DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.786#0360
chap, l.] SEPULCHRAL URNS. 343
It has been often asserted, that the recumbent figures
on Etruscan urns and sarcophagi are portraits of the
deceased. The correspondence of sex and age with the
inscriptions, and the individual peculiarities of physiog-
nomy, attest this beyond a doubt. Here is a singular in-
stance of portraiture. An elderly gentleman is represented
blind.3 Yet he was no CEdipus or Belisarius ; he was not
dependent on others for support as well as guidance. He
seems to have been a noble, for he wears a large signet-
ring ; and as a Lucumo, he was probably skilled in augury
—perhaps a Tiresias, a blind seer of the will of heaven,
who knew alike the past, the present, and the future—
Os gftr] ra t eoi/ra, rd r £a-&6fi€va, irpo t eoVra.
One of these urns bears the effigies of a wedded pair
reclining on it, as on the banqueting couch. Both are
half draped and decorated with ornaments. She lies
on his bosom, while he has one hand on hers, the
other holding a patera,—a specimen of Etruscan con-
nubials highly edifying. The relief below displays a
furious combat, a contrast, perhaps, intentionally in-
troduced to show the turmoil and struggle of this life, as
opposed to the blissful repose of a future existence, which
the Etruscans could only express by scenes of sensual
pleasure.4
These urns of Chiusi have not so frequently subjects
from the Greek mythical cycle, as those of Volterra. Yet
there are a few of the favourite subjects—Pyrrhus slaying
Polites5—Paris kneeling on an altar defending himsell
against his brothers6---combats of Greeks with Amazons,
3 Mus. Cliius. tav. XXIX. He is not, severed head of Menalippus in his
however, represented blind in this plate. hand.
4 Mus. Chius. tar. XXV. XXVI. s Mus. Chius. tav. XV. Inghirami
Inghirami interprets this combat as calls it the death of Astyanax.
Amphiaraus before Thebes, with the " Mus. Chius. tav. LXXXI.
It has been often asserted, that the recumbent figures
on Etruscan urns and sarcophagi are portraits of the
deceased. The correspondence of sex and age with the
inscriptions, and the individual peculiarities of physiog-
nomy, attest this beyond a doubt. Here is a singular in-
stance of portraiture. An elderly gentleman is represented
blind.3 Yet he was no CEdipus or Belisarius ; he was not
dependent on others for support as well as guidance. He
seems to have been a noble, for he wears a large signet-
ring ; and as a Lucumo, he was probably skilled in augury
—perhaps a Tiresias, a blind seer of the will of heaven,
who knew alike the past, the present, and the future—
Os gftr] ra t eoi/ra, rd r £a-&6fi€va, irpo t eoVra.
One of these urns bears the effigies of a wedded pair
reclining on it, as on the banqueting couch. Both are
half draped and decorated with ornaments. She lies
on his bosom, while he has one hand on hers, the
other holding a patera,—a specimen of Etruscan con-
nubials highly edifying. The relief below displays a
furious combat, a contrast, perhaps, intentionally in-
troduced to show the turmoil and struggle of this life, as
opposed to the blissful repose of a future existence, which
the Etruscans could only express by scenes of sensual
pleasure.4
These urns of Chiusi have not so frequently subjects
from the Greek mythical cycle, as those of Volterra. Yet
there are a few of the favourite subjects—Pyrrhus slaying
Polites5—Paris kneeling on an altar defending himsell
against his brothers6---combats of Greeks with Amazons,
3 Mus. Cliius. tav. XXIX. He is not, severed head of Menalippus in his
however, represented blind in this plate. hand.
4 Mus. Chius. tar. XXV. XXVI. s Mus. Chius. tav. XV. Inghirami
Inghirami interprets this combat as calls it the death of Astyanax.
Amphiaraus before Thebes, with the " Mus. Chius. tav. LXXXI.