DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.847#0053
INTRODUCTION.
it bears both names, Phistu* and Paestum. Nola too
was an Etruscan city.
The most modern vases cannot be less than two
thousand years old, for if any had been manufac-
tured during the last two centuries which preceded
the empire, it is reasonable to suppose that we should
have found at least some beautiful specimens of
them in the chambers of the baths, or in the
villa of Adrian, or in many other ruins where so
many fine objects of art were accumulated, and
have been disinterred; but particularly in the
houses of Pompeii and Herculaneum, where vases of
terra cotta, not painted, exist in abundance, but
which have not disclosed one Etruscan, though
situated in the immediate neighbourhood of Nola
and other towns of Magna Grecia, where they were
made in the highest perfection. It would appear
that all, not buried anteriorly, must have been
broken in the tear and wear of household use or
ornament, and that the art had been long lost
before that eruption of Vesuvius which has pre-
served to us those other treasures of painting,
mosaic, and bronze, all so eminently adorning the
cities of the plain.
As the era of the foundation of Rome was that of
the chief grandeur of Etruria, when her luxury and
magnificence were at the highest pitch, and her arts
chiefly flourished, we may assign that period for the
finest vases, while those called Egyptian bear a
much earlier date. The finest vases, to which we
* Phistu was occupied and enlarged, but was not settled by the
Lucanians.
it bears both names, Phistu* and Paestum. Nola too
was an Etruscan city.
The most modern vases cannot be less than two
thousand years old, for if any had been manufac-
tured during the last two centuries which preceded
the empire, it is reasonable to suppose that we should
have found at least some beautiful specimens of
them in the chambers of the baths, or in the
villa of Adrian, or in many other ruins where so
many fine objects of art were accumulated, and
have been disinterred; but particularly in the
houses of Pompeii and Herculaneum, where vases of
terra cotta, not painted, exist in abundance, but
which have not disclosed one Etruscan, though
situated in the immediate neighbourhood of Nola
and other towns of Magna Grecia, where they were
made in the highest perfection. It would appear
that all, not buried anteriorly, must have been
broken in the tear and wear of household use or
ornament, and that the art had been long lost
before that eruption of Vesuvius which has pre-
served to us those other treasures of painting,
mosaic, and bronze, all so eminently adorning the
cities of the plain.
As the era of the foundation of Rome was that of
the chief grandeur of Etruria, when her luxury and
magnificence were at the highest pitch, and her arts
chiefly flourished, we may assign that period for the
finest vases, while those called Egyptian bear a
much earlier date. The finest vases, to which we
* Phistu was occupied and enlarged, but was not settled by the
Lucanians.