DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.786#0392
chap, li.] THE JEWELLER'S FIELD.—SCARAB MI. 375
di Pomponini. It contains seven chambers, full of urns, the
fruit of excavations made in the neighbourhood. In the
cliff hard by have been discovered many urns in niches,
covered with tiles.6
Beyond this on the way to the Deposito del Sovrano,
you pass a slope called Campo degli Orefici, or the
"Jeweller's Field," from the number of scarabcei there
brought to light. For these valuable relics of ancient days,
which are found much more abundantly at Chiusi than
on any other Etruscan site, are very rarely the produce
of her tombs,7 or the fruit of systematic research, but
" the unlettered ploughboy wins
The casual treasure from the furrowed soil."
Why they should be more abundant on this slope, than on
any other around the town, is matter for speculative
inquiry. But there can be no doubt that this branch of
ancient Etruscan art was carried on extensively, if not
even exclusively, at Clusium.
Not far from this are the Catacombs of the early Chris-
tians; which are too like those of Rome and its Campagna,
Naples, and Syracuse, to require particular notice.
At the foot of these slopes lies the Lake of Chiusi, a
piece of water about two square miles in extent, and
of no great beauty, yet heightening the charms of the
surrounding scenery. Though often styled the " Chiaro
di Chiusi," it is the muddiest lake I have ever seen; as
6 Near this, a tomb was discovered in 7 Bull. Inst. 1829, p. 13. Other arti-
1837, having two figures of the Etrus- cles of jewellery, however, are dis-
can Charun, as large as life, sculptured covered in the tombs of Chiusi, such as
in high relief in the doorway, and armed acorns of gold, and chaplets of laurel or
with hammers as if to guard the sepul- other leaves in the same metal, like
chre against violation. Ann. Inst. 1837. those" of Vulci. Bull. Inst 1829, p.
2, p. 258. Unfortunately this tomb has 180 ; 1840, pp, 2, 61.
been reclosed.
di Pomponini. It contains seven chambers, full of urns, the
fruit of excavations made in the neighbourhood. In the
cliff hard by have been discovered many urns in niches,
covered with tiles.6
Beyond this on the way to the Deposito del Sovrano,
you pass a slope called Campo degli Orefici, or the
"Jeweller's Field," from the number of scarabcei there
brought to light. For these valuable relics of ancient days,
which are found much more abundantly at Chiusi than
on any other Etruscan site, are very rarely the produce
of her tombs,7 or the fruit of systematic research, but
" the unlettered ploughboy wins
The casual treasure from the furrowed soil."
Why they should be more abundant on this slope, than on
any other around the town, is matter for speculative
inquiry. But there can be no doubt that this branch of
ancient Etruscan art was carried on extensively, if not
even exclusively, at Clusium.
Not far from this are the Catacombs of the early Chris-
tians; which are too like those of Rome and its Campagna,
Naples, and Syracuse, to require particular notice.
At the foot of these slopes lies the Lake of Chiusi, a
piece of water about two square miles in extent, and
of no great beauty, yet heightening the charms of the
surrounding scenery. Though often styled the " Chiaro
di Chiusi," it is the muddiest lake I have ever seen; as
6 Near this, a tomb was discovered in 7 Bull. Inst. 1829, p. 13. Other arti-
1837, having two figures of the Etrus- cles of jewellery, however, are dis-
can Charun, as large as life, sculptured covered in the tombs of Chiusi, such as
in high relief in the doorway, and armed acorns of gold, and chaplets of laurel or
with hammers as if to guard the sepul- other leaves in the same metal, like
chre against violation. Ann. Inst. 1837. those" of Vulci. Bull. Inst 1829, p.
2, p. 258. Unfortunately this tomb has 180 ; 1840, pp, 2, 61.
been reclosed.