DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0078
lxxviii PAINTED POTTERY OF ETRUSIA. [introduction,
Chiusi, where power is weakened by negligence, as though the
artist scarcely regarded such work to be worthy of his pencil.
Still later, with yet more freedom, mastery, and intelligence, are
some of the scenes at Tarquinii, and one, not now extant, at
Vulci, where rigidity and severity are laid aside, where fore-
shortening, grouping, composition, and even chiaroscuro are
introduced; which display, in a word, all the ease and power of
Roman frescoes of the close of the Republic or commencement
of the Empire.
Painted Vases.
The painted vases form the most comprehensive and difficult
subject connected with Etruscan art. The vast multitude that
have been brought to light, the great variety of form, of use, of
story and myth, of degree of excellence in the workmanship
and design, the numerous questions connected with their origin
and manufacture not yet satisfactorily answered, the wide
diversity of opinions respecting them, render it impossible to
treat fully of so extensive a subject in a narrow compass. My
remarks, then, must necessarily be brief, and are offered for the
sake of elucidating the frequent references to Etruscan pottery
made in the course of this work: and rather with the hope of
exciting interest in this subject than with the expectation of
satisfying inquiry.
The most ancient pottery of Etruria was not painted, but
adorned with figures, either scratched on the moist clay, as in
that of Veii, or left in flat relief, as in that of Caere, or in pro-
minent and rounded relief, as in that of Clusium and its neigh-
bourhood. The subjects represented are figures of deities,
chimeras, and other symbols of the Etruscan creed: more
rarely myths, and scenes illustrative of native life and customs.
Though the most ancient in style, this pottery is not neces-
sarily so in fact; as the peculiarities of a remote period may
have been conventionally preserved, especially on sepulchral or
sacred vessels, through a long course of ages.
The painted vases may be divided into three grand classes.
First—the Egyptian, or, as it is sometimes called from the
Chiusi, where power is weakened by negligence, as though the
artist scarcely regarded such work to be worthy of his pencil.
Still later, with yet more freedom, mastery, and intelligence, are
some of the scenes at Tarquinii, and one, not now extant, at
Vulci, where rigidity and severity are laid aside, where fore-
shortening, grouping, composition, and even chiaroscuro are
introduced; which display, in a word, all the ease and power of
Roman frescoes of the close of the Republic or commencement
of the Empire.
Painted Vases.
The painted vases form the most comprehensive and difficult
subject connected with Etruscan art. The vast multitude that
have been brought to light, the great variety of form, of use, of
story and myth, of degree of excellence in the workmanship
and design, the numerous questions connected with their origin
and manufacture not yet satisfactorily answered, the wide
diversity of opinions respecting them, render it impossible to
treat fully of so extensive a subject in a narrow compass. My
remarks, then, must necessarily be brief, and are offered for the
sake of elucidating the frequent references to Etruscan pottery
made in the course of this work: and rather with the hope of
exciting interest in this subject than with the expectation of
satisfying inquiry.
The most ancient pottery of Etruria was not painted, but
adorned with figures, either scratched on the moist clay, as in
that of Veii, or left in flat relief, as in that of Caere, or in pro-
minent and rounded relief, as in that of Clusium and its neigh-
bourhood. The subjects represented are figures of deities,
chimeras, and other symbols of the Etruscan creed: more
rarely myths, and scenes illustrative of native life and customs.
Though the most ancient in style, this pottery is not neces-
sarily so in fact; as the peculiarities of a remote period may
have been conventionally preserved, especially on sepulchral or
sacred vessels, through a long course of ages.
The painted vases may be divided into three grand classes.
First—the Egyptian, or, as it is sometimes called from the