CHAPTER FIFTY SIX

LANDSCAPE AND ILLUSIONISM:

QUALITIES OF ETRUSCAN FUNERARY

WALL PAINTING

Helen Nagy

T

he infl uence of Greek art on Etruscan painting is undeniable.^1 At the same time
large-scale Etruscan painting has a distinct quality of its own, as Otto Brendel
pointed out, “...there is a great deal both about their style and their themes which strikes
us as properly Etruscan and, to that measure, not Greek.”^2 The aim of this essay is to
highlight landscape as one particularly Etruscan aspect of the frescoes by analyzing, in
chronological order, a few examples of tomb paintings, mainly from Tarquinia.

LOCATION AND TECHNIQUES

Etruscan fresco paintings are mainly preserved on the walls of tombs, while a small number
of large plaques painted in this technique come from non-funerary contexts as well.^3 Both
types were produced in the fresco technique on a gesso surface, but the working conditions
of the artists were signifi cantly different. The plaques were probably painted in workshops
with plenty of available light and fresh air; the artist working in the subterranean tomb
chamber had little of either.^4 The tomb painter had to make do with lamps, tapers or a
torch for lighting that was uneven and probably fl ickering. The humid atmosphere of the
tomb made for technical diffi culties, as did the less than ideal quality of the various wall
surfaces.^5 A brief comparison between a plaque and a contemporary wall painting shows
that the artist of the former could apply greater precision of intricate detail on a smooth
even surface. This is a generalization based on only a few extant examples of plaques, but
it raises the question of what we might be missing in terms of quality.^6 The tombs were
private commissions, to be viewed by few; the non-funerary plaques were intended for a
larger public and it seems reasonable to assume that in the hierarchy of a workshop, the
more experienced artist would receive the more public commission.^7

SPACE, LANDSCAPE AND ILLUSIONISM

The intense feline creatures and their avian companions fl oating in disarray on the walls
of the Tomb of the Roaring Lions (Tomba dei Leoni Ruggenti) at Veii (Fig. 56.1), circa