Dennis, George: The cities and cemeteries of Etruria: in two volumes (Band 1) (London, 1848)

CHAP. XVIII.]

GROTTA DEL TRICLINIO.

289

happen at the moment to enter the chamber, which they
do in the course of the afternoon. Such a blaze of rich
colour on the walls and roof, and such life in the figures
that dance around ! In truth, the excellent state of pre-
servation—the wonderful brilliancy of the colours, almost as
fresh after two or three and twenty centuries, as when first
laid on—the richness of the costumes—the strangeness of

SALTATRIX.

the attitudes—the spirit, the vivacity, the joyousness of the
whole scene—the decidedly Etruscan character of the
design, distinct at once from the Greek and from the
Egyptian, yet in certain points approximating to both—
render this one of the most interesting tombs yet opened
in Etruria.

The subjects of the paintings are in character and
arrangement very similar to those in the Grotta Querciola.
Here are the same scenes of joy and festivity; the ban-
quet at the upper end ; the dances on the side-walls ; but
on each side of the door is a man on horseback. The
broad beam of the ceiling is painted with ivy and lotus
leaves; the slopes are chequered with black, brown, red,

TOI. I.