The Bulls in the "Tomb of the Bulls" at Tarquinia

Author(s): R. Ross Holloway

Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 90, No. 4 (Oct., 1986), pp. 447-452
Published by: Archaeological Institute of America
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The Bulls in the "Tombof the Bulls"at Tarquinia

R. ROSS HOLLOWAY
(Pls. 31-32)
Abstract
The iconography
of the Tombof the Bullsat Tarquinia is discussed,emphasizingthe importance
of elements
intendedto protectagainstthe Evil Eye. Recognitionis
alsomadeof theportrayalof sacrificein theTroilosscene
and of allusionsto the voyageof the deadto the underworldin otherelementsof the decoration.
The decoration of the Tomb of the Bulls at Tarquinia is more complex than readers of the standard
treatmentsof Etruscan art may realize. The principal
painting of the main wall of the outer chamber
(placed directly opposite the entrance from the dromos, between the doorwaysto the two rear chambers)
is the scene of Troilos approaching the fatal ambush
set for him by Achilles (pl. 31, figs. 1-2). This painting is the earliest example of complex tomb decoration
at Tarquinia.' Below the Troilos scene, and at both
sides of the doorways to the inner chambers,there are
painted small trees, two of them connectedby a fillet.
These trees are reminiscent of the foliage of other
Tarquinian tombs. Above the Troilos scene there is a
frieze running the length of the wall just above the
two doorways. In the center is an inscription identifying one Arath Spuriana as the owner of the Tomb.2
At either side of the inscription there are two sets of
figures, each composedof an obscene group and a bovine creature. The bovine of the left-hand set (pl. 31,
fig. 1) is fully animal and is reclining with its head
and horns in full frontal pose. To the right of the inscriptionthere is a man-headedbull, an Acheloos,in a
charging attitude (pl. 31, fig. 2). The obscene groups
have been passed over in embarrassedsilence by most
commentators.3
At the top of the same wall, flanking the ridgepole
support, a sphinx and the Chimaera, approaching

1Mid sixth-century B.C.; the tomb paintings are documentedin

detail by A. K6rte in AntDenk 2 (Berlin 1908) pls. 41-42, with
accompanying text. Full illustration also by A. Giuliano, "Osservazioni sulle pitture della 'Tomba dei Tori' a Tarquinia," StEtr 37
(1969) 3-26 and E. Paschinger, "Die Gebelfresken in der Tomba
dei Tori, Tarquinia," Antike Welt 14.2 (1983) 33-39 (color).
2 A.J. Pfiffig, Etruskische Bauinschriften (SB Wien 282, Bd. 4,
1972) 28-29, no. 11.
IThey were described by K6rte and integrated into an interpretation of the Troilos scene by J.P. Oleson, "Greek Myth and

from the left, meet a youth on horsebackwhose dress

includes a Phrygian cap and who is followed by another bovine (ill. 1; pl. 31, figs. 1-2).4
Directly opposite the wall with the Troilos scene is
the doorway from the dromos. Here too there are figured paintings in the "pediment"above the door (ill.
2a-b). There is little remainingof the right-hand section of this decoration.On the left, however,a youth is
carried by a hippocamp toward shore while a dogheaded sea creatureand bird follow.
These "pedimental"groups of the main chamber
are only two of six such compositions in the tomb
found flanking the ridgepole support at the ends of
each of the three chambers.The decorationsof the inner chambers (ills. 3-6) are heraldic and are composed of a pair of bulls, a lion and "panther,"a lion
and goat, and a pair of hippocamps.These paintings,
too, have attractedlittle attention. But before considering them and the problem of the obscene paintings
and the "bulls,"it would be well to take stock of what
is known about the decorationof the tomb in general.
First, heraldic animals are a normal element of the
decorationof the implied architecturalsetting of the
painted Etruscan tombs of Tarquinia. "Pedimental"
groups of lions, "panthers," and hippocamps are
found in tombs having no other figured painting.5
Whether one should consider these groups in the
Tomb of the Bulls as mere decoration or attribute
symbolicvalues to them dependson the interpretation
of the Tomb's paintings as a whole and specificallyon
the interpretationof the obscene groups of the main
wall and their associatedbovine creatures.
Second, the studies of Banti and Giuliano have established that the Troilos scene belongs to the repertoire of black-figurepottery made in Etruria (specifiEtruscan Imagery in the Tomb of the Bulls at Tarquinia,"AJA 69
(1975) 184-200.
4 Because the Phrygiancap curvesover onto the ceiling abovethe
rider it is not visible in photographsbut only in the watercolorreproductionby Kdrte (supra n. 1) pl. 41 from which our drawing is
taken.
5Tombs nos. 323 (dei Leoni di giada), 1646, 3698, 398 (dei Leoni rossi), 3098, 939, 2711 (dei Tritoni), and 905 (Bartoccini),all
published in M. Moretti, Nuovi monumenti della pittura etrusca

(Milan 1966).

447
American Journal of Archaeology 90 (1986)

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448

R. ROSSHOLLOWAY

[AJA90

Ill. 1. Tombof the Bulls,outerchamber,rearwall, detailof riderin "pediment."

(AfterAntDenk2, pl. 41)
cally the Pontic Class).6 Giuliano further holds that
the artist of the tomb was actually a vase painter
adapting his skills in a new direction. Beginning in
the seventh century the death of Troilos was adapted
in Etruscan art to emphasize the element of sacrifice
in the story. Thus in the Tomb of the Bulls Achilles'
weapon is not a double-edged sword but a singleedged sacrificial "knife."7The emphasis of the myth
as represented here is consequently on the death of
Troilos as a sacrifice. It would have served, much as
the representationsof funeral celebrations served in
subsequent tomb painting, to honor and placate the
dead in perpetuity. Scenesof slaughter are commonin
Etruscan funerary art, the most notable example
being the scene of Achilles' sacrifice of the Trojan
youths at the pyre of Patroklosin the Frangois Tomb
at Vulci.8
In a stimulating article written a decade ago John
Oleson argued that the red object with surrounding
streamers below Troilos' horse represents the sun.9
But such a divinity is always rendered in anthropomorphic form in Etruscan art; even the sun disc sur-

roundedby rays bears the profile of the sun god in it.

For this reason it is difficult to accept Oleson's argument and his further conclusionthat the representation of the setting sun shows that the painterwished to
evoke the timing of Troilos' death in the Cypria.10
Oleson is the only scholar to have offered a symbolic interpretationof the obscene groups above the
Troilos scene. These, he argued, emphasize the erotic
entanglement of Achilles with Troilos hinted at in
Servius'commentaryon the Aeneid." Apart from the
tenuousness of this late evidence in respect to the interpretation of the decoration of a sixth-century
Etruscan tomb, the groups cannot really be said to
emphasize homosexuality. One of them is determinedly heterosexual.
It has been observed before, but without elaboration, that the obscene representations are apotropaic.12 But let us give a specific meaning to the term.
It means protectionfrom the Evil Eye. There is surely
no difficulty in attributing to the Etruscans belief in
this widespread and deeply rooted superstition.13 In
the Tomb of the Lionessesat Tarquinia (pl. 32, fig. 3)

6 Giuliano
(supra n. 1). L. Banti, "Problemidella pittura arcaica
etrusca: La tomba dei tori a Tarquinia," StEtr 24 (1955-1956)
143-81.
' F.
Prayon, "Todesdamonenund die Troilossage in der friihetruskischen Kunst," RM 84 (1977) 181-97 and L. Cerchiai, "La
michaira di Achille," Annali del Seminario di Studi sul Mondo
Antico 2 (1980) 25-39.
8 In general, A.J. Pfiffig, Religio Etrusca (Graz 1975) 198-204.
On the Francois Tomb most recently F. Coarelli "Le pitture della
Tomba Francois a Vulci," DialArch Ser. 3, 1:2 (1983) 43-69 and
A. Maggiani, "Nuovi dati per la ricostruzione del ciclo pittorico
della tomba Francois,"DialArch Ser. 3, 1:2 (1983) 71-78. For the
same theme in other contexts, G. Foerst, Die Gravierungder prainistischen Cisten (Rome 1978) 50-53. The "Phersu"scenes in Tarquinian tomb painting-Tomb of the Augurs and Tomb of the
Olimpiadi, with echoes of gladiatorial bloodshed-have similar
overtones;cf. G. Becatti and F. Magi, Le pitture delle tombedegli
auguri e della Pucinella (Monumenti della Pittura Antica Scoperti

in Italia, Rome 1955) and Moretti (supra n. 5) pl. 48.

9 Oleson (supra n. 3). Cf. M. Torelli, "Le rappresentazionidel
sole nell'arteetrusca,"StEtr 49 (1981) 41-50. For the Troilos myth
in Etruscanarts, also K. Schauenberg,"ZugriechischenMythen in
der etruskischen Kunst,"JdI 85 (1970) 28-81, and R. Rebuffat,
"Le meurtre de Troilos sur les urnes etrusques," M2lRome 84
(1972) 516-42.
10 In defense of Oleson's position it might be objected that the
ocean is not a personificationin Homer (II. 18.48). But we must
recall that Poseidon (Etruscan Nethuns) does not equal thalatta.
'' Ad Aeneidem 1.474.
12 Already by E. Ducati, Storia dell'arte etrusca (Florence 1927)

1, p. 223.

13 F.T. Elworthy,

The Evil Eye (London 1895); The Horns of

Honor (London 1900); and "Evil Eye" in J. Hastings ed., Encyclo-

pedia of Religion and Ethics 5 (New York and Edinburgh 1912)

608-15; A. Dundes ed., The Evil Eye, a Folklore Casebook (New

York and London 1981). For antiquity, 0. Jahn, "Aberglaubendes

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1986]

THE BULLSIN THE "TOMBOF THE BULLS"AT TARQUINIA

449

Ill. 2a-b. Tombof the Bulls,outerchamber,wall towarddromos,decorationabovedoorway.(AfterJ. Pfiffig,Religio

Etrusca [Graz 1975] 170, fig. 64)

there is a specific instance of a figure making the sign representations,the two obscene groups and the two
of the horn against the Evil Eye.14 The single horn is bovines, the latter carefullyposed so as to display both
also a potent weapon to spear the Evil Eye (as may be the curved and piercing horn (pl. 31, figs. 1-2). The
seen in modern amulets which are either single or lu- "pedimental"decorations of the two rear chambers
nate, e.g., pl. 32, fig. 4).
(ills. 3-6) were similarly providedwith a pair of bulls,
The literary and archaeologicalevidence concern- a pair of hippocamps, a lion and panther, and a goat
ing belief in the Evil Eye in Greek and Roman anti- (with prominenthorn) and lion. All have bits of foliquity shows that not only horns (or phallus and conse- age included with them. All except the bulls have
quently schemae eroticae) protect againstfascinum.I5 small birds nearby.All protectedagainst the Evil Eye.
Other charms, the Gorgon, and a diverse group of And it is precisely as protectionagainst the Evil Eye
animals including hippocamps, are also efficacious.16 that we should understand these gable figures when
The man-headed bull Acheloos is a frequent amulet they occur in other Tarquinian tombs of the period.'9
in Etruscan jewelry and tomb furniture.17 We are
The two compositionsof the pedimentsof the outer
accustomedto felines as companionsof the Gorgon in chamberof the Tomb of the Bulls are more complex.
the pedimental sculpture of Archaic Greek temples The first is the pediment of the main wall represent(especially at Corcyra and Athens). Lions assaulting ing the rider with Phrygian cap approachingthe Chitheir prey are at home in the same setting, and lions maera and sphinx (ill. 1; pl. 31, figs. 1-2). The second
are known otherwise as enemies of the Evil Eye."'
is the group over the doorway from the dromos (ill.
of
and
name
the
owner
the
2a-b). In this latter scene a youth rides a hippocamp
Surrounding
protecting
of the Tomb of the Bulls, there were four amuletic toward an island summarily indicated in a fashion
b6sen Blicks," SBLeip 1855; DarSag, s.v. fascinum; and most recently C. Johns, Sex or Symbol (London 1982) Ch. 3.
14The defecatorof the Tomb of the Juggler, Moretti (supra n. 5)
pl. 26, has the same significance.Compare the figure on the famous
relief from Woburn Abbey. A. Michaelis, Ancient Marbles in
Great Britain (Cambridge 1882) 731, no. 99; 0. Jahn, (supra
n. 13) pl. III and pp. 86-90; Hastings (supra n. 13) 5, p. 612;
DarSag vol. 2, pt. 2, p. 987, fig. 2887.
1' It is certainly the vitality and piercing aspects of the phallus
that give it its potency against the Evil Eye.
16 For the ancient evidence,
Jahn (supra n. 13). There are no
direct ancient testimonia regardingthe hippocamp, but this charm
against the Evil Eye persists as the "cavaduzzamarina"of Sicilian
folklore: Elworthy (supra n. 13) 57.
" J.R. Jannot, "Ach6loos, le taureau androcephale et les
masques cornuesdans l'Etruriearchaique,"Latomus33 (1974) 76589. The author comments on the profile bull in the "Tomb of the

Bulls" as a symbolof procreationand vitality.

18 Pediments: B.S. Ridgway,

The Archaic Style in Greek Sculp-

ture (Princeton 1977) Ch. 7. For the lion and the Evil Eye, cf. the
Woburn Abbey relief cited in n. 14. It may be suggested that the
corner groups of the Corcyra pediment (Zeus dispatching a giant
and Zeus assaulting Kronos-or other epic murder) were not
placed on the pediment with any narrative intention, but were
chosen becausethe piercingaction in each scene makes it an amulet
against the Evil Eye, just as much as the larger Gorgon and felines
of the same pediment.Satyrs and maenads (or their heads), implying sexual congress,appear in Archaic architecturaldecorationfor
the same reason. This aspect of the satyr and maenad is made explicit by the symplegma of a Geloan painted antefix: E. De Miro
and G. Fiorentini, "Relazione sull'attivita della Soprintendenza
alle Antichitaidi Agrigento (1972-76)," Kokalos 22-23 (19761977) 423-55 and pl. XXXIII.1.
19 See supra n. 4.

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Ill. 3. Tomb of the Bulls, left inner chamber, decoration of wall with doorway. (Courtesy Fototeca Unione p
demia Americana, Rome, Moscioni negs. 24123 and 24123A)

Ill. 4. Tomb of the Bulls, left inner chamber,decorationof rear wall. (Courtesy Fototeca Unione presso Accad
cana, Rome, Moscioni negs. 24126 and 24125)

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Ill. 5. Tomb of the Bulls, right inner chamber, decorationof wall with doorway. (Courtesy Fototeca Unione pres
mia Americana, Rome, Moscioni negs. 10058 and 10057)

Ill. 6. Tomb of the Bulls, right inner chamber,decorationof rear wall. (Courtesy FototecaUnione presso Accadem
cana, Rome, Moscioni negs. 24124 and 24126A)

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452

R. ROSSHOLLOWAY

[AJA90

comparableto the landscape of the Tomb of Hunting

and Fishing painted some years later. The hippocamp
rider is followed by what seems to be a faithful dogheaded sea creature, while a bird flies above. The
right-hand portion of the wall is much damaged.Two
small birds, however, are preserved.
Elizabeth Paschinger has interpreted the hippocamp rider and the youth riding toward the Chimaera
on the opposite wall as scenes from the journey of the
soul to the underworld,well known in later Etruscan
and Italic art.20 I think we may be even more precise
in this respect. The bonnet of the youth riding toward
the Chimaera marks him clearly as a Phrygian and so
Troilos on his way to the realm of the shades following his sacrificialdeath. Not only does this figure have
the Phrygian cap, but he has the same large knot of
hair hanging over his shouldersas Troilos does (a detail not shared by the hippocamprider).
The confrontationof the rider and Chimaera in the
Tomb of the Bulls is of great significance. The imported Greek prototype, which pitted Bellerophon
mounted on the winged Pegasos against the Lycian
monster, has been consciouslyaltered so that it is the
unarmed Troilos who rides to his encounter with the
Chimaera (and sphinx coming up behind). The
change demonstratesan understandingof Greek iconography and mythology and its application in the
Etruscan setting that is far from mere copying of imported models.21
The pedimental group over the door from the dro-

mos (ill. 2a-b) does not have Troilos but another soul
(Arath Spuriana or the generic occupant of the
Tomb) carried past the daemons and the Evil Eye to
his destination.
In the Tomb of the Bulls we see knowledge of
Greek mythologyoperatingin an Etruscansetting. By
means of Greek iconography the act of sacrifice was
kept forever present in the tomb. Images from Greek
sources providedamuletic protectionagainst the Evil
Eye. And the journey of the soul was illustrated as
well. There can be no question that the degrees of
knowledge and understandingof things Greek varied
tremendouslyfrom personto personand from place to
place in Etruria, from a Demaretos at Caere to the
forebearsof Lars Porsenna at Clusium. Banalization
of Greek myth was as commonas sophisticatedadaptation such as we see here in the transformationof
Bellerophoninto Troilos.22In view of the cosmopolitan world now revealed in the port cities of Etruria,
Graviscae and Pyrgi, there is no reason to marvel at
the understanding of Hellenic culture on the coast,
and especially in a patrician tomb such as the Tomb
of the Bulls. Yet the context in which this Hellenism
manifesteditself is clearly Etruscan,and in the Tomb
of the Bulls this meant especially the use of figurative
art to ensure perpetual sacrificein the tomb and perpetual protectionfrom the malice of the Evil Eye.23

20 Paschinger (supra n. 1) following Pfiffig (supra n. 8). Note

Pfiffig's discussion of the compatibilityof the notion of the continual presence of the dead in the tomb and the voyage to the underworld in Etruscan belief.
21 For the contemporaryappearance in Etruria of Bellerophon,
Pegasos, and the Chimaera as an unalteredgroup, see the scene on
the Loeb Tripods in Munich: T. Krauskopf, Die thebanischeSa-

22 Forthe Troilosmythin particular,G. Camporeale,

"Banalizazionietruschedi miti greci,"StEtr37 (1969)60-76. Fromthe
to theinterpretation
foregoingit willbeclearthatI donotsubscribe
of thetombin relationto thecultof Apollo(Apulu)arguedon the
basisof thefoliageby E. Simon,"DieTombadeitoriundderetruskischeApollonkult,"
JdI 88 (1973)27-42.
23Thispaperwaswrittenduringa pleasantstayat theAmerican
Academyin Rome,January1985.

genkreis und andere griechische Sagen in der etruskischen Kunst

(Mainz 1974) 26-28, pls. 8-9.

CENTER FOR OLD WORLD ARCHAEOLOGY AND ART

BROWN UNIVERSITY
PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND 02912

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FIG. I. Tomb of the Bulls, outer chamber,main wall (left). (Courtesy FotetecaUnione
presso AccademiaAmericana,Rome, Moscioni neg. 24119)

FIG. 2. Tomb of the Bulls, outer chamber,main

presso AccademiaAmericana,Rome, Moscioni

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FIG.4. Modern Italian charmsagains

FIG.3. Tomb of the Lionesses, detail of rear wall. (Courtesy FototecaUnione pressoAccademia
Americana,Rome, Moscioni neg. 24045)

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