The jewelry from the Regolini-Galassi Tomb also includes a
golden pectoral that covered a deceased woman’s chest, and two gold
circlets that may be earrings, although they are large enough to be
bracelets. A taste for this kind of ostentatious display is frequently
the hallmark of newly acquired wealth, and this was certainly the
case in seventh-century BCEEtruria.
Archaic Art and Architecture
Etruscan artists looking eastward for inspiration were also greatly
impressed by the art and architecture of Greece. But however eager
they may have been to emulate Greek works, the distinctive Etruscan
temperament always manifested itself. The vast majority of Archaic
Etruscan artworks depart markedly from their prototypes.
ETRUSCAN TEMPLESThe design of Etruscan temples su-
perficially owes much to Greece, but the differences far outweigh the
similarities. Because of the materials Etruscan architects employed,
usually only the foundations of Etruscan temples have survived.
These are nonetheless sufficient to reveal the plans of the edifices.
Supplementing the archaeological record is the Roman architect Vi-
truvius’s treatise on architecture written near the end of the first cen-
tury BCE. In it, Vitruvius provided an invaluable chapter on Etruscan
temple design.
Archaeologists have constructed a model (FIG. 9-3) of a typical
Archaic Etruscan temple based on Vitruvius’s account. The sixth-
century BCEEtruscan temple resembled contemporary Greek stone
gable-roofed temples (see Chapter 5), but it had wooden columns
and a terracotta-tiled wooden roof, and its walls were of sun-dried
brick. Entrance was possible only via a narrow staircase at the center
of the front of the temple, which sat on a high podium, the only part
of the building made of stone. Columns, often three times a man’s
height or more, also were restricted to the front of the building, cre-
ating a deep porch that occupied roughly half the podium and set-
ting off one side of the structure as the main side. In contrast, the
front and rear of Greek temples were indistinguishable, and builders
placed steps and columns on all sides (FIG. 5-13). The Etruscan
temple was not intended to be viewed as a sculptural mass from the
outside and from all directions, as Greek temples were. Instead it
functioned primarily as an ornate home for grand statues of Etrus-
can gods. It was a place of shelter, protected by the wide overhang of
its roof.
Etruscan temples differed in other ways from those of Greece.
Etruscan (or Tuscan) columns resembled Greek Doric columns (FIG.
5-14,left), but Tuscan columns were made of wood, were unfluted,
and had bases. Because of the lightness of the superstructure they
had to support, Tuscan columns were, as a rule, much more widely
spaced than Greek columns. Unlike their Greek counterparts, Etrus-
can temples frequently had three cellas—one for each of their chief
gods, Tinia, Uni, and Menrva (see “Etruscan Counterparts of Greco-
Roman Gods and Heroes,” above). And pedimental statuary was
exceedingly rare in Etruria. The Etruscans normally placed life-size
narrative statuary—in terracotta instead of stone—on the peaks of
their temple roofs.Early Etruscan Art 2259-3Model of a typical
sixth-century bce Etruscan
temple as described by
Vitruvius. Istituto di
Etruscologia e di Antichità
Italiche, Università di
Roma, Rome.
Etruscan temples resem-
bled Greek temples but
had widely spaced unfluted
wooden columns only at
the front, walls of sun-dried
mud brick, and a narrow
staircase at the center of
the facade.Etruscan Greek Roman
Tinia Zeus Jupiter
Uni Hera Juno
Menrva Athena Minerva
Apulu Apollo Apollo
Artumes Artemis Diana
Hercle Herakles HerculesEtruscan Counterparts
of Greco-Roman
Gods and HeroesRELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY