Etruscan Art

(800 B.C. to 100 B.C.)

Italian art history begins with the Etruscans. Etruscan
Civilization was created on the now known Tuscany
region of Italy. It isn't known where they came from, but
the character of their art and many distinctive features of
their religion make it clear that the original Etruscans were
from a region in Asia Minor.
When they arrived, they brought a high level of a Greek-
like culture with them. Like the Greeks, the Etruscans
lived in fortified cities. Their civilization stretched from
the Arno River in the North to the Tiber River towards the
center of the Italian peninsula in the South.
These people rose to prosperity and power, and then
disappeared, leaving behind many unanswered questions
concerning their origin and their culture. For their Greek
contemporaries and Roman successors, the Etruscans were
clearly a different ethnic group.
Little Etruscan literature remains and the language of
inscriptions on their monuments has been only partially
deciphered. They had an alphabet based on the Greek
alphabet.
Etruscan art appears nowhere as related primary upon
the influences, concepts and methods of Greek art.
There are marked similarities to the art of the
Phoenician cities of Tyre and Sidon, Egypt, Asia Minor,
and even Assyria. It also promotes Italian elements and
reflects distinctively Etruscan religious beliefs.
   
Etruscan art had great influence on subsequent Roman
styles and was largely absorbed by the 1st century B.C.
Art Forms
Funerary Art (Tombs and their contents)
Architecture
Sculpture (Terra Cotta and Bronze)
Plan of Regolini- Galassi Tomb,
Cerveteri. 670-650 BCE
Fibula from Regolini-
Galassi Tomb,
Cerveteri. Gold. 670-
650 BCE. 11.5”.
Rome.
Burial chamber, Tomb of Reliefs. 3rd century BCE. Cerveteri, Italy
Etruscan Tomb of Hunting & Fishing Main Chamber, Tarquinia 525 B.C.
Artist Unknown. Italy
Human-headed cinerary. 675-
650 BCE. Terra cotta, height
25.5”. Italy
Sarcophagus, from Cerveteri. 520 BCE. Terra-cotta, length 6’7”.
Louvre
Youth and female Demon. Cinerary
container. Early 4th century BCE. Stone,
length 47”.
Architecture
Etruscans built palaces, public buildings, and early
temples in wood and brick, so nothing remained.
Ceramic models of temples, as well as traces of later
stone structures, indicate how temples were built in
enclosures and had tiled, gabled roofs supported on
pillars, like their Greek counterparts.
An Etruscan temple, to meet religious requirements,
was located on a north-south axis and stood on a high
podium with a four-columned porch. Roman temples
were patterned on the form developed by the
Etruscans.
Reconstruction of the Portonaccio Temple, Veii, 515-490 B.C.
Porta Marzia (3rd century B.C.) in Perugia, Italy.
Sculpture
The Etruscans created artistic objects mostly for
religious purposes. Important part of their art is
associated with their funerary customs.
 The most famous Etruscan works are in terra-
cotta, or baked clay, and these include besides
sculptures on sarcophagi, also works from temples.
 As a consequence of abundant ore deposits,
bronze statuary was common and the Etruscans
brought the art of bronze working to a very high
level of achievement.
Apollo, from Veii. 510 BCE. Terra cotta,
height 5’ 9”, Rome.
She-Wolf. 500 BCE. Bronze, height 33.5”. Rome
The Orator, from Pila Near Perugia, 90
B.C. Bronze, height 71”. Florence
Etruscan, Lion's Head, first half of the 5th century BCE, bronze, height 26
cm, State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia.
 
Etruscan, early 4th century BCE, Reclining Youth, Cinerary Urn, bronze,
length of base 69 cm, height of figure 42 cm, State Hermitage Museum,
St. Petersburg, Russia