| Banquet scene | Tomb of Triclinium wall painting | Music (Barbiton player on the left wall) |
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| Dancing (two dancers on the right wall) |
Tomb of the Triclinium. Tarquinia, Italy. Etruscan. c. 480–470 B.C.E. Tufa and fresco.
Cross-Cultural Comparisons: Fresco murals
- Arena Chapel
- Sistine Chapel
- House of the Vettii
- Etruscan culture = advanced Iron Age culture
- wealth based on Italy’s natural resources -- metal and mineral ores
- iron to Greece and North Africa
- exchanged through medium/long-range trade routes/networks
- because they were rich, they were attacked by surrounding countries
- Etruscans believed that their lives in the afterlife would be very similar to their life on earth
- kind of like Egyptians
- funerary customs
- Etruscans did not bury their dead inside city limits, but still sought to provide peace and comfort
- mainly elite members of society participated in intricate funerary rituals
- funerals often accompanied by games, feasts, and music and dancing
- which both men and women could go to
- banquet -- reinforced the socio-economic position of the deceased person + family
- show community their importance with:
- visual reminders of socio-political status
- indications of wealth
- civic achievements
- notably public offices held
- Other Etruscan tombs have furniture that people would use in them and showed paintings of everyday life
- they also had demons depicted (maybe symbolize the threat of other countries)
- most had a door to the after life painted on the back wall
- Etruscans vs Egyptians vs Greeks
- Etruscans buried their dead in carved coffins + buried them in houses with necessities for the after life + for the elite
- similar to the Egyptians (sarcophagus for pharaohs) but Egyptians didn't bury they covered? (with giant Pyramid)
- Greeks cremated or buried urn (with ashes in them)
- This tomb gets name from Greco-Roman Mediterranean three-couch dining room --> triclinium
- located in Monterozzi necropolis
- a cemetery, especially a large one belonging to an ancient city
- Tarquinia (where this tomb was found) was a very powerful and prominent center
- this area is known for its painted tombs
- Tombs are the only remains because the Romans (when they took over) destroyed everything (or changed it)
Content:
- The tomb is meant to be a single chamber with wall decorations painted in fresco
- Chamber tombs = subterranean rock-cut chambers
- accessed by an approach way --> dromos
- Wall paintings from Triclinium give information on funeral culture but also living society (not intended use)
- left wall shows four dancers (three female + one male) and male musician playing the barbiton
- ancient stringed instrument like the lyre
- right wall shows similar scene
- back wall shows banqueters enjoying a dinner party
- Fresco is partial, it probably had:
- 3 couches each with a pair of reclining diners and 2 attendants
- one male one female (attendant and diner)
- diners dressed in bright and expensive robes (elite status)
- three legged tables with many vessels on top in front of couches
- animals under couches
- large cat stalking a large rooster and a partridge
- trees and shrubs all around the figures - rural setting?
- Nude cup bearer with wine jug sieve in the corner
- Tomb’s ceiling painted checkered (scheme of alternating colors)
- meant to evoke the temporary fabric tents near the tomb for celebration of the funeral banquet?
Form:
- Chamber tombs = subterranean rock-cut chambers
- stylistic comparisons between banquet scene and 5th century B.C.E. Attic pottery from Greece
- figures are angular and stiff
- awkward, artists did not know body fluidity and proportions correctly ?
- clothes do show outline of body underneath -- not as sophisticated as Greek/Roman art
- typical gender depiction
- female skin tone = light in color
- male skin tone= tinted/darker orange-brown
Function:
- Tombs were a huge part of the funerary rituals
- contain remains of the deceased and various grave goods or offerings
- like Egypt (Pyramids of Giza)
- share a final meal with the deceased as deceased transitioned to the afterlife
- portion of the meal + appropriate dishes + utensils were deposited in the tomb
- reinforce the socio-economic position of the deceased person + family
- show community their importance with:
- visual reminders of socio-political status
- indications of wealth
- civic achievements
- notably public offices held
- ** actual paintings removed from tomb c. 1949
- conserved in the Museo Nazionale in Tarquinia
- state of preservation deteriorated
- watercolors made when discovered = important to help study of the tomb
Sources:
