- chapter 6: Orientalizing Etruria –
as well as in bronzes (Bisenzio trolley and situla). In the seventh century, this tradition
still exists in the ceramics and emerges in mural painting, as in the Tombs of the Roaring
Lions (690 bc) and Ducks (680–670 bc) of Veii, sharing Etrusco-geometric style (Fig.
6.29). It is possible that wall painting, which we only know from tombs, was also used
in the residences of the living.
The importation of refi ned and precious objects, such as the Phoenician-Cypriot cups
discovered at Caere and Palestrina, ushers in a fi gurative and narrative repertoire that is
also partially incorporated into painting.^45 At Cerveteri, c. 670–650 bc, a large group of
tombs stands out for its exotic and fantastic animal themes, exemplifi ed by the Tombs of
the Painted Animals and the Painted Lions (Fig. 6.30). Into the latter fi ts the theme of
“Lord of Animals,” its female variant dominating the refi ned decoration of gold jewelry
in the Regolini-Galassi Tomb (see Fig. 16). At the same time the Tomb of the Ship,
unreadable in its details, must have retraced key narrative and celebration of the naval
achievements of the “Prince” buried there. Narrative forays of evocative and magical
fl avor appear in the meal on the Montescudaio funerary urn, and in mourning statuettes
that surrounded the bronze bed, and perhaps the ceramic urn, in the Regolini-Galassi
Tomb (Fig. 6.31).
Figure 6.29 Veio, Tomba dei Leoni Ruggenti. Circa 690 bc Photo Soprintendenza per i Beni
Archeologici dell’Etruria Meridionale.Figure 6.30 Cerveteri, Tomba dei Leoni Dipinti. 670–650 bc.
Watercolor by M. Barosso (1910–1913).