DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.785#0462
chap, xvm.] THE POTTERY OF TARQUINII. 357
less abundant than at Vulci. It is of various descrip-
tions and degrees of merit; from the coarse, staring,
figured ware of Volterra, to the florid forms and decorations
of Apulia and Lucania, and the chaste and elegant Attic
designs of Vulci—which, in fact, is its general character.
And this is singular, for we might expect that the Corin-
thian artists who settled here with Demaratus, the father
of Tarquinius Priscus, would have introduced a Doric
style of pottery; whereas there is here little or nothing
that reminds us of Corinth or Sicyon; but much of the
Attic character so prevalent at Vulci.2 The best ware of
Tarquinii is in no degree inferior, either in form, material,
varnish, or design, to that of Vulci; and, if there be a
difference, it is that it is generally less archaic in character.
Besides vases, many fine sarcophagi of nenfro have been
found here—"ash-chests" rarely; for the Tarquinians
were accustomed to bury, rather than burn, their dead.
Bronzes are not very abundant on this site ; yet I have
seen some of great beauty, with reliefs of mythological
subjects. In one tomb were found eleven bronze discs,
about sixteen inches in diameter—seven of them with a
lion's head, and the rest with a face of the horned
Bacchus, in high relief, in the centre—as shown in the
woodcut on the following page.3
2 Niebuhr (I. p. ] 33) shows that the art the Dorians were renowned ; for
legend of Demaratus and his com- there is little like the infancy of Greek
panions, Eucheir and Eugrammos, is art in the vases of Tarquinii.
meant to express that from Corinth 3 The eyes are supplied by some
Tarquinii derived her skill in forming material in imitation of life. These
and painting pottery ; but he is mistaken bronzes are too small and thin ever to
in asserting that there is a striking simi- have served as shields, and were pro-
larity between the vases of the two cities. bably suspended as ornaments on the
Occasional resemblances may occur, but wall of the tomb. Bull. Inst. 1829, p.
they are by no means characteristic. ISO ; Micali, Ant. Pop. Ital. III. p. 57.
Gerhard (Ann. Inst. 1831, p. 213) thinks They are now in the Gregorian Mu-
the companions of Demaratus were seum. For notices of the excavations at
workers in metal, for which branch of Tarquinii, and their fruits, see Ann.
less abundant than at Vulci. It is of various descrip-
tions and degrees of merit; from the coarse, staring,
figured ware of Volterra, to the florid forms and decorations
of Apulia and Lucania, and the chaste and elegant Attic
designs of Vulci—which, in fact, is its general character.
And this is singular, for we might expect that the Corin-
thian artists who settled here with Demaratus, the father
of Tarquinius Priscus, would have introduced a Doric
style of pottery; whereas there is here little or nothing
that reminds us of Corinth or Sicyon; but much of the
Attic character so prevalent at Vulci.2 The best ware of
Tarquinii is in no degree inferior, either in form, material,
varnish, or design, to that of Vulci; and, if there be a
difference, it is that it is generally less archaic in character.
Besides vases, many fine sarcophagi of nenfro have been
found here—"ash-chests" rarely; for the Tarquinians
were accustomed to bury, rather than burn, their dead.
Bronzes are not very abundant on this site ; yet I have
seen some of great beauty, with reliefs of mythological
subjects. In one tomb were found eleven bronze discs,
about sixteen inches in diameter—seven of them with a
lion's head, and the rest with a face of the horned
Bacchus, in high relief, in the centre—as shown in the
woodcut on the following page.3
2 Niebuhr (I. p. ] 33) shows that the art the Dorians were renowned ; for
legend of Demaratus and his com- there is little like the infancy of Greek
panions, Eucheir and Eugrammos, is art in the vases of Tarquinii.
meant to express that from Corinth 3 The eyes are supplied by some
Tarquinii derived her skill in forming material in imitation of life. These
and painting pottery ; but he is mistaken bronzes are too small and thin ever to
in asserting that there is a striking simi- have served as shields, and were pro-
larity between the vases of the two cities. bably suspended as ornaments on the
Occasional resemblances may occur, but wall of the tomb. Bull. Inst. 1829, p.
they are by no means characteristic. ISO ; Micali, Ant. Pop. Ital. III. p. 57.
Gerhard (Ann. Inst. 1831, p. 213) thinks They are now in the Gregorian Mu-
the companions of Demaratus were seum. For notices of the excavations at
workers in metal, for which branch of Tarquinii, and their fruits, see Ann.