- chapter 6: Orientalizing Etruria –
of Avele Feluske at Vetulonia at the end of the seventh century shows us an Etruscan
warrior who displays a Corinthian helmet and a circular hoplite shield, without giving
up his symbolic double axe.
It is in this context in Vulci that the workshops of the Painter of the Swallows, of
East-Greek training, and the Bearded Sphinx Painter, founder of the Etrusco-Corinthian
tradition, are implanted. The latter develops the Polychrome Group at Caere and Veii,
which fi nds its counterpart in the Campana tomb at Veii (600 bc) (Fig. 6.37). The
dense decoration of the painted wall makes one think, anachronistically, of a sort of
“tapestry” in which the narrative theme of knights and the more symbolic register of
real and imaginary animals are saturated with superabundant chains of fl oral ornaments.
The Late Orientalizing sees the founding of the fi rst Etruscan temple at Veii – Piazza
d’Armi (c. 600 bc) and the birth of the fi rst votive bronze sculpture (Fig. 6.38). The
aura of sacredness will tend to shift away from king’s houses to sanctuaries on the wave
Figure 6.37 Veii, Monte Michele, Tomba Campana. Watercolor. The grave goods
on the fl oor do not belong to this tomb. C. 600 bc. After Haynes 2000.Figure 6.38 Bronze fi gurine of draped female votary with kyathos. Provenance unknown. 625–600 bc.
Firenze, Museo Archeologico Nazionale 225.