Animus Classics Journal, Volume 3, Issue 1

16.Naso,81.
17.Giuliano,
“Protoattici
inOccidente,”70.
18.Naso,pp.
69–71.
19.Naso,64.
20.Hurwit,
“EarlyGreek
Walland
PanelPainting,760–480
B.C.”66.
21.Pieraccini,
248.
two Etruscan cities signaled that elements in Etruscan art
emphasizeduniqueaspectsoftherespectivecities’cultures
and local traditions. Ifthis is true, this refutes the notion
espousedbymanyGreco-RomanscholarsthattheEtruscans
werenotcreativeintheirartworks. 16 Nasoalsoarguesthatthe
plasteringtechniqueusedbytheartisansinVeiiwasindigenous
totheEtruscans(82).Despitethis,wallpaintingsareoften
associated with the Greeks, as well as the Romans, who
scholars believe adapted wall paintings from the ancient
Greeks.Forexample,theTombadelleAnatre,aVeiianartwork
madearound680-660B.C.E.,hasbeencreditedtotheancient
Greeks,inparticular,aEuboeanpainter. 17 Thistombpainting
depictsafriezewithfiveredbirdsmovingtowardafunerary
bird located on the left side of the tomb (See Figure 3).
However,theirlongbeakssuggestthatthesebirdsarewater
birds, which were portrayed frequently in Etruscan tomb
paintingsandmayhaveplayedanimportantroleinEtruscan
religion. 18 Thus,thelandscapepainting’sclearincorporationof
animalsimportanttoEtruscanreligioncannotbeattributedto
theEuboeans. 19 Furthermore,itisunlikelythatwallpaintings
were first made by the Greeks, as Etruscan wall paintings
predateGreekones. 20 Mostimportantly,thereislittleexisting
evidenceoftombpaintingsfromArchaicandClassicalGreece,
whereastheEtruscanshave“thelargestrepertoire”oftomb
paintingsfromthistimeperiod,asmadeclearbytheirillustrious
worksliketheTomboftheHuntingandFishing,TomboftheDiver,
andtheTomboftheShip. 21 Asaresult,suggestingthattheTomba
delle Anatre originated in Greece is both historically and
culturallyunlikely.
InadditiontothelackofcreditgiventotheEtruscansfor
creatinganewgenreofart,theEtruscansstillhavenotbeen
recognizedforthelevelofcreativityandartisticprowesstheir
artisansdisplayedintheirlandscapepaintings,alevelofartistic
masterynotevidentinsimilarrenditionsmadebytheancient
GreeksorRomans.Inparticular,theEtruscans’artisticprowess
was marked by their ability to depict a beautiful balance
betweenmanandnature.ShownexquisitelyintheEtruscan
TomboftheHuntingandFishinglandscapepainting,aTarquinian
fresco likely created in 530 B.C.E., the Etruscan artisans
providedviewerswithanalmostphotographiclookintothe
20LANDSCAPEPAINTINGS
dailylivesoftheEtruscansontheTyrrhenianshore(SeeFigure
4).TheTomboftheHuntingandFishingdepictsred,blue,and
orangebirdssoaringthroughthepanelandmendivingbelow
thewatertocatchfish.Meanwhile,dolphinsjumpinandoutof
the water at the bottom ofthe panel.At the same time,
Etruscanbanquetersreclineatthetopofthepanel,andadiver
fromasmallislandontheleftwallwatchesthescene,overall
depictinga“circleofevents…inaKodak-likepictureoflife.” 22 The
multitudeofeventspaintedintheTomboftheHuntingand
FishingexhibitstheEtruscans’abilitytonotonlyfocuson
merelyillustratingalandscapebutondisplaying“movement
andharmonybetweenmanandnature.” 23 Inthepainting,the
Etruscanartisanmanagedtoconveynumerousaspectsofdaily
lifethatwereimportanttothem,suchasholdingbanquetsand
reclining.Inaddition,theartisanincludeseventsinthepainting
thatwerecrucialtothesurvivalofacivilization,suchasthe
fishermen hunting fish, likely for their families to eat.
Altogether,thepaintingprovidesadetailedinsightintowhatan
ordinarydaymighthavelookedlikefortheEtruscans.
ThelevelofdetailtheEtruscansdepictedintheTombofthe
Hunting and Fishing has not been found in similar Greek
paintings.WhiletheArchaicGreeksdepictedsomeelementsof
manandnatureintheirvasepaintings,itisunlikelythatthe
EtruscanswereinspiredbytheGreeksandreplicatedsimilar
elementsintheirlandscapeart.ThisisbecausetheArchaic
Greekpaintersonlyincludeddirt,treesandsomeindividuals
bathing, and these elements were portrayed in the Greek
landscapepaintingsassmallpartsoftheoverallpicture.In
contrast,JeffreyHurwitassertsthattheEtruscanspaidproper
homagetothenaturalworldbyplacinghumansinproportion
to how small they are in comparison to nature. 24 R. Ross
Hollowaysimilarlyacknowledgesthatanimalslikedolphinsand
birds,aswellasfigureslikedivers,canbefoundinGreekvase
art,buthearguesthattheywerenotdepictedwiththesame
levelofdetailastheEtruscans,notingthat
[T]heirexistenceinthetraditionofGreekdrawinginwhich
thepaintersoftheTarquiniitombswereschooleddoesnot
meanthatanyGreekpaintingexistedasaprototypeofthese
scenes.ArchaicGreekartneverproducedanythinglikethe
LANDSCAPEPAINTINGS21
22.Pieraccini,251.
23.Pieraccini,251.
24.Hurwit,
TheRepresentationofNatureinEarly
GreekArt,36.