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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND AUClllTECT'S JOURNAL. 



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Tyrrlienians ; luit tliiit, is iii) roason to suppose timt. tlic-re was any 

 communication of first principles between the two people. Lan/.i says 

 a distinction must be made between the Etruscan style and the work 

 of Etruscan artists ; the style was peculiar, and in use till a late period ; 

 it was called "Tuscanicus" by the Latins, and all works in the manner 

 of that school "Opera Tuscanica;" many of the subjects in the 

 Etruscan sculpture seem to have been executed when there was no 

 art in Greece, although the above author has endeavoured to prove 

 that they were copied from Grecian models, and there is a celebrated 

 gem in existence in the imperial collection at Vienna, which repre- 

 sents the seven (diiefs who conducted the expedition against Thebes, 

 a remarkable circumstance in Grecian story, a representation of which 

 equally early is not found among the Greeks themselves. The signs 

 of Etruscan art are, in some of the specimens, the forms undefined — 

 the hair and drapery arranged with studied regularity and stirtness, 

 and an attempt at effect in the execution. It may be remarked in the 

 figures of these tombs, that there is an overcharged and forward ac- 

 tion of part-s; the fingers are uplifted, the legs and arms arc placed in 

 affected positions ; there is nothing of that repose so visible in the 

 Egy(itian figures, nor the boldness of the jEgina marbles, but in all 

 the class an absence of expression, grace, and character. It is singular, 

 that when the art improved in Greece, they still kept the same de- 

 fects ; Winckleman is of o|)inion, that the hierarchy, who were gover- 

 nors as well as priests, were against improvement and innovation, and 

 followed only the ancient models, as was the custom of the Egyptians, 

 whose school remained the same from the days of Pharaoh to the 

 Roman era. That the Etruscans had practice to improve them, is 

 evident from t.Iie quantity of their works that have reached our times. 

 Pliny says, that on its final reduction as a Roman province, SSU years 

 before the Christian era, as many as 2,001) statues were taken from 

 Volsinium alone. There is one observation, liowever, to be made on 

 the style of the Etruscan scul]itures — that, however deficient they niay 

 be in beauty, in their proportions they are just; they neitlier offend 

 the eye by their extraordinary leanness, nor, as in the Chinese, by 

 their excessive obesity ; the same exactness is found in the propor- 

 tions of the small, as in the larger figures, which is not the case in 

 those of Selemmtum or jEgina, or always of Greece and Italy ; that 

 they possessed a decided taste for the arts, it is only necessary to 

 observe the differences that are made in the improvement of their 

 designs, and the means they found in that early age of rendering the 

 most stubborn materials subservient to their use. 



Amour propre is born with man. In regariling the scul]itures of the 

 different nations of antiquity, the philosoplier may amuse himself in 

 contemplating its effects. The (Exclusive conceit of China conceives 

 that the origin of sculpture is the finality of its jierfeetion, and boasts 

 that within the bounds of the celestial em])ire it has neither retro- 

 graded nor advanced in a period of 3,00U years ; the faithful disciple 

 of Branudi regards with eipml admiration the hideous ])roportions of 

 his seven-armed statue, and thinks it cannot be surpassed ; tile Egyp- 

 tian, confident in the excellence of his original concejitions, and in the 

 immensity of tlieir execution, copied no one, and sought not to im- 

 prove ; he thought his works would last to eternity ; the subtle Greek 

 flattered himself he could with impunity rol) the Egyptian ; he counted 

 on his contempt, or his indolence, and he supposed his robbery of 

 imitation would not be discovered, notwithstanding the coarseness of 

 the veil he threw over it, and he destroyed his earlier works to con- 

 ceal his ignorance, which accounts why so few of the earlier Grecian 

 statues have been found, Pausanias only mentioning a few, supersti- 

 tiously preserved as early gods. The Romans were equally ungrate- 

 ful, but they dared not act the same with the Greeks, whose wit would 

 have exposed the theft. The Etruscans, if they imitated the Egyp- 

 tians, as was the opinion of M. IJnonarotti, made no attempt to conceal 

 it, yet much of the style of their painting and sculpture is original; it 

 is true it never reached perfection, nor can the date of any p;irticular 

 monument be given, because no history of the nation remains. The 

 tomb of Porsenna, as is saitl by Strabo, may have owed its origin to 

 Egyptian commerce, but the variety displayed in all their earlier 

 monuments, is a proof of genius in the people which, liad not conquest 

 and the sacerdotal nature of their government prevented, might have 

 been found, in its ultimate development, to have equalled that of any 

 nation of antiquity. 



The tombs whence these figures and monuments were brought were 

 in general excavated in the rock, and in a line of road immediately 

 leading to a city, as was the custom of all the ancients, and the out- 

 side, where it would admit being adorned, adorned with sculptured 

 ornaments; they were of that kind called Tnp/ios, and not like the 

 Celtic tumulus or mound ; in some of them it was the custom for the 

 priests to practise the art of dixination. Tlie interior of the (diam- 

 bers were so formed, that the ceilings were made to represent beams 

 of wood, and the walls of those belonging to fiVJnilies or individuals of 



distinction were entirely covered with paintings ; these were divided 

 into compartments, and the subjects represented were rarely of a 

 sombre or funereal description; In many of them groups of figures 

 are represented as dancing with female musicians playing on flutes. 

 The dress of the men is commonly a cloak, thrown over the arms and 

 shoulders, without sandals or any other covering; the women have 

 light tunics and mantles floating in the air, both of which are bordered; 

 all the figures are crowned witli myrtle ; the men wear a necklace ot 

 b'ue beads, and in the back-gromid of the picture is generally seen a 

 table covered with painted vases, which contain the wine destined 

 for these votaries of Bacchus ; in others there are representations of 

 chariot races ; a number of cars, with three horses to each, ajjiiear 

 ready to start, and only wait because the steeds of all are not prepared. 

 In some wrestling matches are depicted, over which a figure on horse- 

 back presides armed with a lance. It is evident that the subjects on 

 the walls of these tombs are a true representation of the funereal 

 ceremonies of the Etruscans, and that they contemplated ileath but as 

 a gate through which mortalitv must pass to obtain a perpetual en- 

 joyment. The chests when opened were frequently found to contain, 

 beside the bones of the deceased, many favourite articles appertaining 

 to their lives, such as female ornaments of gold, parts of the armour 

 of a warrior, besides mirrors, cestusis, dice, table utensils, and pieces 

 of money of ancient fabric, as also vases of glass and terra cotta, some 

 beautifully painted, with many other articles possessed in life. The 

 chest on the rio-ht hand from the entrance of the grand Siiloon of the 

 Museum, was found in a chamber excavated in the rock on the road 

 from Tuscanella to Corneto, the ancient Tarquinia. The bas-relief in 

 front represents the head of Medusa, having on each side a dolphin. 

 A figure of a bov, probably the son of the deceased, stands beside ; he 

 is naked, excepting a sash aroimd the loins ; the cover is the recum- 

 bent effigy of ail aged matron. On the cover of the adjoining one is 

 sculptured the statue of a priest of Bacchus, which is shown by the 

 prefericulum he holds in his hand, and the ivy chaplet round his tem- 

 ples, as also by the sacred utensils hanging from (he wall on his side ; 

 the chest belonging to it presents in front a comliat of three warriors, 

 scarcely blocked out ; w ithin it were the remains of the botly and 

 some other articles. The next chest has a male figure on the top, and 

 an inscription, probablv bearing the name of the departed, engraved 

 on the upper cornice of the principal side ; the bas-relief on tins re- 

 presents two marine monsters opposite each other, and between them 

 is a disc intended for a Gorgon ; the marine figures are finished, but 

 the other is only sketched out. This is strange, but probably can be 

 accounted for, that it was the custom to prepare the receptacle tluring 

 life, and, not being completed, it was thought sacrilegious to touch it 

 after death : round the neck of this figure is a circular ornament, sur- 

 rounded with a riband in spirals which it is difficult more accurately 

 to define : it has also a ring in the hand, which it was also the custom 

 for women to hold. There is an inscription, which, according to the 

 theory of Lanzi, may be translated, " Vibius Sithicus or Sextus Vel- 

 thuriiis. Medosia; natus Tanaquilis filia-, vixit annos quinquaginta." 

 The next co\'er represents a warrior, as may be judged from the bas- 

 relief of a military car, guided by himself ; behind is a genius with 

 expanded wings, followed by three figures bearing palms in procession, 

 and a fourth who has in his arms an instrument resembling the crooked 

 Etruscan trumpet; there is a long inscription upon this coffin, the 

 whole of wdiich, according to the above antiquary, is unintelligible, 

 excepting the name " Arsio Velio," and the age. The adjoining 

 chest to this has a bas-relief of a bearded head, covered with the 

 Phrygian bonnet, the point of which falls over the forehead ; beside 

 are two marine monsters mounted by boys, symbolical of the passage 

 of the soul over the ocean to the Elysian fields. The statue on the 

 cover is that of a young female, which has evidently been painted 

 red, as also the tn-naments of a golden colour, a practice which seems 

 to have been general among tJie ancients ; on the head is a diadein, 

 and there can be no doubt "but the countenance is a portrait of the 

 deceased, who must have been handsome ; the dress is in an unfinished 

 state, as is the case with almost all the others. In the Phigalian saloon 

 is a chest by far the most magnificent of the whole collection; it is of 

 laro-er dimensions than any of the others, and is sculptured on all the 

 sides, which is unusual, and would seem to prove that it was intended 

 for some superior personage. At the head is represented a combat 

 of gladiators in honour of the deceased ; the bas-reliefs on the other 

 sides of the monument display the barbarous sacrifice of Iminmi vic- 

 tims, men, women, and children, who are liacked to death before the 

 altar, amidst the despair of their relatives and friends ; the whole is 

 masterly executed, the grouping of the figures is excellent ; the at- 

 tempt at flight of some, and the useless resistance of others, are boldly 

 delineated, and but that the finish is not equal, we (liiiik that this 

 sculpture is not surpassed by any of the splendid specimens of Gri'cian 

 art around ; this beautiful work has unfortunately been much injured, 



