- Larissa Bonfante –
The contents of the richly furnished Villanovan tombs excavated at Verucchio, near
modern Rimini, on the amber route along the Adriatic, are unusual because of their early
date (c. 680 bc), as well as for the organic material preserved by the favorable conditions
of the soil in which they were buried. Here were toga-like mantles for the lord and grave
goods identifying him as a warrior and priest. Women’s tombs held quantities of amber
and glass paste jewelry and delicate amber spindles, symbolic of their owner’s status
rather than useful tools. From a man’s grave came a richly carved wooden throne showing
scenes of men and women involved in wool work, the women working at the loom and
other phases of the craft, as well as a somewhat mysterious ritual being carried out by two
women protected by armed guards (see Fig. 15.13).^15
With the Orientalizing period of the eighth and seventh centuries bc, Etruscan wealth,
international contacts and prestige were at their highest. We now see the rise of the
monumental, multi-chambered family tombs of the aristocracy, which were distinguished by
the richness of their grave goods, in contrast to the earlier, more egalitarian Iron Age burials,
and where the women’s graves had equal and often greater riches than those of the men.
The graves of these aristocratic, wealthy princesses included two chariots, a light woman’s
calesse (cart) and a parade biga (two-horse chariot).^16 From graves at Tarquinia, Cerveteri and
Praeneste and farther north at Chiusi come treasures of gold and silver and amber jewelry,
bronze chariots and thrones, tableware for great banquets, imported faience, decorated
ostrich eggs, and the fi ne glossy bucchero that became an Etruscan specialty, modeled
on their bronze symposium ware. Writing now appears for the fi rst time, as abecedaria
on writing implements, or used to write the owner’s name on an object: mi larthia telicles
lechtumuza, states a tiny perfume vase, speaking in the fi rst person, “I am the little lekythos of
Larthia Telikles.”^17 And so we learn that these people are the Etruscans, who use the Greco-
Phoenician alphabet to write their language, which is unlike any other known to us.^18
MARRIAGECouples are ubiquitous in Etruscan art from early times, and marriage is often represented
or alluded to. Countless images of upper class married couples populate the lively
banquets painted on the walls of the tombs at Tarquinia, or are shown in effi gy reclining
on their funeral couches. An actual wedding ceremony appears on an archaic relief from
Chiusi: though it is unfortunately fragmentary, enough remains to show the bride, groom
and priest under a huppah-like canopy that covers them like a wedding blanket (Fig.
20.3).^19 Here and elsewhere, the blanket or veil that covers husband and wife is a favorite
symbol of marriage. On the archaic sarcophagus of the Bride and Groom – actually of
the Married Couple, “degli Sposi” – the husband’s mantle covers the legs of his wife like
a blanket. On the fourth-century bc sarcophagus from Vulci in Boston, it is the man’s
rounded, toga-like tebenna that covers them both like a blanket: idealized in death, the
handsome couple lie in each other’s arms in their marriage bed, naked, their parallel
nudity and their embrace representing the consummation of their marriage beyond the
grave.^20 Husbands and wives in Etruscan art often display an affection not usually seen in
classical art. Some couples on the covers of Iron Age Villanovan cinerary urns are tenderly
embracing. A gesture signifying marital affection, the chin-chuck, is shown on a seventh-
century bc vase from Cerveteri as well as in a banquet scene from Tarquinia (Fig. 20.1).
Another gesture, that of the husband placing his hand on his wife’s breast, comes from
the Greek repertoire, where it is found in images of Zeus and Hera, for example.^21