Etruscan art (ĭtrŭs`kən), the art of the inhabitants of ancient Etruria, which, by the 8th cent. B.C., incorporated the area in Italy from Salerno to the Tiber River (see Etruscan civilization Etruscan civilization, highest civilization in Italy before the rise of Rome. The core of the territory of the Etruscans, known as Etruria to the Latins, was northwest of the Tiber River, now in modern Tuscany and part of Umbria .
..... Click the link for more information. ). Archaeologists have been unable to trace the precise development of Etruscan art. Although much is clearly owed to Greek sources, Etruscan works have a definite character of their own. While Etruscan forms are recognizably Hellenized, the underlying spirit retains an energy difficult to achieve in the Greek search for precision. Additionally, the Etruscans kept up a large commerce with the East, and many of their art motifs derive from the Orient. The principal centers of Etruscan art were Caere (Cerveteri), Tarquinii, Vulci, and Veii (Veio). 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. They were also experts in the art of ironworking, Etruscan goldwork was among the finest anywhere in the ancient world, and large-scale carvings were common. Extant examples of their craftsmanship in bronze include the large portraits Brutus (Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome) and Orator (Museo Archeologico, Florence). Most Etruscan sculpture, however, was executed in clay. The Etruscan cult of the dead, similar to contemporaneous Egyptian practices, produced a highly developed sepulchral art. Clay sarcophagi and urns were modeled with great skill. The sculptured lids of sarcophagi often represented a single figure or a couple reclining on a couch. These figures wore the haunting archaic smile evident in early Greek sculpture. The amazingly naturalistic Etruscan portrait busts were probably a source for later Roman portrait sculpture. The Etruscans were particularly noted for their black bucchero pottery and were experts with the potter's wheel. Fresco paintings were abundant in Etruscan underground funerary vaults, works that frequently depict banquets, festivals, and scenes of daily life. Executed in a strictly two-dimensional style and decorated with foliage motifs, many of these tomb paintings are still extant. By the 1st cent. B.C. Roman art Roman art, works of art produced in ancient Rome and its far-flung provinces.
From the 7th to the 3d cent. B.C., Etruscan art flourished throughout central Italy, including Latium and Rome.
..... Click the link for more information. absorbed the Etruscan.
(c. 8th–4th centuries BC) Art of the people of Etruria. The art of the Etruscans falls into three categories: funerary, urban, and sacred. Because of Etruscan attitudes toward the afterlife, most of the art that remains is funerary. Characteristic achievements are the wall frescoes—painted in two-dimensional style—and realistic terra-cotta portraits found in tombs. Bronze reliefs and sculptures are also common. Tombs found at Caere, carved underground out of soft volcanic rock, resemble houses. Urban architecture was another specialty; Etruscans were among the first in the Mediterranean to lay out cities with a grid plan, a practice copied by the Romans. In the sacred area, Etruscan temples had a deep front porch with columns and abundant terra-cotta roof sculptures, such as those from the temple at Veii (late 6th century). Etruscan art was influenced by Greek art and in turn influenced the development of realistic portraiture in Italy.
..... Click the link for more information. ). Archaeologists have been unable to trace the precise development of Etruscan art. Although much is clearly owed to Greek sources, Etruscan works have a definite character of their own. While Etruscan forms are recognizably Hellenized, the underlying spirit retains an energy difficult to achieve in the Greek search for precision. Additionally, the Etruscans kept up a large commerce with the East, and many of their art motifs derive from the Orient. The principal centers of Etruscan art were Caere (Cerveteri), Tarquinii, Vulci, and Veii (Veio). 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. They were also experts in the art of ironworking, Etruscan goldwork was among the finest anywhere in the ancient world, and large-scale carvings were common. Extant examples of their craftsmanship in bronze include the large portraits Brutus (Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome) and Orator (Museo Archeologico, Florence). Most Etruscan sculpture, however, was executed in clay. The Etruscan cult of the dead, similar to contemporaneous Egyptian practices, produced a highly developed sepulchral art. Clay sarcophagi and urns were modeled with great skill. The sculptured lids of sarcophagi often represented a single figure or a couple reclining on a couch. These figures wore the haunting archaic smile evident in early Greek sculpture. The amazingly naturalistic Etruscan portrait busts were probably a source for later Roman portrait sculpture. The Etruscans were particularly noted for their black bucchero pottery and were experts with the potter's wheel. Fresco paintings were abundant in Etruscan underground funerary vaults, works that frequently depict banquets, festivals, and scenes of daily life. Executed in a strictly two-dimensional style and decorated with foliage motifs, many of these tomb paintings are still extant. By the 1st cent. B.C. Roman art Roman art, works of art produced in ancient Rome and its far-flung provinces.
Early Influences
From the 7th to the 3d cent. B.C., Etruscan art flourished throughout central Italy, including Latium and Rome.
..... Click the link for more information. absorbed the Etruscan.
Bibliography
See studies by E. Richardson (1964, repr. 1976), A. Boethius and J. B. Ward-Perkins (1970), M. Sprenger and G. Bartoloni (1983), R. Brilliant (1984), O. J. Brendel (and F. R. Serra Ridgway; 1979, new ed. 1995), and N. J. Spivey (1997).
Etruscan art
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A detail from a fresco dating from the 5th century BC shows Etruscan musicians wearing tunics and …
(credit: Scala/Art Resource, New York)
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