The History of Art in the Etruscan Civilization

The Etruscan civilization took place during the time of the ancient Greek civilization between circa 1000 and 100 B.C. It was located in Etruria, on the Italian peninsula, on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. This is modern day Tuscany. Not much is known about the Etruscans because very little evidence has been preserved. Though they built houses and temples and had an extensive amount of literature, very little has survived. Most of what we know about the Etruscans comes from the funerary art and artifacts found in underground tombs and necropoleis.

The Etruscans believed in an afterlife similar to the afterlife of Egyptians. The deceased were usually cremated and their ashes were placed in cinerary containers or urns. These urns were made of various materials and came in many shapes and sizes. Figure 6.8, "Cinerary urn from Chiusi" is made from hammered bronze and terra-cotta. The terra-cotta head suggests what the deceased may have looked like. Figure 6.9, "Mater Matuta, from Chianciano", was carved out of limestone. Many cinerary urns were modeled after Etruscan dwellings. This is because the urn was their home in the afterlife. Figure 6.10, "Urn in the shape of a hut, from Tarquinia", is a representation of a round wattle and daub hut. Wattle was wood and daub was clay and mud, the materials most commonly used in Etruscan architecture. Another example of a cinerary container is shown in figure 6.11, "Cinerary urn in the form of a house, from Chiusi". This "house" is far more elaborate in comparison to the "hut". It is complete with Corinthian columns. Since no Etruscan houses remain, urns-as-houses give us clues as to what the architecture of the time was like.

As was customary with other civilizations, the Etruscans constructed tombs for the deceased. However, there is no evidence of any individual king or famous person's tomb. Tombs were for the wealthy, though. Originally they were intended for individual burial. As time passed, tombs became more elaborate to house entire families in underground "cities", or necropoleis. These tombs give scholars a gimpse as to how Etruscan cities might have been. These tombs were constructed as dwellings for the deceased, complete with chairs, beds, decorations, mirrors, jewelry, weapons, banquet clothes and everything needed to live comfortably in the afterlife.

The monumental structure of the sarcophagus was designed for the use of the wealthy. Sarcophagus comes from the words "sarco" meaning flesh and "phagus" meaning to eat. This name came from original sarcophagi, which were made from limestone. Limestone's pH helped to speed up the decomposition process, hence "flesh eater" or sarcophagus. Etruscan sarcophagi held the ashes of the dead rather than the bodies. Figure 6.14, "Sarcophagus from Cenveteri up", is made from terra-cotta