2.3 Etruria (900-270 BCE) 🇮🇹

Etruria (900-270 BCE)

Architecture

• Buildings are made from wood and mud brick, which is why many of them have not been preserved over the centuries 🏚️
• Etruscan architects built stairs that led to an entrance, unlike Greek architects who surrounded a building with stairs
• Inspired by Greek architecture (columns, capitals, built on an elevated platform 🏛️, etc)

Image Courtesy of Khan Academy. Temple of Minerva.

Painting

• Men are painted in darker colors than women, which Etruscan paintings have in common with ones made in ancient Egypt.
• Most frescoes (method of painting where the artist applies paint 🖌️ on top of fresh plaster) are found in tombs, which shows that they had a funerary purpose in Etruria.

Image Courtesy of Bethany H on Pinterest. Tomb of the Triclinium.

Sculpture

• Sculptures are commonly made from terracotta (ceramic made from clay) or stucco (a type of plaster usually made from sand, lime, and water).
• Figures are always clothed for modesty, unlike most Greek sculptures.
• Were once brightly painted 🎨, but it has worn away with time and only the terracotta bases remain

Image Courtesy of Khan Academy. Sarcophagus of the Spouses.