Interpretatio Etrusca

This is the first book in which special atten-tion is paid to the Etruscan interpretation of Greek mythical representations on Etruscan bronze mirrors. The book focuses on representations with inscriptions (c. 480-250 B.C.). These epigraphic scenes raise many questions. Did the engravers and patrons understand Greek myths? Were the engravers inspired by visual, oral or literary sources or by a combination thereof? What was their modus operandi? In which art forms can visual precedents be found? Introductory chapters shed light on the status of Etruscan mirrors, their owners, givers and recipients; furthermore production centres, distribution, the influence of Attic and South Italian red figure vases and the shifting interest in themes are discussed. More than one hundred mirror-representa-tions are analysed in chronological order, according to general themes: lovewrestling, abduction, immortality, healing, purification, divination, rescue, birth, rebirth, adoption, rejuvenation, dilemma, contest, victory, the relationship between mother and sons, couples, toilet, music and suicide.

Accompanying CD-ROM contains ... "all relevant illustrations from the book, arranged in alphabetical order according to mythological character. To increase the usefulness of the [CD-ROM], supplementary images not in the book have been added[.]"--P. xv.

This is the first book in which special atten-tion is paid to the Etruscan interpretation of Greek mythical representations on Etruscan bronze mirrors. The book focuses on representations with inscriptions (c. 480-250 B.C.). These epigraphic scenes raise many questions. Did the engravers and patrons understand Greek myths? Were the engravers inspired by visual, oral or literary sources or by a combination thereof? What was their modus operandi? In which art forms can visual precedents be found? Introductory chapters shed light on the status of Etruscan mirrors, their owners, givers and recipients; furthermore production centres, distribution, the influence of Attic and South Italian red figure vases and the shifting interest in themes are discussed. More than one hundred mirror-representa-tions are analysed in chronological order, according to general themes: lovewrestling, abduction, immortality, healing, purification, divination, rescue, birth, rebirth, adoption, rejuvenation, dilemma, contest, victory, the relationship between mother and sons, couples, toilet, music and suicide.

The Etruscans can be shown to have made significant, and in some cases perhaps the first, technical advances in the central and northern Mediterranean. To the Etruscan people we can attribute such developments as the tie-beam truss in large wooden structures, surveying and engineering drainage and water tunnels, the development of the foresail for fast long-distance sailing vessels, fine techniques of metal production and other pyrotechnology, post-mortem C-sections in medicine, and more. In art, many technical and iconographic developments, although they certainly happened first in Greece or the Near East, are first seen in extant Etruscan works, preserved in the lavish tombs and goods of Etruscan aristocrats. These include early portraiture, the first full-length painted portrait, the first perspective view of a human figure in monumental art, specialized techniques of bronze-casting, and reduction-fired pottery (the bucchero phenomenon). Etruscan contacts, through trade, treaty and intermarriage, linked their culture with Sardinia, Corsica and Sicily, with the Italic tribes of the peninsula, and with the Near Eastern kingdoms, Greece and the Greek colonial world, Iberia, Gaul and the Punic network of North Africa, and influenced the cultures of northern Europe. In the past fifteen years striking advances have been made in scholarship and research techniques for Etruscan Studies. Archaeological and scientific discoveries have changed our picture of the Etruscans and furnished us with new, specialized information. Thanks to the work of dozens of international scholars, it is now possible to discuss topics of interest that could never before be researched, such as Etruscan mining and metallurgy, textile production, foods and agriculture. In this volume, over 60 experts provide insights into all these aspects of Etruscan culture, and more, with many contributions available in English for the first time to allow the reader access to research that may not otherwise be available to them. Lavishly illustrated, The Etruscan World brings to life the culture and material past of the Etruscans and highlights key points of development in research, making it essential reading for researchers, academics and students of this fascinating civilization.

Combining a guide for the Museum visitor with scholarly discussions of all objects on display, this catalogue provides background on the society, history, technology, and commerce of the Etruscan and Faliscan cultures from the ninth through the first centuries B.C. Several groups of material illustrate social, historical, and technological phenomena currently at the forefront of scholarly debate and study, such as the crucial period of the turnover from Iron Age hut villages to the fully urbanized princely Etruscan cities, the development and extent of ancient literacy, and the position of women and children in ancient societies. Many special objects seldom found or generally inaccessible in the United States include Faliscan tomb groups, Etruscan inscriptions, helmets, and trade goods. The catalogue presents and analyzes objects of warfare, weaving, animals, religious beliefs, architectural and terracotta roofing ornaments, Etruscan bronze-working for utensils, weapons, and artwork, and fine, generic portraiture. It discusses the symbolic meaning of such objects deposited in tombs as a chariot buried with a Faliscan lady at Narce, a senator's folding stool buried in a later tomb at Chiusi, and a pair of horse bits with the teeth of a chariot team still adhering to them where the teeth fell when sacrificed for a funeral in the fifth-century necropolis at Tarquinia—much later than the horse sacrifice was previously known in Etruria.

This well-illustrated volume provides the best collection of Etruscan inscriptions and texts currently in print. A substantial archeological introduction sets language and inscriptions in their historical, geographical, and cultural context. The overview of Etruscan grammar, the glossary, and chapters on mythological figures all incorporate the latest innovative discoveries.

By considering votive, mortuary and secular rituals, the volume offers a contribution to the continued study of Etruscan culture and gathers new material, interpretations and approaches to the less emphasized areas of Etruscan religion.

What was it like to use and live with Etruscan pottery? Characterising that experience of Etruscan pottery is the concern of this book. More specifically, this volume aims to unpick both the physical encounter between vessel and hand, and the emotional interaction between the user of a pot and the images inscribed upon its surface.