DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.786#0490
chap, win.] TOMB OF THE VOLUMNII. 473
in hand, lie—a petrifaction of conviviality—in solemn
mockery of the pleasures to which for ages on ages they
have bidden adieu.
There are seven urns in this chamber, five with recum-
bent figures of men, one with a female in a sitting posture,
and one of a peculiar character. All, except the last, are
of travertine, coated over with a fine stucco ; they are
wrought, indeed, with a skill, a finish, and a truth to
nature by no means common in Etruscan urns. The
inscriptions show them all to belong to one family, that of
"Velimnas," or Volumnius, as it was corrupted by the
Romans.3 Four of the urns are very similar, seeming to
differ in little beyond the ages of the men, each of whom is
reclining, in half-draped luxury, on bis banqueting-couch ;
but here it is not the sarcophagus or urn itself which
represents the couch, as is generally the case ; but the
lid alone, which is raised into that form, hung with
drapery, and supported by elegantly-carved legs, while the
receptacle for the ashes forms a high pedestal to the
couch. On the front of each of these ash-chests are four
paterce, one at each angle, with a Gorgon's head in the
centre—no longer the hideous mask of the original idea,
but the beautiful Medusa of later art—with a pair of
serpents knotted on her head, and wings also springing
from her brows.4
3 Miiller (Etrusk. II. p. 62) thinks —" Volnius"—is the correct one ; and
the Volumna mentioned by Augustin this is followed by Muller in his edition
(de Civit. Dei, IV. 21) is identical with of Varro. A Lucia Volumnia is men-
Voltumna, the celebrated goddess of tioned in the songs of the Salii (Varro,
Etruria; so also Gerhard, Gottheiten op. cit. IX. 61.). The wife of Coriolanus
der Etrusker, p. 35. It is certain that is well remembered. Liv. II. 40. The
this is a very ancient Italian name, goddess Velinia, who is said by Varro
and probably Etruscan. Varro (Ling. (V. 71.) to have derived her name from
Lat. V. 55) speaks of a " Volumnius " the lake Velinus, may have taken it
who wrote Etruscan tragedies, though from the same source.
Niebuhr (I. p. 135, Eng. trans.) says 4 The character of these heads is
that the reading of the Florentine MS. sufficient to prove the late date of the
in hand, lie—a petrifaction of conviviality—in solemn
mockery of the pleasures to which for ages on ages they
have bidden adieu.
There are seven urns in this chamber, five with recum-
bent figures of men, one with a female in a sitting posture,
and one of a peculiar character. All, except the last, are
of travertine, coated over with a fine stucco ; they are
wrought, indeed, with a skill, a finish, and a truth to
nature by no means common in Etruscan urns. The
inscriptions show them all to belong to one family, that of
"Velimnas," or Volumnius, as it was corrupted by the
Romans.3 Four of the urns are very similar, seeming to
differ in little beyond the ages of the men, each of whom is
reclining, in half-draped luxury, on bis banqueting-couch ;
but here it is not the sarcophagus or urn itself which
represents the couch, as is generally the case ; but the
lid alone, which is raised into that form, hung with
drapery, and supported by elegantly-carved legs, while the
receptacle for the ashes forms a high pedestal to the
couch. On the front of each of these ash-chests are four
paterce, one at each angle, with a Gorgon's head in the
centre—no longer the hideous mask of the original idea,
but the beautiful Medusa of later art—with a pair of
serpents knotted on her head, and wings also springing
from her brows.4
3 Miiller (Etrusk. II. p. 62) thinks —" Volnius"—is the correct one ; and
the Volumna mentioned by Augustin this is followed by Muller in his edition
(de Civit. Dei, IV. 21) is identical with of Varro. A Lucia Volumnia is men-
Voltumna, the celebrated goddess of tioned in the songs of the Salii (Varro,
Etruria; so also Gerhard, Gottheiten op. cit. IX. 61.). The wife of Coriolanus
der Etrusker, p. 35. It is certain that is well remembered. Liv. II. 40. The
this is a very ancient Italian name, goddess Velinia, who is said by Varro
and probably Etruscan. Varro (Ling. (V. 71.) to have derived her name from
Lat. V. 55) speaks of a " Volumnius " the lake Velinus, may have taken it
who wrote Etruscan tragedies, though from the same source.
Niebuhr (I. p. 135, Eng. trans.) says 4 The character of these heads is
that the reading of the Florentine MS. sufficient to prove the late date of the