- Maurizio Sannibale –
The transition from symbol to image also clearly involves the overcoming of aniconic
forms in which images are hidden, or simply the embodiment of the dead. The cinerary
urns gradually become individualized. At the same time, bronze sculpture, in the
technique of sphyrelaton, passes from the symbolic volumes of the Marsiliana d’Albegna
bust (with sphere for a head) or the more explicit “puppet” of the Tomb of the Chariot of
Vulci (680–670 bc) to the more complete bust of the Egyptian goddess from which the
Isis Tomb of Vulci (600–580 bc) is named.
The second quarter of the seventh century sees the emergence of bucchero, a typical
Etruscan prestige product initially anchored to aristocratic patronage, as in the notable
case of the Caeretan Tomba Calabresi (Fig. 6.32).^46 The technique of bucchero is
interdisciplinary, also drawing on the knowledge of metallurgy and metal-working:
reduction-fi ring to obtain the black color (even in section) is similar to the process for
producing charcoal, while the technique of direct incision after fi ring is similar to the
work of the engraver.^47 (See Chapter 34 on knowledge shared across disciplines.) The
taste for mixed media, recurring in the Orientalizing period, is also expressed in the
application of silver on the surface and of pigments in the engravings. Only later will
more cursive and less expensive solutions be introduced, such as stamped and cylinder-
seal decoration, the same as those found on pithoi and impasto braziers at Cerveteri.^48
Figure 6.31 “Weeping” statuettes in bucchero. Cerveteri, Regolini-Galassi Tomb.
Museo Gregoriano Etrusco. Photo © Musei Vaticani.Figure 6.32 Calabresi Vase: charioteer driving a pair of horses. Bucchero. Cerveteri, Tomba Calabresi.
C. 660–650 bc. Museo Gregoriano Etrusco 20235. Photo © Musei Vaticani.