Etruscan Art 8 th5 th c BCE Few

Etruscan Art 8 th-5 th c. BCE

• Few written documents- mostly from tombs, and from religious writing • Used the Greek alphabet, but language is completely unique • Existed in the era of the bronze age- and the height of civilization coincides with the archaic period in Greece • Strongly linked culturally to the near east • Until 700 BC, tombs were simple- human remains were put in funerary urns along with equipment for the afterlife such as jewelry and weapons • 700 BC- started to build elaborate tombs. Egyptian influence? Also, urns were built in the shape of humans • Never formed a unified nation- city states eventually fell to the Romans during the 4 th and 5 th centuries BC Human-headed cinerary urn, 675 -650 BCE

Early Etruscan Tombs

Sarcophagus, c. 520 BCE

• Were influenced by the Greeks, but retained their own artistic identity • Tombs grew more elaborate despite Greek influence • Sarcophagus has Archaic smile • Both happy and majestic feeling • Done in terra cotta (soft clay) rather than in stone- able to make more rounded, softer forms • Historical 1 st- shows the couple laughing and enjoying themselves in the after-life- the sarcophagus contained the body and the soul (unlike in Egypt) detail

• 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 Tomb of Hunting and Fishing, 520 BCE

Musicians and two Dancers, 480 -470 BCE Full of energy, females differ from males through coloring, just like in Egypt

Youth and Demon of Death, early 4 th C. BCE • Later funerary beliefs are less cheerful- woman on the left is a demon (wings) • More thoughtful and melancholy- coincides with classical Greek solemnity • Humankind is in the hands of fate

Burial Chamber, tomb of reliefs, 3 rd C. BCE • Demons decorate later tombs, as well as reproductions of weapons, armor, household items, domestic animals • Look like the interior of houses

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

• Unlike other temples, Veii did have sculptures lining the ridge of the roof • Muscular, details, in motion- more expressive than archaic Greek sculptures of the time • Made of terra cotta Apollo from Veii, 510 BCE

She-Wolf c. 500 BC • Also from Veii (probably an artistic center • Totemic animal of Rome, also part of Etruscan mythology • Children added during the Renaissance- not original

• Portraiture showed up only after the influence of the Greeks • Worked in Bronze- sensitive and gentle expression Portrait of a Boy, 3 rd century 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 occurrences (thunderstorms, flights of birds) • Priests who could interpret omens were revered • Priests “read” the liver of sacrificed animals to make predictions Engraved mirror back, c. 400 BCE

Port Augusta, 3 rd Century BCE • Masters of architectural engineering (according to Romans) • Very ordered urban planning- streets were centered along 2 main thoroughfares to form quarters that could be subdivided • Port Augusta was a fortified city gate and a façade- semi-circular true archesfirst use of the integrated arch- combining with architectural orders which highly influenced the Romans

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