DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.847#0468
cxusium. 439
of the tombs, for neither of our guides bore any re-
semblance to Agapeto, to say nothing of the Gonfa-
loniere Avolta. The Grotta delle Monache con-
tained dead, both buried and burnt, probably many
successive generations of the same family, and all
the writing in it was Etruscan. The sculpture differed
in degrees of merit about as widely as can be con-
ceived, from the sublime to the almost grotesque,
and the two urns we so much wished to possess,
must either be specimens of the most nourishing
time of Etruria, i. e. before the foundation of Rome
and during its first three kings, or they must be the
work of artists in the days of Augustus. They are
of a beauty which I have scarcely ever seen exceeded.
There were no other ornaments in this tomb, and no
paintings, except the false doors. Chiusi existed
long after it was subject to Rome, governed by its
own laws, and containing it sown noble families; and
therefore its tombs, like all those of ancient date in
the present Tuscany, have probably been used through
a long succession of ages, and may have contained
the bones of many whose career was run far from
them.
We left this to drive to another tomb about a mile
further off, called
DEPOSITO DEGLI DEI :
This being the name of the family on whose ground
it stands. In front of this we waited for many
minutes, until a woman, who lived in a queer look-
ing little cottage near, could be at sufficient leisure
of the tombs, for neither of our guides bore any re-
semblance to Agapeto, to say nothing of the Gonfa-
loniere Avolta. The Grotta delle Monache con-
tained dead, both buried and burnt, probably many
successive generations of the same family, and all
the writing in it was Etruscan. The sculpture differed
in degrees of merit about as widely as can be con-
ceived, from the sublime to the almost grotesque,
and the two urns we so much wished to possess,
must either be specimens of the most nourishing
time of Etruria, i. e. before the foundation of Rome
and during its first three kings, or they must be the
work of artists in the days of Augustus. They are
of a beauty which I have scarcely ever seen exceeded.
There were no other ornaments in this tomb, and no
paintings, except the false doors. Chiusi existed
long after it was subject to Rome, governed by its
own laws, and containing it sown noble families; and
therefore its tombs, like all those of ancient date in
the present Tuscany, have probably been used through
a long succession of ages, and may have contained
the bones of many whose career was run far from
them.
We left this to drive to another tomb about a mile
further off, called
DEPOSITO DEGLI DEI :
This being the name of the family on whose ground
it stands. In front of this we waited for many
minutes, until a woman, who lived in a queer look-
ing little cottage near, could be at sufficient leisure