- chapter 60: Animals in the Etruscan household –
171). The back wall of this tomb depicts banqueters and under the table is illustrated
a cockerel. A beautiful facsimile of this tomb painting was made in 1895 and can now
be seen at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen. Another fi ne example of cockerels is
to be seen in the British Museum in the form of two exquisite gold earrings that were
formerly part of the Castellani Collection. These two earrings which can be seen in Figure
60.3 (no. 10 = GR 1884.6–14.3) are said to have come from Vulci and have been dated
to circa 300–200 bc.
The goose is often seen as the queen of the aquatic birds and it proved popular as an
Etruscan animal motif. Indeed, the magical defense of Rome was entrusted to the geese
of the Campidoglio. One of the earliest Etruscan items to bear this motif is the painted
mixing bowl on high feet with geese adorning the neck and the handles. This item is
from Bisenzio and is dated circa 800–700 bc (Villa Giulia, Rome, Brendel 1978: 27 and
Fig. 6). Another fi ne example is that of the limestone base used to mark a tomb, a so
called cippus, which depicts a hunting scene with dogs and geese and huntsmen carrying a
dead hare slung from a pole, that was found at Chiusi circa 490–470 bc (British Museum:
Camporeale 1984, pl. 58).
Livestock were also deemed the spoils of war and just such an illustrative piece is the
famous sarcophagus from the Sperandio necropolis of Perugia (inv. no. 195) dated circa
490 bc which depicts cattle, goats, and pack-mules which all form part of the booty from
a northern raid (Wiman 2004; Turfa 2012: Fig. 24).
Other items include the impasto vase in the shape of a bull that was found at Tarquinia
circa 850 bc (Magagnini 2008: Fig. 33), and the impasto vase in the shape of a ram
that came from Cerveteri circa 800 bc (Magagnini 2008: Fig. 38), both of which can
be seen in the Villa Giulia. There is also the Plikaśna silver gilt vessel that was found at
Chiusi (circa 650 bc), which depicts warriors and horsemen as well as sacrifi cial sheep
and pigs (Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Florence; Turfa 2012: Fig. 19) (see Fig. 6.35
in this book). The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek possesses a small terracotta fi gurine that
originates from Veii circa 350 bc depicting a woman carrying by the legs a piglet which
is thought to be a pre-harvest offering to the goddess Ceres/Vei (see Moltesen and Nielsen
1996, 150–151 no. 62; such images were common in Greek cults of Demeter and Kore).
Finally, in this category I wish to mention the bucchero pyxis with a short foot stand and
four handles in the form of goat’s heads that was found at Caere at the Sorbo Necropolis
circa 700–600 bc and is to be found in the Vatican Museo Gregoriano Etrusco.
WILD ANIMALSThe Etruscans often show wild animals on their objects and in their tombs, many of them
in association with a hunting scene. Typically we are shown various hunting birds and
wild boar, but also deer (see Fig. 2l GR 1978.5–2.1; British Museum – for more on wild
species, see Camporeale 1984).
The red deer was associated with the beginning of spring and, in Roman art is often
found at the fl ank of Diana-Artemis, the Goddess of the animals and the patroness of
the awakening of wild nature in the month of March. A jug attributed to the Swallows
Painter and found at Vulci circa 600 bc shows a number of male deer (stags) grazing,
and this is very similar to the bucchero cup decorated with a frieze of grazing stags that
was found at Tarquinia circa 600 bc on display at the British Museum (Magagnini 2008:
135 and Fig. 135). In another example, that of a small ivory plaque with shallow relief