerveteri, Italy | 3rd century B.C.E.

Sarcophagus with reclining couple

from Cerveteri, Italyca. 520 B.C.E. | painted terracotta | 45 1/2 in. high

Sarcophagus with reclining couple

from Cerveteri, Italyca. 520 B.C.E. | painted terracotta | 45 1/2 in. high

Tarquinia's painted tombs:o Large underground burial chambers hewn out of

the natural rock were also the norm at Tarquinia. o But the tumuli do not cover the Tarquinian

tombs, and the interiors do not have carvings imitating the appearance of Etruscan houses.

o In some cases paintings decorate the tomb chamber walls.

Detail of mural paintings in the Tomb of Triclinium| Tarquinia, Italy | ca. 530-52:0 BCE.

Detail of mural paintings

in the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing | Tarquinia, Italy | ca. 530-52:0 BCE.

Late Etruscan Art

Later Etruscan art is notable for bronze sculptures, carved stone sarcophagi, and the use of the arch in gateway architecture.

Chimera of Arezzo

from the Arezzo, Italy

1st half of 4th century B.C.E.bronze31 1/2 in. high

Chimera (Greek mythology) is a fire-breathing female monster with a lion's head and a goat's body and a serpent's tail.

Chimera of Arezzo from the Arezzo, Italy1st half of 4th century B.C.E. | bronze | 31 1/2 in. high

contested

Capitoline Wolf

(Remus & Romulus added)

from Rome, Italy

ca. 500-480 B.C.E.bronze31 1/2 in. high

NOVIOS PLAUTIOS

Ficoroni Cista

from Palestrina, Italylate fourth century BCE.

Bronzeapprox. 2' 6" high.

The Ficoroni Cista was found in an Etruscan woman's tomb in Palestrina, the center of Etruscan bronze industry. The fact that his piece was made by Novios Plautios, a Roman artist, signifies the growing importance of Rome as an Italian cultural and political center.

http://www.emforster.info/pages/malcolnia2a.htm

http://www.emforster.info/pages/malcolnia2a.htm

Porta Marzia (Gate of Mars)

Perugia, Italy

2nd century B.C.E.

http://www.museumsyndicate.com/images/4/36649.jpg http://www.museumsyndicate.com/images/4/36649.jpg

Sarcophagus of Lars Pulena

from Tarquinia, Italy

Early second century BCE. Tufa | approx. 6' 6" long.

http://www.museumsyndicate.com/images/4/36661.jpg

In Hellenistic Etruria, the descendants of the magnificent Archaic terracotta sarcophagus from Cerveteri were made of local stone.

http://www.museumsyndicate.com/images/4/36661.jpg

http://www.museumsyndicate.com/images/4/36661.jpg

Glossarychimera A monster of Greek invention with the head and body of a lion and the tail of a serpent. A second head, that of a goat, grows out of one side of the body.cista (pl. cistae) An Etruscan cylindrical container made of sheet bronze with cast handles and feet, often with elaborately engraved bodies, used for women’s toilet articles.Fibula A decorative pin, usually used to fasten garments.

Glossarynecropolis Greek, “city of the dead”; a large burial area or cemetery.Novios Plautios Creator of the Ficoroni Cista, the Etruscan bronze cista depicting an episode from the Greek story of the expedition of the Argonauts in search of the Golden Fleece.pectoral An ornament worn on the chest.pilaster A flat, rectangular, vertical member projecting from a wall of which it forms a part. It usually has a base and a capital and is often fluted.

Glossaryrepoussé Formed in relief by beating a metal plate from the back, leaving the impression on the face. The metal is hammered into a hollow mold of wood or some other pliable material and finished with a graver.terracotta Hard-baked clay, used for sculpture and as a building material. It may be glazed or painted.Tuscan column The standard type of Etruscan column. Resembles ancient Greek Doric columns, but is made of wood, is unfluted, and has a base.

Sources

• http://www.wadsworth.com/art_d/templates/student_resources/0155050907_kleiner/studyguide/ch09/ch09_1.html

• http://websites.swlearning.com/cgi-wadsworth/course_products_wp.pl?fid=M20b&product_isbn_issn=0155050907&discipline_number=436

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etruscan_civilization• http://legacy.earlham.edu/~vanbma/20th%20century/images/

surveydaynine.htm • Art Through the Ages, 12th/11th ed., Gardner