The J. Paul Getty Museum Journal Volume 5 1977

ARCHAIC ETRUSCAN STONE SCULPTURE
The J. Paul Getty Museum may justly boast of a good
sampling of Etruscan stone (nenfro) sculpture of the
Archaic period which, as representative of Etruscan
stone sculpture of relatively large scale other than
sarcophagi, is rare for any single collection in the
United States. 1 Of the four Getty tufa sculptures, two
are executed in-the-round (Figs. 1-2,7-9); the remaining
two (Figs. 12, 18-19) are reliefs, and may have originally
formed part of a single monument. 2
1. Sphinx (Figs. 1-2)
71.AA.292.
Preserved height, 51 cm., max. width, 29 cm.;
max. depth, 39 cm.
The sickle-shaped wings, lower forelegs,
and major portion to the rear of the body
which includes its haunches and hind legs
are altogether missing. There is severe
damage to the top of the head—particularly
at the left side—and to the lower part of
the face itself. With the exception of the left eye,
the surviving features of the face are
considerably worn or chipped.
Despite the poor state of preservation, the Getty
sphinx nonetheless retains the stiff and formal pose, yet
alert quality that characterizes the role of the Etruscan
sphinx as guardian figure to a tomb. 3 In the general
shape of its head and facial features, the Getty sphinx
shares much in common with a sphinx in Vienna (Fig.
3). 4 But for an important section of the sickle-shape
wing which is still in evidence near the nape of the neck,
by some strange coincidence, the Vienna sphinx reveals
almost the same amount of preserved portions as does
the Getty sphinx. The contours of the exceptionally
large open eyes, the shape of the nose and mouth, and
the ponderous and wig-like hair, both in shape and
general treatment of the tresses trailing on each side of
the head, are remarkably similar. This "hairstyle"
contrasts sharply to those sphinxes with their hair
1. Nenfro is a hard grey variety of tufa (tufo), a stone of volcanic
origin which is characteristic to parts of present day Tuscany and
Latium; see A. Hus, Recherches sur la statuaire en pierre étrusque
archaïque (Paris, 1961), pp. 443ff. Tufa is easily cut with a sharp tool
and was commonly used by Etruscan sculptors for architectural
moldings, altars, sarcophagi, and other sculptures of relatively large
scale. For a selection of Etruscan tufa sculpture in an American
collection: cf., C. Vermeule, "An Etruscan Zoo Revisited," Bulletin of
the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston LXII (1964), pp. 103-113.
2. I wish to thank Dr. Jifí Freí, Curator of Classical Antiquities, for
the opportunity to study and publish the four Etruscan stone
sculptures. I must acknowledge the diligent research of Ms. Constance
Okada, a student in my graduate seminar in Etruscan Art at the
University of California, Santa Barbara, for some of the data and
observations incorporated in this paper.
3. See W. L. Brown, The Etruscan Lion (Oxford, 1960), p. 62; A.
Hus, p. 398ff.; and E. Richardson, The Etruscans (Chicago, 1964),
p. 95.
4. Vienna, Private Collection: see Studi Etruschi IV (1930), pis. VII,
VIII, 1 and pi. IX, 1; see also A. Hus, p. 41, no. 8 and pi. XXII, 8.
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