Etruscan Art 800BC to 100BC

1. Ancient Rome Through conquests, Rome had become one of the most powerful countries in the western Mediterranean by the 200's B.C. The Romans then began to expand in the east. In the 140's B.C., they took control of Greece and Macedonia. Under Roman rule, the Greek city-states had no important military or political role. But trade, agriculture, industry, and intellectual activities flourished. The Romans borrowed the art, religion, philosophy, and way of life of the ancient Greeks, and they spread Greek culture throughout their empire. The Roman Empire was divided in A.D. 395, and Greece became part of the East Roman Empire. The West Roman Empire collapsed in A.D. 476. The East Roman Empire survived as the Byzantine Empire until 1453, when it fell to the Turks. Greek was the official language of the Byzantine Empire, and Greek culture formed the basis of Byzantine institutions.

2. Etruscan Art800BC to 100BC About 900 and 800 BC, the Italian peninsula was settled by people called Etruscans. It isn't known where the Etruscans came from, but they probably came from the Eastern Mediterannean, possibly Asia Minor. When they arrived, they brought a high level of a Greek-like culture with them. They founded their cities in North-Eastern Italy between the Appenine mountain range and the Tyrrhenian Sea. Their civilization stretched from the Arno river in the North to the Tiber river towards the center of the Italian peninsula in the South. Like the Greeks, the Etruscans lived in fortified cities. In the earliest times, these cities were ruled by kings, but later the political system changed to oligarchies that governed through a council and elected officials. The Etruscans were an agrarian people, but they also used military means to dominate the region. By the sixth century BC, the Etruscans had subjugated much of Italy and some regions outside of Italy, such as the island of Corsica.

3. Most pottery found at Etruscan burial sites follows very closely on the contemporary Greek (notably Corinthian and East Greek) designs. From the 7th Century geometric and Proto Corinthian ware were most prevalent, some imported, and some copies by local immigrant artists.

4. Bucchero Ware

5. Votive Statuettesof Warriorsabout 400 BCVilla Givlia, Rome, Votive Statuetteof a Girl with a Snakeabout 100 BCVilla Givlia, Rome, Italy

6. Fibula with Orientalizing lions, from the Regolini-Galassi Tomb, Cerveteri, c. 650 - 640 BC. Gold, appprox. 12 ½" high.

7. Human-headed cinerary urn. C. 675 - 650 BC. Terra-cotta, height 25 ½".

8. Model of a typical Etruscan temple of the 6th century BC, as described by Vitruvius. Greek vs. Etruscan Temples Similarities: Gable roof; General design; Columns ; Triangular cornice Differences: The Etruscan temple:Rests on tall base, or podium; Narrow stairway on south sideSteps lead to deep porch; Columns only in front; Cella divided into three zones; Constructed of wood, sun-dried brick and terra-cotta Reconstruction drawing of the Treasury of the Siphnians. Sanctuary of Apollo at Delphi. c. 525 BC.

9. Terracotta Apollo,from the roof of the Portonaccio Temple, Veii, c. 510-500 BC. Painted terracotta, 180 cm high. Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Rome, Italy.

10. Apollo of Veiiabout 510 BCVilla Givlia, Rome, Italy

11. Etruscans like the Egyptians, Greeks, and later the Romans, painted their statues, so what you see in a museum is not what a contemporary of the sculptor would have seen.

12. Sarcophagus, from Cerveteri. c. 520 BC. Painted terracotta, 116 cm high length 201 cm. Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Rome, Italy.

14. Sarcophagus, from Cerveteri. c. 520 BC. Terra-cotta, length 6'7".

15. Youth and Demon of Death. Cinerary container. Early 4th century BC. Stone (pietra fetida), length 47".

17. Banditaccia necropolis, Cerveteri, 7th to 2nd centuries BC.

18. Banditaccia necropolis, Cerveteri, 7th to 2nd centuries BC. The Etruscans built their tombs out of stone, and they liked their tombs to look like their houses, so we can get some idea what Etruscan houses looked like.

19. Burial chamber of the tomb of the Reliefs, Cerveteri, third century BC. It is the most elaborate of the Cerveteri underground tombs, in decoration if not in plan.

20. Tomb of Hunting and Fishing, Tarquinia, Italy. c. 520 BC.

21. Tarquinia, c. 480-470 B.C.

22. Double Flute Player from the Tomb of the Leopards, Tarquinia

23. Dancer from the Tomb of the Juggler, Tarquinia

24. Capitoline Wolf, c. 500-480 BC. Bronze, approx. 80 cm h. Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome.

25. The Chimaera of Arezzo is a bronze statue which was found in Arezzo, in Italy, in 1553. Of Etruscan origin, probably from 5th century bc, it is one of the most beautiful examples we have of ancient Etruscan art. It is at present at the Archeological museum in Firenze.

26. Novios Plautios, Ficoroni Cista, from Palestrina, late 4th century BC. Bronze, 76 cm high, Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Rome. Such cylindrical containers for a woman’s toilet articles, made of sheet bronze with cast handles and feet and elaborately engraved bodies, were produced in large numbers. Together with engraved bronze mirrors, they were popular gifts for both the living and the dead. The composition of the engraving is an adaptation of a lost Greek panel painting.

28. Warrior (Mars of Todi) early 4th BC. Bronze, 142 cm, Vatican Museums, RomeThis is one of the very rare objects of ancient Italic statuary that has survived to our time. It shows a warrior dressed in armour and, originally, with a helmet, portrayed in the act of performing a libation before battle, pouring the liquid contained in a particular form of cup held by the extended right hand, while with the left he leans on an iron spear. The statue, which betrays the influence of Greek art starting from the middle of the 5th cent. BC, was found in Todi buried between slabs of Travertine, perhaps after having been hit by lightning.

29. Mummy portrait of a man, from Faiyum, c. AD 160-170. Encaustic on wood, approx. 36 cm high. Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo. Portrait of a Boy, from the Faiyum, Lower Egypt 2nd century AD. Encaustic on panel, 39 x 19 cm. MMOA, New York.

30. Roman Patricianwith the Busts of his Ancestorsabout 10 BC. Marble, lifesize,Palazzo dei Conservatori(Museo Capitolino), Rome, Italy

31. Head of a man. C. 300 BCE. Bronze, 31.8 cm h. Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome.

32. Head of a Roman, c. 80 BC. Marble, lifesize. Palazzo Torlonia, Rome. Even under the spell of Hellenism, Roman portraitists produced works that have no parallel in Greek Art.

33. Roman marble portrait bust of Aulus Postumius Albinus. Replica of an original from the 1st c. BC. .

34. Portrait of Octavian. (portrait bust from forum- Arles)ca. 39 BCE

35. Sulla - portrait bust (later copy - with alterations - after original of the 2nd century B.C.)marble

36. Portrait of a man c. 80 BC. Marble, Rome. Portrait of Pompey c. 55 BC, Marble, lifesize, Rome

37. A marble portrait of Julius Caesar Caesar was one of ancient Rome's greatest generals and statesmen. He became a brilliant military leader and helped make Rome the center of an empire that stretched across Europe. Caesar also won fame as an orator, politician, and writer.

38. Julius Caesar, c. 50 BC

39. Portrait bust of Livia, from Faiyum, Egypt, early first century AD. Marble, 34 cm h. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen.

40. Aulus Metellus (L'Arringatore or The Orator), ca. 90 BC,bronze, 170 cm, Florence. Discovered near Lake Trasimene in 1566, this statue represents Aulus Metellus, a Roman-appointed official. The statue's inscription (in Etruscan), location (Etruscan territory), workmanship (Etruscan), as well as the subject's name (Aulus Metellus is the Latin rendition of Aule Metele, an Etruscan name), all point to Etruscan origins. Nevertheless, Aulus Metellus wears Roman costume and holds Roman office. At the same time, this piece possesses a Roman character that does not resemble the Greek works that had inspired Etruscan art.

41. Portrait of Augustus as general, from Primaporta, copy of a bronze original of c. 20 BC. Marble, 203 cm. Vatican Museums, Rome.

42. Portrait bust of Hadrian as general, from Tel Shalem, c AD 130-138. Bronze, 89 cm h. Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

43. Marcus Aurealius about AD 175. Bronze, 350 cm, h. Campidoglio, Rome.

44. Portrait of Marcus Aurealius detail of a relief from a lost arch, c. AD 175-180. Marble, Approx. lifesize, Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome.

45. Middle-Aged Flavian Woman. late 1st century CE. Marble, 24 cm. Young Flavian Woman. c. 90 CE. Marble, 64 cm, Museo Capitolino, Rome.

46. Caracalla. Early 3rd century CE. Marble, height 36.2 cm. MMOA. New York. The emperor was consistently represented with a malignant, scowling expression, a convention meant to convey a particular message to the viewer: the emperor was not god, not an effet intellectual, not a soft patrician, but a hard-as-nails, battle-toughed military man, a lethal opponent ready to defend himself and his empire.

47. Caracalla. Early 3rd century CE. Marble,

48. Portrait bust of Trajan Decius, AD 249-251. Marble, 79 cm high. Museo Capitolino, Rome.

49. Portrait of Philip the Arab AD 244-49. Marble, 71.1 cm. Musei Vaticani, Braccia Nuovo, Rome. portrait of Septimius Severus

50. Antonius. From Hadrian’s Villa at Tivoli. c. 130-38 CE. Marble, 244 cm h. Commodus as Hercules. c.190 CE. Marble, 118 cm. Palazzo dei Conservatori, Rome.Son of Marcus Aurelius, the emperor was not just decadent, he was probably insane. He claimed at various times to be the reincarnation of Hercules and of the god Jupiter, and he even appeared in public as a gladiator. He ordered the months of the Roman year to be renamed after him.