The Etruscans in the Art History of Ancient Italy

The Etruscans in the Art History of Ancient Italy

Before the Roman Empire, there was the Etruscan civilization on the Italian Peninsula which produced masterpieces of bronze, terra-cotta, sculpture, gold tablets, amazing rock-cut tombs, and long-gone wooden temples. “Etruria” is a region which today occupies parts of several regions of modern-day Italy: Lazio, Umbria, Tuscany, Emilia-Romagna and stretching as far north as the Veneto. We recall that in antiquity, Archaic Greek civilization had established colonial outposts in southern Italy and Sicily, while another ancient power, the Carthaginians, controlled Sardinia and the coast of north Africa. Like the Minoans and the Mycenaeans, the Etruscans didn’t call themselves Etruscans. Ancient Greek writers called them versions of Tryrrhenoi, the same root word for the Tyrrhenian Sea on Italy’s west coast. There are scattered Prehistoric sites around Italy, so the question of whether the Etruscan culture evolved from these indigenous people or whether it was imported from afar (a Near-Eastern origin) still remains a topic of debate. One tenacious theory which has survived from antiquity is that the Etruscans’ point of origin was a Lydian kingdom of Asia Minor. The Etruscan language, for instance, has a completely different structure from Indo-European languages (and it has baffled historians from antiquity through the present). Nevertheless, there was considerable migration and mixing going-on throughout antiquity, and the most probable model is that the indigenous Italian peoples mixed with groups which landed and settled their own communities, keeping some original elements (like the language) while introducing customs and artistic conventions from the wider world of antiquity from the late Bronze Age through the Classical period.This lecture is an overview of the distinct Etruscan civilization's works in the larger context of the Mediterranean Basin and Near Eastern civilizations. 

Masters of Bronze, Stone, and Mystery

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What you will learn

• Students will learn the key developments, vocabulary terms, and works of art which are associated with the Etruscan civilization and style.
• Students will be able to recognize major Etruscan artworks and building types.
• Students will gain an appreciation of the themes that Etruscan material culture from its Greek and Roman counterparts.

Rating: 4.1

Level: All Levels

Duration: 36 mins

Instructor: Dr. Lily Filson