University of Pavia

Depiction of the Dead in the Etruscan Imagination

Polina Antipova
Etruscans and Others
Professor: Maurizio Harari
15/07/2022
Introduction

  In this essay I would like to concentrate my attention on the Etruscan art related to the
commemoration of the deceased. I would like to mention the iconographical aspects of death
related art in which Etruscans were mainly interested. There are several types of art which
include different objects of common spread, but these objects also do include some of the
more sacred and aristocratic examples, such as paintings found in tombs, and other
decorative objects, designed with a purpose to be placed in these tombs. On top of that, I
would like to give a reader an understanding of what the main motifs of Etruscan archaeology
of the dead were, how they spread and what they could mean. In general, the main purpose of
this paper is to give a reader an overview on how Etruscan depiction of dead looked like, and
to cover some of the most interesting, bright aspects of the way the Etruscans used to craft
and create this specific type of art.
   The art I will be observing relates to the different objects production taking place in the
central part of Italy with chronological frameworks from the 10th to 1st century BC, which is
basically the time of Etruscan civilization's existence. It somehow borrowed from the Greek
tradition of commemorative art at first, but then it has transformed into the whole new,
distinct art made by masters of Etruscan civilization.
In the second part of my work, I would like to bring into consideration one particular case
study conducted previously, which gave an overview on one of the examples of art related
heritage remained after Etruscan civilization in Etruria.

Archaeology of the Dead

The Etruscans enjoyed the pleasures of life, and expected the afterlife to be faced on the
same pleasure level. They believed that the soul is material. Their way to celebrate death is an
interesting topic which has to be explored deeply to understand it to the point. Etruscans held
feasts and other big events to perpetuate the memory of the dead.

The archaeology of the dead, which consists of remains of dead ancient people in forms of
part of their bodies, gives the next generations information on the life people used to have,
also presenting their physical features, genetics, health state and etc. If we talk more about the
remains not in the way of the body parts, but in the sense of the art, it is not so much about
the dead, as it is about the living who provided funerary rituals and performances for the
dead. It is impossible to conduct any study without mentioning burial practices, for example,
which people used to modify from time to time, exploring new methods and adding new
symbolical features. Etruria particularly experienced several important changes and
developments in burial practices throughout each of the periods of Etruscan civilisation. The
known periods are defined with an outlook on the Ancient Greece, during which we can see
modifications made by introducing the new traditions and adaptations of new practices.

To speak about the forms of the Etruscan death related art, it is represented in different
types of media, such as wall painting, sarcophagi, monumental tombs, tomb layout, and
cinerary urns, what gives a good focal point for a deep study of funerary beliefs and
traditions.

Moving on to the topic, I would like to start with giving the general explanation of the
conception of the «Archaeology of the dead». Here I would like to concentrate my attention
on the world of dead, which is usually characterized by conducting rituals where the living
can deal with the dead by holding rituals, using symbols and trying to interpret the daily life.
Any interpretation of the burial subjects begins with the detailed study about burials found in
a specific place, as these burial remains can give scholars the understanding of the real rituals
conducted at some point. This can also help to explain the symbols of specific actions taking
place in the antiquity.

   There were several types of art related to the world of the dead, and everything could have
been made with usage of a wide range of materials – from terracotta sculptures to stone
shapes, also depicting paintings on the walls. Wall painting was probably one of the most
important in the sense, as these pieces could contain scenes related to the afterlife world,
suggested by Etruscan common mind of that time. This is also connected with, probably, one
of the most crucial types of art – tomb paintings. The chosen scenes gave information on the
everyday life of Etruscans, their traditions, religion, appearance and thoughts and beliefs
connected to the cult of the dead. These paintings mostly were about the cults of the dead
around the upper class. Etruria had a concept of the tomb being a “house of the dead”.
Etruscans desired to recreate the tombs in the most realistic, accurate way being closed to the
real house – they paid filigree attention to the architectural aspects of the tomb and its
interior. Apart from resembling the previous house, Etruscans placed real objects such as
textiles, remains of food, jewelry pieces into the tomb, to create a comfortable place for the
dead to experience afterlife. All of the walls could depict a wide range of chosen scenes. And
here, mentioning the way Etruscans fueled these tombs, and, respectively, their houses, it can
be highlighted that they were especially attentive to the details – they painted walls and
ceilings with rare, specific colors, depicting there their images of wild animals, they
decorated rooms and tombs with friezes of men and women figures dancing, feasting or
riding. Etruscans used various scenes, but the most popular ones were usually scenes of
feasting, banqueting and other colorful representations of joyful and pleasant life Etruscan
had. These paintings, as well as pottery and tableware found in tombs could also represent
subjects imaging the dead. On top that, they used a great variety of colors, such as brown, red
and yellow, so their huts never looked boring and primitive. Beds were decorated with tassels
with head cushions. Tombs’ sides and pillars could embrace paintings and sculptures, which
depicted different attributes of men and women personal usage: helmets, swords, mirrors,
jewelry etc. The main objective was to build spaces which could resemble the real house in
details, to give the deceased a comforting, cozy feeling, to provide the ambience of the
previous home. The paintings in such tombs, in regard to all what is mentioned above, were
mostly touching the religion motifs and narratives.

Funeral scenes and scenes from the cult of the dead include the typical Etruscan process of
the offerings. To indicate a person’s aristocratic roots and their lifestyle, masters could
choose to depict hunting and fishing scenes1 symbolize the tomb owner’s aristocratic
lifestyle. Mythological scenes also took place, but were not ubiquitous2. Etruscans also placed
erotic sense in parts of the tombs. These plots were not so common as in the contemporary art
of Greece, but they were life-affirming, especially in terms of placing woman into the scenes
and placing women on the level equal to men in terms of iconology, in comparison to other
cultures and images tradition. Pictures of women drinking wine and enjoying food and
celebrations were common painting subjects. Depicting not only the people or the gods,
Etruscans also chose to paint animals, such as bulls, wild cars. Animal battles with lions and
panthers fighting against deers or ibexes were chosen to be painted on the gables 3. Sea
creatures and floral elements were also a part of chosen images. The iconography of the sea
creatures reminded of the one depicted on Pontic vases.

1
Tomb of Hunting and Fishing and Tomb of the Hunter
2
Tomb of the Bulls [dei Tori], Tomb 1999, Tomb with Dionysos and the Sileni [con Dioniso
e Sileni], and possibly Tomb of the Olympic Games and Tomb of the Baron
3
Tomb of the Bulls and Tomb of the Whipping [della Fustigazione
 Sculptures and some other examples of that kind of art mainly come from the tombs, where
a great range of funerary things is represented. For example, many sarcophagi and grave
goods come directly from tombs.

      It is crucial to mention the one type of ceramic wares, directly related to the tradition of
placing the remains of the dead in Etruria. The objects include the vessels, which are dated
from the fifth to the first century BC. Villanovan (900 to 700 BC) impasto cinerary urns are
one of the types which is worth mentioning; the following Buccheros were created from the
prototype of impasto. Impastos simply represented objects decorated with incised geometric
patterns or in the shape of a hut, which show stylistic influences by reinventing the sources
from Europe and Greece. It was made of coarse-grained gritty clay with a highly burnished
surface ranging in color from gray to black, brown to reddish brown, and these urns held a
principal value for showing the respect to the deceased, as they directly symbolized a body of
the dead, made and decorated in order to substitute the image of the deceased and
commemorate it during the funeral ritual. The existence of such practice was initially created
to bury people respectfully and to send honor and memory to them, and this also explains
why many of the urns were characterized by having anthropomorphic details, such as
helmets, brooches or necklaces on top of the vessel, or even urns dressed up with necklaces,
brooches, garments and helmets, fully resembling the body of the deceased. The purpose of
such a tradition was created in order to provide a kind of an image of the deceased as an
important symbol which was a crucial part of a one’s burial practice which was held at the
grave. These urns were dressed at first, and then were placed on the sides in tombs. We
especially can highlight the importance of this practice in the Villanovan times, when
cremation practices achieved its apogee. Moreover, the rituals on top of the burying practices
included bringing food and drinks for the deceased, as well as actual banqueting or drinking
parties for the families of the deceased. This was imported from the eastern Mediterranean
lands, and served to identify the social statues and family groups to which the ones who
passed belonged. Some of the urns used to indicate wealth of some family lineage in face of
being made by family members themselves.

Due to the need to say proper goodbyes to their family members and provide them careless
and happy afterlife, people put a lot of sacred sense into their funeral rituals, they wanted to
show their belonging to the elite class. That is how the ceramic form of a bucchero was
created – it served to display the power of the aristocracy, and was characterized by its shiny
black material, initially made to resemble tarnished silver, itself being made from black-fired
fine-grained clay. Buccheros included more types of shapes than previous ceramics, and such
vessels were widely used for holding feasts, and that explains the findings of drinking
bucchero sets in tombs dedicated to the elite families in Etruria. Using the named drinking
sets was important to demonstrate the economic and social statues of the family before
others.

Developing the topic on the cults of Etruscans, as a nation they were particularly interested in
cults held by the Greeks, as they perceived afterlife in a positive way, and they even got
inspirations from these motifs by depicting the journey of the dead to the happy afterlife and
eternal feasts.
   Overall, we can see that Etruscans were significantly attached to afterlife motifs: they were
wondering, dreaming and imagining the perfect picture of life after death and depicted it
everywhere they could, including walls, vases, glasses etc. The Etruscan afterlife was neutral,
sometimes even having positive It somehow differed from the view of Greeks with their
relation to the interaction between people and the gods. Etruscans are characterized by
religious images or representations of funerary cults, and art related to which was mostly
found in excavations of cemeteries. 
   The Etruscans were also known for creation of terracotta panels: they produced life-sized
terracotta objects for the decoration of their temples. Many examples of work with terracotta
are remained in a form of sculptures. Some other examples are coming from the tombs and
include distinctive form of survived sarcophagus which also have paintings on them (mostly
damaged). The Etruscans have also created some pieces made of bronze. Also, it is needed to
be mentioned, that Etruscans used to make their sarcophagi also from terracotta (Image 4).
The terracotta urns also could take place in a mass-production in the north of Etruria. The
scenes on these urns could depict scenes influenced by the Greeks.

Originally known as Caere, Cerveteri is famous for a number of Etruscan necropolises. From
the Etruscan period are two types of tombs: the mounds (or tumuli) and the so-called "dice",
the latter being simple square tombs built in long rows along "roads". The mounds are
circular structures built in tufa, and the interiors, carved from the living rock, house a
reconstruction of the house of the dead, including a corridor (dromos), a central hall and
several rooms. Modern knowledge of Etruscan daily life is largely dependent on the
numerous decorative details and finds from such tombs.
Case Study Analysis
As a subject of the Case Study, I have chosen to analyze the research conducted previously
by in the work «». The picked object of the paper is

Conclusion

  With this paper I have made an attempt to analyze the Etruscan concept of the «Art of the
dead», existed back in ancient times. I managed to discuss some of the important motifs
Etruscan used and depicted to commemorate the deceased, and I also supported my overview
with the visual examples of specific art pieces. Apart from that, I discussed a case study
based on the findings of Etruscan art objects. The case studies researchers conduct nowadays
are of the great importance, as they can make Etruscan art clear, transparent and interesting
for the modern audience. Above these principal results which help to popularize Etruscans,
case studies like the one I analyzed are crucial to give researchers and historians an
understanding to the Etruscan way of living, their traditions, cultural traits and the pace of
everyday life.
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Images:

Image 4. Sarcofago degli sposi. Late sixth century BC.