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Acquarossa  

Marco Rendeli

[It.: ‘red water’]

Modern name of an Etruscan settlement near Viterbo, Italy. It is situated on a small tufa plateau bounded on three sides by streams, one of which runs red. Excavations conducted by the Swedish Institute of Classical Studies during the 1960s and 1970s uncovered the tufa foundations of buildings that comprised various sectors of an ancient town. These provide some of the most extensive archaeological evidence relating to Etruscan domestic architecture and urban organization. The site was already inhabited in the 8th century bc and grew considerably during the following two centuries. Its main economic activity was apparently agriculture. Throughout its history the settlement had close links both with the coastal Etruscan cities and with those inland, in particular Tarquinia and Volsinii Veteres (Orvieto). It was permanently abandoned at the beginning of the 5th century bc, and the absence of any overlay of Roman or later material contributes to its archaeological importance....

Article

Cerveteri  

Marco Rendeli

[Gr. Agylla; Lat. Caere; Etrus. Caisra]

Italian town near the Tyrrhenian coast c. 40 km north-west of Rome. The Etruscan city of Caisra, usually known by its Roman name, Caere, was situated on a tufa plateau bounded by two streams, extending north-east of modern Cerveteri. The site is especially important for the extensive Etruscan necropolises on the surrounding hillsides (see fig.). The ancient town itself has been only partially excavated.

The first settlements at and around Cerveteri date to the Middle Bronze Age. By the Late Bronze Age (12th–11th century bc) these had begun to coalesce, although compared with other southern Etruscan centres, such as Tarquinia, Veii and Vulci, the town’s development during the Early Iron Age (9th–8th century bc) was gradual. The Cava della Pozzolana and the Sorbo necropolis (to the east and west respectively) contain typical cremation burials in pit tombs. During the 8th century bc Cerveteri became a centre for the trade with Greek and Phoenician merchants, stimulating the evolution of Etruscan Orientalizing art. The later development of its three dependent ports at ...

Article

Chiusi  

Marco Rendeli

[Etrus. Camars; Lat. Clusium]

Italian town c. 165 km north of Rome. It is situated on a tufa hill and surrounded by extensive Etruscan necropolises. Beneath the streets of the modern town runs a labyrinth of Etruscan galleries. Ancient Camars (known by its Latin name, Clusius) was one of the members of the Etruscan 12–city league and an important centre midway between southern and northern Etruria. Many local finds are displayed in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, Chiusi.

The Bronze Age and Early Iron Age tombs at Belverde di Cetona and Poggio Renzo respectively are among the earliest of the many important tombs in the area. During the 7th century bc Chiusi began to coalesce from a network of scattered settlements, and its most numerous and characteristic products of this Orientalizing period are Canopic urns. These pottery ash-urns comprise ovoid vases, often in the form of stylized bodies, with lids shaped as human or animal heads (...

Article

Civita Castellana  

Tom Rasmussen

[Lat. Falerii]

Italian town c. 54 km north of Rome, dramatically situated on a tufa plateau isolated by stream-cut gorges. Beyond the town are numerous Etruscan necropolises with rock-cut chamber tombs.

In ancient times Civita Castellana, then called Falerii, was the principal city of the Falisco-Capenate region. Although the Faliscans seem to have been racially distinct from the Etruscans and spoke a dialect of Latin, culturally and politically they were (and appear to have considered themselves) part of Etruria. In the wars between Rome and Veii, for example, Falerii was a staunch ally of the latter, and after the destruction of Veii in 396 bc it quickly became subject to Rome. Almost nothing of Etruscan Falerii now stands, except for the remains of a temple, or pair of temples, dedicated to Juno Curitis in the Contrada Celle, a Temple of Mercury at I Sassi Caduti and a temple at Lo Scasato. The temple sites have produced finds of important architectural terracottas (Rome, Villa Giulia) dating from the early ...

Article

Cortona  

Philancy N. Holder

[Etrus. Curtun]

Italian hill city in Tuscany, 80 km south-east of Florence. Situated on a ridge overlooking the Valdichiana to the west and Lake Trasimeno to the south, the city is largely surrounded by Etruscan and medieval walls and is notable for its medieval and Renaissance buildings. Settlement on the site dates from the Villanovan period. Later an Etruscan stronghold and probably a member of the Etruscan League, Cortona became an ally of Rome after the defeat of the Etruscans in the late 4th century bc. In the Middle Ages Cortona had a tumultuous history of shifting alliances with Arezzo, Perugia, Siena, and Florence. An independent comune in the 13th century, from 1409 the city came under Florentine rule for 250 years. Materially, it was protected from destruction by the mountainous nature of its site: the city was built on steep irregular terraces, and nearly all its many medieval buildings rest on giant, quadrangular Etruscan foundation blocks. The medieval terraced houses are built mainly of local sandstone, often with brick and plaster second storeys. In the Via del Gesù are several houses with wooden jetties that reflect the taste of the 13th-century commune....

Article

Cult statue  

Irene Bald Romano

Image of a divinity that served in antiquity as a focal-point for worship and cult rituals. Most cult statues were housed in temples or shrines, although outdoor worship of images is also attested. Although aniconic worship (i.e. of a non-anthropomorphic symbol of a deity such as a rock or pillar) is known in Near Eastern, Greek and Roman cults, most deities by the late 2nd millennium bc were worshipped in an anthropomorphic form and were, as such, earthly substitutes or humanized manifestations of the presence of a deity.

Anthropomorphic cult statues are well attested in the Ancient Near East, Anatolia, the Levant and Egypt. Near Eastern cuneiform records going back at least to the 2nd millennium bc indicate that Mesopotamian cult images were made of wood and opulently clad in tiaras, robes and jewellery. The garments of the statue were ceremonially changed, and ritual meals were served up to the cult image. Specific attributes and attire aided identity. From ...

Article

Etruscan  

Mauro Cristofani, Giampiero Pianu, Emeline Richardson, Jean MacIntosh Turfa, Tom Rasmussen, Michael Eichberg, Marina Martelli, Simonetta Stopponi, Giovannangelo Camporeale, J.-R. Jannot, and Larissa Bonfante

Civilization of Italy that flourished from the 9th century bc to the 1st. Ancient Etruria is usually defined as the area bounded by the Tyrrhenian Sea, the River Arno, the Tuscan–Umbrian Apennines and the River Tiber ( see fig. ).

Mauro Cristofani

Etruria is a varied, predominantly hilly region with a low-lying, marshy coast and hence few natural ports, although its rivers provide good internal communication routes. In ancient, as in modern, times, the climate and terrain favoured agriculture, and Etruria also had rich mineral resources, especially iron and copper. Throughout its history certain main urban centres, each with a dependent territory, maintained a consistent cultural and political importance.

Etruscan civilization originated during the Late Bronze Age (12th–11th century bc), when the region’s sparse population began to establish settlements on naturally defensible tufa plateaux in the south and hilltops in the north. Archaeological evidence from these sites, which later became the historical cities of Etruria, suggests that by about the ...

Article

Etruscan school  

Christopher Newall

[It. Scuola etrusca.]

Group of Italian and English landscape painters. It was formally associated in Rome only during the winter of 1883–4; the name of the group was never widely accepted and came to refer retrospectively to the landscapes that artists in this circle painted and exhibited together from the 1860s. They were united by an affection for the countryside of Italy. Under the influence of Giovanni Costa they revived the tradition of landscape painting that derived from Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin and that Thomas Jones, Pierre Henri Valenciennes and Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot had explored. The aesthetic principles that determined the nature of the paintings of the Etruscan school were first discussed by Costa with George Heming Mason and Frederic Leighton, whom he had met in 1852 and 1853 respectively. From 1877 Costa exhibited landscapes at the Grosvenor Gallery, London, in the company of George James Howard (later 9th Earl of Carlisle; see...

Article

Etruscan style  

John Wilton-Ely

Type of delicate, painted Neo-classical decoration, derived mainly from the shapes, motifs and colours of antique vases. It was part of the quest in Europe in the last quarter of the 18th century for a contemporary expression in interior design and the applied arts. The term is applied loosely to various schemes of decoration inspired by Classical sources, involving Renaissance Grotesque ornament, as well as themes inspired by discoveries made at Herculaneum and Pompeii (see Pompeii, §VI) in the 18th century, or frequently a mixture of these sources. This fact serves to underline the complex antecedents of this style, which was originally based on the misidentification of imported Greek vases dug up in southern Italy and thought to have been made by ancient Etruscans (see Etruscan §VIII), a culture promoted in some quarters as having been the original fount for the whole of Classical antiquity. Indeed, the Etruscan style derived little direct artistic influence from that culture as such, except for certain potent historical associations promoted by the controversies concerning cultural debts. Initially represented by ...

Article

Griffen, Smith & Hill  

Gordon Campbell

American pottery factory established in Phoenixville, PA, in 1867, when it was known as the Phoenix Pottery, Kaolin, and Fire Brick Company. The company made industrial pottery, and in 1882 began to make maiolica in the Etruscan style. Its best-known product was the ‘ Shell and Seaweed’ dinner service. In ...

Article

Mauro Cristofani, Giampiero Pianu, Emeline Richardson, Jean MacIntosh Turfa, Tom Rasmussen, Michael Eichberg, Marina Martelli, Simonetta Stopponi, Giovannangelo Camporeale, J.-R. Jannot, and Larissa Bonfante

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Michael Eichberg

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Emeline Richardson

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Marina Martelli

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Marzabotto  

Marco Rendeli

Modern name of an Etruscan city, the ancient name of which is unknown. Situated c. 50 km south of Bologna, in the central valley of the River Reno on a terrace called Pian di Misano, at the exit of the Apennine mountain passes, it was part of the Etruscan colonization of the plain around the River Po in the second half of the 6th century bc and was connected via the River Reno with Felsina (Bologna) and Spina. Marzabotto is the only Etruscan city to have been extensively excavated and studied. Its layout is based on a formal grid plan (see fig.), divided along orthogonal axes according to ancient rules. These axes comprise a main north–south street and three east–west streets, all of which were 15 m wide. There were also subsidiary north–south streets only 5 m wide. The precise extent of the inhabited area cannot be calculated because of fluvial erosion and the absence of any walls. Two monumental structures to the east and north, however, appear to have been city gates. The blocks formed by the intersection of the streets were occupied by both private dwellings and manufacturing establishments, in particular pottery and metal workshops, but nothing is known of the area given over to public buildings. The single-storey dwellings faced on to the streets, and the rooms were arranged internally around a central courtyard, open to the sky and usually containing a well. The roofs must have been ridged, since rain–water was intended to run off into collection pipes. These houses were built on foundations of river pebbles, and the walls were of compressed clay on a wooden framework (...

Article

Modena  

Christine Verzar and Lia Di Giacomo

[anc. Mutina]

Italian city in Emilia-Romagna, situated in the Po Valley at the crossroads of the Via Emilia and the road leading north to the Brenner Pass. It is rich in both Neolithic and Bronze Age remains, and it was an Etruscan settlement from the 4th century bc. In 218 bc Modena became a fortified centre and then a Roman colony, assuming importance with the building of the Via Emilia after 187 bc. It was praised by Cicero as ‘the most splendid and strongest colony of the Roman people’. From the Lombard period only scarce finds and the epitaph of Gundeberga (ad 570) in the cathedral survive.

Under Bishop Leodoino (reg 872–92) Modena again began to prosper; and in 1099 this was marked by the construction of the new cathedral (see §1 below) with the support of Contessa Matilda of Canossa. Under Bishop Eriberto (regc. 1054–94) the city state was established. The bishop and the new commune supported the papal party in the Investiture Dispute, for which the cathedral, the bishop’s palace, and the main square functioned as a symbol and focal point....

Article

Nianhua  

James Flath

[Chin.: “New Year pictures”]

Genre of popular woodblock prints known for their bold colors and folkloric content. Prior to the mid-20th century these prints were widely used throughout China to decorate the home, as calendars, and to conduct domestic rituals in advance of the lunar New Year festival.

The most common production method for nianhua uses three to five relief printing blocks. In this technique an outline block is used to print an image in monochrome, and additional blocks are then used to apply individual colors. Finally the prints may be touched up by hand. In some examples all colors are applied using brushes. The subject matter of nianhua is diverse. Although the variety of gods appearing in nianhua is virtually unlimited, domestic deities such as the Stove God, Door God, and the God of Wealth are common. The image of the Stove God in particular was believed to embody the deity and protect the household. The act of burning the print at the end of the year was traditionally intended to send the deity to Heaven, and its subsequent replacement was to welcome him back to the home. Themes of wealth, good fortune, and scholarly success leading to official promotion are popular, as are images relating to fertility and the birth of male children. Narratives scenes drawn from historical classics and the theater are among the most widely produced items in the genre. More rarely, ...

Article

Orvieto  

Gordon Campbell and Marco Rendeli

[Etrus. VelznaLat. Volsinii VeteresOurbibentonUrbsvetus]

Italian city in Umbria, situated about halfway between Rome and Florence on a steep tufa spur near the confluence of the rivers Chiana, Paglia, and Tiber. It was the site of Velzna, one of the major cities of the Etruscan federation, which was destroyed in 264 bc. The medieval town of Orvieto that developed on the same site is documented from the 6th century ad as Ourbibenton and by the mid-11th century as Urbsvetus (see §2 below), but it expanded only from the 12th century, when, as a Guelph stronghold, it became a papal refuge at times of revolt and Ghibelline domination in Rome. Nearly all the city’s major surviving buildings date from the 13th and 14th centuries.

The ancient site, which remains largely inaccessible to excavation beneath medieval and modern buildings, is generally known by its Roman name, Volsinii Veteres, although since the 19th century it has been identified as the Etruscan city of ...

Article

Poggio Civitate  

Marco Rendeli

[now Murlo]

Site of an Etruscan building complex near Siena, Italy. The single large building is on raised ground controlling the valley of the River Ombrone, to which it is connected by a tributary. It is usually considered to have been an aristocratic palace, but it may possibly have been a sanctuary. One of the most important sites in northern Etruria, it was excavated by a team from Bryn Mawr College, Pennsylvania.

Two main phases of construction can be discerned. The first dates from the early 7th century bc, and, while it has been only partially excavated, it appears to have provided the basic layout for the later phase. The second (c. 575 bc) clearly suggests an imposing structure, almost square in plan (see fig.). The foundations show 18 openings arranged around a courtyard, three sides of which had a portico supported by columns resting on stone bases. The fourth, west side had no inner portico, and it may have housed the shrine of an ancestor cult. The walls were of ...