- Adrian P. Harrison –
Museum, Rome). It is an example of the means by which exotic images reached Etruria,
for it is of Phoenician manufacture, a royal gift, no doubt, to the family of Larthia, wife
of Velthur, the princess buried in the Regolini-Galassi Tomb (Principi: 222, 230–231
no. 257). It depicts three lions, resplendent with manes, in the centre, surrounded by
a hunting scene in which one hunter appears to have become the prey of a large lion.
Following on in the same theme is the bucchero kantharos found at Vulci (circa 620 bc;
Villa Giulia, Rome and Rathje 1982: 12 and Fig. 8). This depicts a lion with a human leg
hanging from its mouth and a spotted deer grazing from a nearby bush. Often, though,
the lion motif is simplifi ed as in the case of the huge red-ware storage jar from Cerveteri
(circa 500–400 bc) in which lion-head motifs have been used to form four small handles
to enable the jar to be hung or supported (National Museum, Copenhagen). Finally, lion
motifs were often used in a more practical fashion, for example, the bronze boss, probably
from the bolster of a funerary couch, in the form of a lion’s head that was found in a rock-
cut tomb near Tarquinia (circa 500 bc; National Museum, Copenhagen; corpus of these
bosses: Scala 1993; Brendel 1978: 213–214).
The panther is the great, consecrated feline of Dionysos (Etruscan Fufl uns). A wonderful
example of Etruscan art in the form of a panther is that of the large stone sculpture of a
crouching panther that was found at Vulci (circa 700–500 bc; Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek,
Copenhagen). Then there are the two black-fi gured vases at the British Museum, the one
an oinochoe from Vulci (circa 550–530 bc) depicting panthers as well as lions, griffi ns
etc., the other, part of the Campanari Collection, an amphora with two panthers around
the neck, also from Vulci (circa 530–520 bc). Finally, there is the rear wall painting of
the Campana tomb at Veii (circa 600 bc), which depicts a horse and horseman leading
with panthers following (Steingräber 1985: pl. 197).
Other exotic animal motifs used by the Etruscans include elephants and leopards.
There is, of course, the beautiful little elephant askos (see Fig. 60.2u) that was found at
Vulci (circa 300–200 bc) and may have been inspired by the fi rst elephants to be seen in
Italy in connection with either the invasion by Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, or the invasion
by Hannibal of Carthage in the third century bc (GR 1849.6–20.4; British Museum).
Another example is that of the plate in the Villa Giulia, which was found at Capena (circa
280 bc) and depicts a mother elephant upon which are seated three warriors, and holding
on to its mother’s tail is a baby elephant following along (Martelli et al. 1987: no. 158).
This motif also features on a vase from Veii (Roman colony period) but here the baby
elephant is being menaced by Cerberus. It is thought to have been a victory donation
after the defeat of Hannibal (see Ambrosini 2006: pl. IV). With regard to leopards, there
is of course the Tomb of the Leopards at Tarquinia (circa 480–470 bc), which depicts
two facing male leopards in the pediment (Steingräber 1985: color pl. 105). An earlier
testimony is the large bronze belt relief that was found at Capena (circa 575–550 bc),
depicting leopard and lion motifs in relief (National Museum, Copenhagen – Rm 313).
The only exotic and aquatic Etruscan motif I have been able to fi nd is not strictly an
animal motif, but rather an item of trade. It is a Tridacna shell that has been carefully
carved to portray a human head at the umbo of the shell, and it was found at Vulci (circa
650 bc; see Fig. 60.2q = GR 1852.0112.3; British Museum). This is interesting and
important as Tridacna shells are to be found in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, which
would suggest some trade with these regions and due to the novelty of the item, its
conversion into an item of beauty (found in Etruscan “princely” tombs of women, and in
Greek sanctuaries as votives, see Rathje 1986a).