The Etruscan World (Routledge Worlds)

• chapter 60: Animals in the Etruscan household –

10

AI AII BI BII BIII CI CII CIII DI DII DIII

20

30

% of Animal Motifs

Registered

40

50

60

Domesticated

Wild

Exotic

Mythical

Figure 60.4 Villanovan period. A graphic presentation of some 20 items spanning the years 900–780

bc depicting or representing animal motifs classifi ed as per Fig. 60.1.

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AI AII BI BII BIII CI CII CIII DI DII DIII

20

30

% of Animal Motifs

Registered

40

50

60

Domesticated

Wild

Exotic

Mythical

Figure 60.5 Orientalizing period. A graphic presentation of some 86 items spanning the years

780–600 bc depicting or representing animal motifs classifi ed as per Fig. 60.1.

The Orientalizing period denotes a change from the hitherto animal motifs towards one
that sets a high value on things exotic and mythical. Perhaps this represents the infl uence
of external pressures or sources of inspiration. The Orientalizing phase of Etruscan art
is not merely an aesthetic vogue for the exotic, it also represents an interaction with
civilizations of the Near East and Egypt that were technically innovative. Samples of their
work, when brought to the shores of Etruria, must have seemed exotically enchanting (for
example the tridacna shell or the ostrich egg covered with miniature incised decoration
(see GR 1850.7–27.5; British Museum, Rathje 1986b). But more importantly such
items of oriental provenance most likely correspond to a need from the elite to set
themselves apart with distinct personal ornaments. Indeed, the Greeks of Homer’s time
had a word for these prestige objects “keimelia,” implying “those things which are to be