- chapter 60: Animals in the Etruscan household –
of the wild and animal nature into a spiritual and divine nature. An example is represented
by the bronze relief decoration on a bronze and ivory chariot found at Monteleone di
Spoleto in Umbria, dating from the sixth century bc in which scenes from the life of
Achilles are recounted (see Chapter 24, Fig. 24.8; Bonfante and Swaddling 2006: 17).
Another example of winged horses is to be found on the terracotta relief for the pediment
of the temple of the Ara Della Regina at Tarquinia, where they pulled the chariot of a
goddess, perhaps Uni (circa 400 bc, Tarquinia, Museo Archeologico Nazionale).
The chimera was yet another popular Etruscan mythological motif, and a wonderful
example of a chimera is to be found on the back of the Etruscan bronze mirror from Bolsena
(dated circa 350–300 bc; Bonfante and Swaddling 2006: 47) in which Bellerophon,
riding on the winged horse Pegasus, thrusts a spear into the lion mouth of the Chimaera.
Another example is the bronze Chimaera of Arezzo to be found in Florence museum
(fourth century bc), which was part of a life size group, although now it is sadly the sole
survivor (Brendel 1978/1995: 326 Fig. 248).
WingsClearly, the Etruscans relied heavily on mythology for subjects for their early art, in
much the same way as the Greeks. Take for example, the fabulous myth of the proto-
craftsman, Daedalus, the man who made wings and fl ew westwards. In fact the very
fi rst attestation of Daedalus so far known comes from Etruria rather than from Greece.
On a relief-decorated jug made of bucchero, found in a mid-seventh century bc tomb at
Cerveteri, we see a winged fi gure inscribed as “Taitale,” the Etruscan transliteration of the
Greek for Daidalos (see Fig. 24.2).
But the fascination for all things winged goes further than this. The Etruscans put
wings on non-winged animals, almost as if to improve on their inherent properties. They
added wings to lions and to horses and a number of other animals. Take for example
the bucchero situla found at Cerveteri in the Tomb of the Painted Animals (circa 620
bc), which depicts two winged lions (Villa Giulia, Rome; Rathje 1982: 30). Of course
the guardians of the Palace of Ashurnasirpal II (ninth century bc) at Nimrud include
a winged lion and a winged bull (Layard, 1849); the original inspiration is no doubt
Near Eastern. Aristotle, who examined things in terms of their structure and function,
concluded that the purpose of wings is fl ight (Moore 1988) and so we should also consider
that perhaps the Etruscans wished to give these special animals properties of fl ight for
specifi c metaphysical (psychopompic?) purposes.
PERIOD-BASED INTEREST IN ETRUSCAN
ANIMAL MOTIFS
The Villanovan PeriodWhilst it is perhaps premature to speak of “art” in this period, as it is hard to imagine
full-time “artists” operating before the eighth century bc, yet animal motifs (often
rather crude in their execution) are occasionally found. An example is the helmeted and
combative rider we see serving as the handle of a “duck-shaped” fl ask (askos) with bull’s
head found in a Villanovan tomb at Bologna, constituting as it does a simplifi ed and
abstracted form of ornament (Brendel 1978/1995: 90 Fig. 59).