Conventions of Etruscan Painting in the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing at Tarquinii

Author(s): R. Ross Holloway

Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 69, No. 4 (Oct., 1965), pp. 341-347
Published by: Archaeological Institute of America
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/502183 .
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 Conventions of Etruscan Painting in the Tomb
Hunting and Fishing
R. ROSS HOLLOWAY
Since their discoveryin 1873,the frescoesof the
inner chamberof the Tomb of Hunting and Fish-
ing at Tarquinii have seemed a unique, almost
anomalousexperimentin the history of Etruscan
tomb painting (pls. 75-77,figs. 1-4).1They are a
continuouspanorama,carriedaround four walls,
of the seashoreand the teeming wild life sought
there by the hunter and fisherman.For the first
time in the art of Greeceand her culturaldepend-
encies man is reducedto a small figure placed on
a low horizon line below a wide expanseof sky.
This sudden enlargementof physical space is a
majorstep in the developmentof ancientpainting,
and it is importantto ask how it cameaboutwithin
the conventionsof Etruscantomb paintingat Tar-
quinii.
THE TOMB
The Tomb of Hunting and Fishingwas probably
decoratedin the last decade of the sixth century
B.c. Its frescoesare clearly later than the earliest
exampleof Tarquiniantomb painting,the Tomb
of the Bulls, and they are contemporarywith the
importantgroup of tombsthat belong to the close
The following abbreviations will be employed: MonPitt for
Monumenti della Pittura antica scoperti in Italia, Leisinger
for H. Leisinger, Malerei der Etrusker (Stuttgart n.d.), Pallot-
tino (1937) for M. Pallottino, Tarquinia (MonAnt 36, 1937);
Pallottino (1952) for M. Pallottino, Etruscan Painting (Geneva
1952); Romanelli for P. Romanelli, Tarquinia (Itinerari dei
Musei e Monumenti d'Italia no. 75, Rome 1954); Weege for
F. Weege, Etruskische Malerei (Halle 1921).
1
The Tomb is fully published by P. Romanelli, Le Pitture
della Tomba della "Caccia e Pesca" (MonPitt, Sez. I, Thr-
quinii, fasc. II, Rome, 1938).
2 The chronology of Pallottino (1937) cols. 337-347 for the
painted tombs of the sixth and fifth century is as follows: (i)
Tomb of the Bulls, 540-530, (2) Tomb of the Inscriptions,
Tomb of the Augurs, Tomb of the Pulcinella, 530-520, (3)
Tomb of the Dead Man, Tomb of the Lionesses, 520-510, (4)
Tomb of the Baron, Tomb of the Sea, Tomb of the Bacchantes,
Tomb of the Dying Man, Tomb of the Old Man, Tomb of the
Painted Vases, Tomb of Hunting and Fishing, Tomb of the Ta-
rantola (pediment group only preserved, cf. NSc [19051 78),
510-500, (5) Tomb of the Chariots, ca. 500, (6) Tomb of the
Leopards,Tomb of the Citharist (now lost), 490-480, (7) Tomb
of
at
Tarquinii
PLATES 75-82
of the century.2The paintingsof the inner cham-
ber are only the more remarkablepartof the deco-
rative program.
From the dromosone passesthrough a narrow
vestibuleinto the outerchamberof the tomb.This
is a smallroom,approximately 4 x 5 m., but slight-
ly larger than the inner chamber,which is again
reachedthrougha smallvestibule(cf. the plan, pl.
75, fig. i).' As is usual in the sixth and fifth cen-
tury paintedtombsat Tarquinii,the ceiling of both
chambersslopes upward from the side walls and
meets at a broadhorizontalband, runninglength-
wise on the line of the dromos and vestibulesin
each chamber,which suggestsa ridgepole.
The painting,again conformingto normalprac-
tice, assiststhe suggestionof a structure(cf. pls.
75 and 76, figs. 2 and 5). In both chambers,the
ridgepoleis painted bright red, and the band at
the top of the side walls and below the gable open-
ings abovethe doorwaysis decoratedwith ten hori-
zontal stripesof red, brown, blue, and white. In
the inner chambera seriesof garlandshang from
this band.In the outer chamberthis positionis oc-
cupied by a patternof interlacedleaves and fruit.
The garlandsof the inner chamberemphasizethe
tangibilityof the band. The sloping ceiling is left
undecoratedin the outer chambersave for a num-
ber of dots of red paint irregularlyplaced.In the
inner chamber,this area is coveredby a pattern
of alternatingfour leafedflowersand cross-hatched
squares.
of the Triclinium, Tomb of the Funeral Couch, 480-460, (8)
Tomb of Francesca Giustiniani, Tomb of the Querciola, no. I,
Tomb of the Pulcella, after 460. A convenient statement of
chronological problems is given by P. Ducati in StEtr 18
Full bibliography for the individual tombs is
(1939) 203-219.
collected by Pallottino
(1937).
3 The plan is from Romanelli,
op.cit. (supra note I) p. 2,
fig. 2. Since no dimensions are given in his text, the follow-
ing measurements taken from his plan and section (p. 3, fig. 3)
may be useful. Dromos, length 7.2 m.; depth of tomb floor
below ground level, ca. 3.0 m.; outer chamber, 5.1 x 3.9 m.,
vertical ht. side walls, 1.91 m., total ht. 2.35 m.; inner cham-
ber, 4 x 3.1 m., vertical ht. side walls 1.72 m., total ht. 2.27 m.
342 R. ROSS HOLLOWAY
The figured decoration of the outer chamber has
two parts. In the pediment above the doorway lead-
ing to the inner chamber is a scene of the return
from the hunt, notable for the prolific vegetation
surrounding the hunters. On the major frieze of the
walls above the dado there is represented an evenly
spaced series of trees (pls. 76-77, figs. 5-6). The
grove is a sacred setting because the trees are laden
with fillets and other offerings among which are
pyxides, mirrors, and necklaces. On the ground
stands at least one amphora, and among the trees
dancers are performing to the accompaniment of
a flutist. The representation of trees and shrubs
around the walls of the tomb chamber is important
from the beginning of tomb painting at Tarquinii,
as we know it in the Tomb of the Bulls (pl. 78,
fig. 7). The sacred grove, with offerings and danc-
ers, is also a commonplace scene in contemporary
and later tomb painting.4 In the Tomb of Hunting
and Fishing, however, the figures are dramatically
reduced in proportion to the trees. The reduction
of the human figure has not been made without
some embarrassment to the artist. The saplings of
such contemporarytombs as the Tomb of the Paint-
ed Vases have become trees, but in the process the
scale of the offerings has not been changed-with
[AlA 69
On the left wall (pl. 76, fig. 3) there is a tiny
island from which two youths are diving into the
sea. One has just dived; the other is climbing up
to take his place. Their activities are watched by a
group in a rowboat. Dolphins leap from the sea
while overhead pass flocks of birds. On the rear
wall and on the right side wall (pls. 75 and 76, figs.
2 and 4) the scene changes to hunting and fowling.
On both walls the fowler plies his sling from an
island or low shore while the occupants of a row-
boat cast their lines for fish or turn their spears
against the water fowl."
The elements of these pictures are all to be found
in Greek vase-painting.7But their existence in the
tradition of Greek drawing in which the painters
of the Tarquinii tombs were schooled does not
mean that any Greek painting existed as a proto-
type of these scenes. Archaic Greek art never pro-
duced anything like the effect of this open sky
filled with passing birds, the expanse of water,
the low horizon, and the isolated small human
figures. Black-figured vase-painting scenes of ships
on the open sea come nearest, but the crucial ef-
fect of the open sky is always lacking.8
THE ISOLATED FIGURE

the result that the fillets, mirrors, and pyxides are The small and isolated human figures of the
Gargantuan in proportion to the little figures danc- Tomb of Hunting and Fishing have their genesis
ing beneath them. in Etruscan painting. In the Tomb of the Bulls,
The attempt to put man in proper relation to a painted about 530, the small frieze of the main
natural setting has far greater success in the inner chamber, placed above the two doorways and the
chamber. Here the entire wall area has been cleared Achilles and Troilus panel, is already symptomatic
for the landscape, and the banquet scene, almost of the development we find in the inner chamber of
a necessity in the program of Tarquinian tomb the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing (pl. 78, fig. 7).
painting from the late sixth century on, has been The decoration of this frieze consists of two bulls,
relegated to the pediment at the far end of the one anthropocephalic, and two groups of humans
chamber. The middle of the matching pediment on engaged in sexual intercourse. The bulls and the
the opposite wall is largely cut out by the doorway groups of human figures are placed irregularly at
leading to the outer chamber, but in the free area some distance from each other. Their scale is small,
at either side of the door, there is a leopard. Other- and it is only the low frieze they occupy which pre-
wise, over the entire wall area from the floor to vents them from creating an effect similar to that
the striped band below the ceiling there is a con- of the inner chamber of the Tomb of Hunting
tinuous scene of fowling, fishing, and swimming and Fishing.
by the seashore.5Even the customary dado is omit- Thus the reduction of scale of the human figure,
ted. like the importance of the natural setting, is not
4 E.g. Tomb of the Painted Vases, Tomb of the Leopards, been effectively countered by P. Romanelli, op.cit. (supra note
Tomb of the Triclinium.
I) p. I6.
5 The loculus in the rear wall seems to have been installed 7For an exhaustive treatment of the paintings from this
at a later time. In the rear left corner of the chamber there standpoint, cf. L. Banti in StEtr
24 (1956) 154-161.
are four depressions in the floor, apparently intended for the 8 Compare the vases illustrated by L. Casson, The Ancient
feet of the original funeral bed (cf. pl. 75, fig. 2). Mariners (New York 1959) pls. 5 and 7.
6 The suggestion of religious allegory in the paintings has
 1965] CONVENTIONS OF ETRUSCAN PAINTING
unique in the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing but
part of the development of Etruscan tomb painting.
We may now inquire how this development took
place within the architectural conventions of that
art.
THE ARCHITECTURAL CONVENTION
The most persistent convention of the Etruscan
rock-cut chamber tomb was that it must mimic an
architectural structure.9 There were two ways in
which this requirement was satisfied. The struc-
tural details could be carved in the rock from which
the tomb chamber was cut (cf. pl. 77, fig. 8, Caere,
Tomb of the Cornice, sixth century B.c.). When
figure painting was added to such chambers, as was
done at Caere, Clusium, or Volsinii, it was merely
a frieze adorning an architecturally articulated
wall.'o The effect is well illustrated by the Tomb
of the Hills at Clusium (pl. 78, fig. 9). But the en-
tire decoration of a tomb could be painted. This be-
came the unique style of Tarquinii, and the activity
of the tomb painters at Tarquinii produced a fun-
damental change in the conventions of tomb archi-
tecture.
For this reason the earliest known painted tomb
at Tarquinii, the Tomb of the Bulls, is a precious
document because it shows a transitional phase at
the beginning of the new style. An older system of
tomb painting is exemplified by the Campana
Tomb at Veii, where designs of orientalizing pot-
tery and textiles have been transferred to the walls
of the tomb."1Like the designer of the Campana
Tomb, painted more than a half century earlier,
the artist of the Tomb of the Bulls borrowed a
panel from the repertoire of Greek vase-painting.12
He placed this scene, Achilles' ambush of Troilus,
between the doorways which lead from the main
chamber to the two inner rooms (pl. 78, fig. 7).
The painting is still simply the ornamentation of
a wall. Nevertheless, the trees and shrubs painted
9 On the rockcut chamber tomb cf. most recently M. Demus-
Quatember, Etruskische Grabarchitektur(Deutsche Beitriige zur
Altertumswissenschaft no. i1, Baden-Baden 1958).
10 For the
published material from Caere cf. M. Moretti in
MonAnt 42 (I955) cols. 1052-1135; for Clusium cf. R. Bian-
chi-Bandinelli, Le Pitture delle Tombe archaiche (MonPitt Sez.
I, Clusium, fasc. I, Rome 1939); for Volsinii (Orvieto) cf. M.
Marella Vianello in
Antichita I (1947) Iff.
11 G. Q. Giglioli, I'Arte Etrusca (Milan 1935) pl. 96, general
view; F. Poulsen, Etruscan Tomb Painting (Oxford 1922)
fig. i, detail.
12 Compare the general study of the tomb by L. Banti, StEtr
24 (I956) 143-181.
343
on the auxiliary panels already foreshadow the
groves of the later Tarquinii tombs, and the frieze
with bulls and groups of human figures above the
doorways and the Achilles panel, as we have re-
marked above, is also a forerunner of the small
isolated figures and wide vistas of the Tomb of
Hunting and Fishing.
The group of tombs which immediately follow
the Tomb of the Bulls and which occupy the last
quarter of the sixth century show the new program
of decorationfully developed. The painting has two
functions. As before, it takes the place of carved
architecturaldetails." It also now supplies the fres-
coed scenes of banqueting, dancing, and sport
which, as Poulsen and Pallottino have argued con-
vincingly, picture the contemporary Etruscan fu-
neral celebration.'4
The relation of these two constants in the painted
decoration of the Tarquinian tombs seems to have
attracted little attention. But Pallottino has sug-
gested that at least in two cases the painted archi-
tecture is part of the painted scene. This is a very
different situation from the Tomb of the Bulls
or the painted tombs at Clusium where the figured
scenes are still painted decoration added to a wall.
Pallottino's observation is worth pursuing.
The Tomb of the Lionesses, painted about 520-
510 B.c., is a small trapezoidallyshaped chamber
which is entered abruptly from a sharply descend-
ing dromos (pl. 79, fig. o)."1 To right and left
there are four impressive figures of banqueters, so
large that two of them occupy the entire open space
of the major frieze along each side wall. On the
end wall three lively dancers perform around a
great ceremonial crater. The architectural setting
of this tomb is painted with great care. The ridge-
pole and its support in the pediment are indicated.
In each corner of the chamber, and in the center
of each of the long sides, a Tuscan column supports
the pitched roof. The giant banqueters are as much
13 In the Tomb of the
Leopards, Tomb of the Pulcinella,
Tomb of the Triclinium, and Tomb of the Funeral Couch a
longitudinal band in the center of the ceiling at the apex of the
two sloping sides is carved out of the rock. The significance
of this central member will be taken up at a later point in
this discussion.
14 Poulsen, op.cit. (supra note ii); Pallottino (1937) cols.
322-327.
15 Dimensions 3.6 x 2.9-2.44 m., ht. of side walls 1.75 m.;
total ht. 2.1 m. The tomb is fully published by P. Ducati, Le
Pitture delle Tombe delle Leonesse e dei Vasi Dipinti (MonPitt,
Sez. I, Tarquinii, fasc. I, Rome 1937).
 344 R. ROSS HOLLOWAY [AJA 69
aware of these columns as the modern visitor, for Tomb of the Old Man: Weege, pl. 70.
each of them props his foot against a column shaft. Tomb of the Dying Man: Weege, pl. 72.
Pallottino has observed that the tomb is a pavilion Tomb of the Bacchantes: Weege, pl. 41.
and has recognized the possibility that its covering This is also a textile pattern. Compare, for ex-
might not be a solid roof but an awning."1 ample, the dresses of the dancers from the Tomb of
This interpretation can be supported by the fol- the Lionesses (pl. 80, fig. 13) and from the Tomb
lowing evidence. The ceiling of the tomb is paint- of Francesca Giustiniani (pl. 80, fig. i4). Such
ed in a checkerboardpattern of alternating red and flowered patterns recall the dvOwae ' o-rpcouvaL,
the
white squares. This is not a reproduction of cof- flowered coverlets spread at an Etruscan banquet."8
fers or of some kind of improbable ashlar roof."7
3. Four dot rosettes alternating with cross hatched
It is the fabric of a tent carried on the ridgepole in
squares:
the same way an awning is set up on the boom of Tomb of Hunting and Fishing: pl. 76, fig. 3
a modern fore-and-aft rigged sailing vessel. The
(inner chamber). This pattern is a slightly
pattern can be matched on textiles on the banquet- elaborated version of 2.
ing couches in the following tombs at Tarquinii:
Tomb of the Pulcella, Tomb of the Funeral Couch, The widespread use of these three patterns for
Tomb of the Ship, Tomb of the Querciola, of which ceiling decoration shows that generally, if not uni-
a detail is shown on pl. 79, fig. i i. One may com- versally, the painted chamber tomb at Tarquinii
was intended to recall a tent."9Such a tent pavilion
pare numerous instances in red-figured vase paint-
is actually shown in the upper frieze of the Tomb
ing, for example the cushions in the centauromachy
on the neck of the volute crater by the painter of of the Chariots (pl. 81, fig. I5). From beneath its
the Woolly Silens in New York (pl. 79, fig. 12). cover spectatorsare watching a funeral celebration.
To my knowledge, among the surviving painted This shaded stand illustrates the luxury of the
tombs of Tarquinii executed in the sixth and fifth Etruscans recalled by Poseidonios.20It is a sharp
centuries only four ceiling patterns were employed.contrast to the bare hillsides and open bleachers
Three of these are unquestionably textile patterns.from which the Greeks watched their dramatic and
athletic contests. But a covered grandstand is, in
I. The checkerboard:
fact, more unusual from the Greek point of view
Tomb of the Lionesses: pl. 79, fig. 10o. than a tent used for entertaining or solemn occa-
Tomb of the Chariots: Weege, pl. 84. sions. We may recall the tent given to Alcibiades
Tomb of the Leopards: Weege, pl. 14, Romanelli,
by the Ephesians for use during the Olympic
pl. ii, Leisinger, pl. on p. 50.
Tomb of the Triclinium: Weege, pl. 27, Leisinger,games, the tents employed for the lying in state
of the Athenian war dead of the fifth century be-
pl. on p. 59- fore their public funeral, and the elaborate ban-
Tomb of the Funeral Couch: pl. 82, fig. i7.
Tomb of the Ship: M. Moretti, BdA 45 (1960) queting tent described in Euripides' Ion.21 The
necropolis of Monterozzi is a good two kilometers
349, fig. 6. from the city of Tarquinii. The heat of the summer
2. Four dot rosettes: and uncertain weather in the winter would have
Tomb of the Inscriptions: Weege, pl. 73. made the erection of a tent for the funeral banquet
Tomb of the Augurs: pl. 82, fig. 18. and for the spectators at the funeral games a nat-
Tomb of the Painted Vases: Weege, pls. 66-68, ural precaution. We can now
begin to see how the
Romanelli, pl. 31. occasion of the funeral celebration was carried into
16Pallottino (I937) col. 264; (1952) 44. Vaticano 1937) pl. 36; Tomb of the Olympic Athletes, R. Bar-
17 In Greek
vase-painting checkerboardsare used for ashlar toccini and M. Moretti, StEtr 26 (1958) 289-295. They may
masonry as well as for textiles, cf. J. D. Beazley, The Develop- well be intended to represent unadorned canvas. The irregular
ment of Attic Black-figure (Berkeley 1951) pls. 8 (2) and 9. red dots in the ceiling of the outer chamber of the Tomb of
18sDiodoros 5.40. Hunting and Fishing are more difficult to interpret. Could they
19 Simple white ceilings with no design pattern are found be meant to suggest grommets?
in the following tombs: Tomb of the Bulls, pl. 78, fig. 7; Tomb 20 Ap. Athenaios 4-13, P. 153, and probably the source of
of the Pulcinella, Romanelli, p. 31; Tomb of the Baron, Roma- the similar passage in Diodoros 5.40. Covered stands in the
nelli, pl. 40, Pallottino (1952) pl. on p. 55, Leisinger, pl. on circus were introduced at Rome by Tarquin I, Dion. Hal. 3.68.1.
p. 43; Tomb of the Dead Man, Romanelli, p. 17; Tomb of the, 21 Plutarch, Alcibiades 12.1, Thucydides 2.34, Euripides, Ion
Sea, Romanelli, p. 31; Tomb of the Querciola no. I, F. Mes- 11. 1132-1166.
serschmidt in Scritti in Onore di Bartolomeo Nogara (Citta del
1965] CONVENTIONS OF ETRUSCAN PAINTING
the tomb not only by the representation of the
banquet and games but also by the re-creation of
the architectural setting of these events. However,
one other form of ceiling decoration remains to be
considered.
4. The striped ceiling:
Tomb of Francesca Giustiniani: Romanelli, pl.
42, Leisinger, pl. on p. 81.
Tomb of the Pulcella: pl. 81, fig. i6.
The sloping ceiling of the Tomb of Francesca
Giustiniani is decorated with a series of broad al-
ternating red and white stripes painted perpendicu-
larly to the ridgepole.
This treatment also occurs in the Tomb of the
Pulcella, and in addition the ridgepole is decorated
with nine longitudinal stripes, also alternating red
and white. (pl. 81, fig. 16). The ridgepole, more-
over, is actually cut free from the ceiling. Similar
articulation of the ridgepole is found in three other
tombs of the fifth century, the Tomb of the Leop-
ards, the Tomb of the Triclinium, and the Tomb
of the Funeral Couch. It is wrong to assume with-
out qualification that this articulated band is a true
ridgepole, and we shall examine it under the name
"central member."
The Tomb of the Pulcella is of great importance
for the interpretation of the central member be-
cause of the loculus set in its rear wall to receive
an ash urn. The ceiling of the loculus repeats the
ceiling of the tomb, except that its central member
is not decorated. The facade of the loculus is given
the elaborate architectural decoration of a minia-
ture shrine, which makes it reminiscent of the Vil-
lanovan hut urn. It has a gorgoneion in the center
of its pediment, a finial, a complicated raking sima
and geison. Moreover, it shows that the central
member is not a ridgepole but a ceiling below the
peak of the roof.22
To interpret the ceiling of the Tomb of the Pul-
cella as a wooden structurewith eaves and a ceiling
composed of a set of longitudinal beams one must
confront a further problem. The sloping sides of the
roof of the tomb chamber show the slight but un-
mistakable concave sag of a tent. The same is true
of the loculus. Thus the Tomb of the Pulcella
shows us a striped tent in which there is a central
22 By this observationI do not mean to suggest that the cen- 1937,
tral members of tombs with elaborately carved architectural
details such as the Tomb of the Alcove or the Tomb of the
Reliefs at Caere (Demus-Quatember, op.cit., supra note 9, of the Triclinium, ivy pattern, Leisinger, pl. on p. 59.
figs. 16-17) or the Tomb "alle Croci" at Tarquinii (Pallottino,
345
canopy (the central member) slung beneath the
peak of the tent to mask the bare ridgepole. There
is no reason to hold that the loculus is intended to
represent a permanent structure.In fact a tent, sup-
ported by an elaborately decorated wooden frame-
work, would be more easily portable and serve
equally well to cover the ashes of the dead man
during part or all of the funeral, as we see it here
flanked by musicians participating in the cere-
monies.
The Tomb of the Pulcella is not the only in-
stance of an interior canopy represented in Etrus-
can tomb painting. Another example is provided by
the Tomb of the Funeral Couch, to which Pallot-
tino has directed attention (pl. 82, fig. I7).23 Here
the program of decoration is executed as follows.
In the principal frieze on the rear wall of the tomb
one sees a giant unoccupied funeral bed. Around
it are grouped the participants in the funeral ban-
quet, who extend part way back along each of the
side walls. The rest of the side walls is taken up
with the performance of the customary funeral
rites.
The roof of the tomb is of great interest. It is a
tent, as is shown by the typical checkerboard pat-
tern of the sloping sides. The central member has
been carved to project from the ceiling. It is deco-
rated with three large bosses and an ivy leaf pat-
tern. This decoration has parallels in other tombs
of the period.24 The central member rests on a
thin architrave carried by two columns which are
carefully shown behind the funeral bed.
Further details clearly show the existence of an
interior canopy. There is detailed rendering of the
hanging edge of this canopy, fastened across the
columns behind the funeral bed and carried back
along the side walls of the tomb over the heads of
the participants in the funeral banquet. The de-
tail of the edge is the same as that used for the
canopy covering the spectatorsat the funeral games
in the Tomb of the Chariots.
Pallottino assumes that this canopy is the only
awning represented in the tomb and that once we
have passed the last banqueter on the side walls
the covering stops. It is true that the canopy is an-
chored, just beyond the last banqueter, to a tall
stake which does not have any connection with the
P. 50, fig. 5) are not true ridgepoles.
23 Pallottino (1952) 82.
24 Tomb of the Leopards, bosses, Romanelli, pl.
11; Tomb
346 R. ROSS HOLLOWAY
large checkerboard pattern tent above. Still, the
canopy and the tent pavilion are closely related to
each other behind the funeral couch where both are
supported by the two columns and the architrave
that carry the central member. Furthermore, some
of the participants in the funeral celebration be-
yond the last banqueters are unquestionably inside
some structure, notably the flutist of the right side
wall, who overlaps a column which stands on the
bottom of the major frieze and supports a horizon-
tal element decorated with an ivy pattern just be-
low the checkerboard canvas. This horizontal
element may well be a wooden frame to which the
lower edges of the awnings are anchored.
The decoration of the Tomb of the Funeral
Couch may be read as follows. The entire tomb
chamber is meant to suggest an open pavilion. Its
elements are the columns behind the funeral bed
and along the side walls, the frame for the awn-
ings carried by the columns of the side walls, the
sloping checkerboardawnings, and finally the run-
ner, decorated with bosses and an ivy design, slung
below the peak of the tent to mask the ridgepole.
Inside this pavilion is a baldacchino of honor cov-
ering the funeral bed and the banqueters. Its effect
is that of the covered dais familiar to the modern
world.
The Tomb of the Funeral Couch is the most lit-
eral representation of the setting of an Etruscan
funeral which has been preservedin Etruscan paint-
ing.25 The decoration of the side walls is especially
noteworthy. We have already noted that, among
the figures participating in the dances and games
of the celebration, the flute player on the right side
wall must be inside the big pavilion because he
overlaps a column. However, it is difficult to be-
lieve that the pavilion was meant to accommodate
the horses of the cortege and serve as an arena for
the funeral games. The horses and their handlers
on the side walls must be outside the pavilion.
Since the pavilion has no wall, activities seen out-
side remain part of the same spatial world as the
pavilion itself and the banquet held under its cover.
25 The unoccupied funeral bed is of some
importance. Else-
where the couches are all occupied. Is it possible that the bodies
of the two persons for whom the bed is prepared were lost
abroad? For the practice of preparing an empty couch for the
war dead whose bodies had remained unrecovered cf. Thucydi-
des 2.34.
26 Despite the importance of haruspicy in Etruscan religion,
I believe that the tent pavilions of Etruscan tomb painting are
completely literal representationsand have none of the astral
[AJA 69
The representationalscenes and suggested archi-
tecture of these painted tombs are two parts of an
illusionistic program of decoration.In it were united
the tradition of mimic architecturein the tomb and
the ability of the painter to represent the scene of
the funeral celebration. As far as we know, the
synthesis of these elements was made only at Tar-
quinii. It was first made about 525 B.c.,and resulted
in a scheme of decoration which sought to re-create
in the tomb the view from the interior of the pa-
vilion erected for the funeral banquet, so that the
shade of the deceased might witness and even par-
ticipate in the ceremonies performed in his honor.26
THE APPLICATIONS OF THE CONVENTIONS OF THE
TARQUINII SCHOOL
The advantage of this reconstructionof the con-
ventions of tomb painting at Tarquinii can be
seen if we turn for a moment to the Tomb of the
Augurs (pl. 82, fig. I8). On the rear wall of this
tomb two mourners salute the doorway. The inter-
pretation of this "false door" has caused some diffi-
culty, but the scene makes logical sense once we
realize that in the painted tomb we are standing
once again under the pavilion of the funeral ban-
quet. On the side walls around us are the activities
of the funeral celebration outside the pavilion, and
before us is the entrance to the tomb before which
the mourners make their final salutation.27
The trees, shrubs, and vegetation in the tomb
paintings are now placed in a new light. These
natural elements connote the area outside the pa-
vilion, just as the textile patterns of the sloping
roofs of the chambers denote the tent pavilion it-
self.
One further convention in the decorative pro-
gram should also be considered. In at least three
tombs, the Tomb of the Lionesses, the Tomb of
the Funeral Couch, and the Tomb of the Triclini-
um, the painted dado of the walls is converted into
a suggestion of the sea.28It is painted deep blue
and its top is formed into a line of stylized wave
crests. In the Tomb of the Lionesses and in the
Tomb of the Funeral Couch a line of leaping dol-
connotations of the tent and dome studied by K. Lehmann,
ArtB 27 (1945) 1-27 and E. Baldwin Smith, The Dome, a
Study in the History of Ideas (Princeton Monographs in Art
and Archaeology 25, Princeton 1950).
27 The same observations may be made regarding the four
doors of the Tomb of the Inscriptions.
28 The number is undoubtedly larger, but the lower wall
surfaces of many of the tombs have been destroyed while some-
thing of the decoration at a higher level remains intact.
1965] CONVENTIONS OF ETRUSCAN PAINTING
phins are added above the surface. It is difficult to
know whether the dolphin had a specific symbolic
meaning to the Etruscans.29But such suggestion
of the sea at the base of these tomb walls also has a
basis in visual observation. Anyone who has stood
on the ridge of Monterozzi, where the chamber
tombs of Tarquinii are situated, cannot have failed
to look toward the west where the Tyrrhenian sea
gleams below his feet at the same angle of vision
as the suggestion of waves and water in the tombs.
The importance of the sea in Tarquinian tomb
painting has been emphasized by the newly dis-
covered wall paintings of the Tomb of the Ship.30
This chamber was painted about the middle of the
fifth century, and the principal frieze has scenes of
dancing and celebration in the familiar pattern of
the Tomb of the Triclinium. At the end of the
left side wall toward the entrance of the tomb the
pattern suddenly breaks, and one sees a cargo ves-
sel with her diminutive crew making port near a
rocky promontory (pl. 81, fig. I9). The transition
in scale between the dancers and the ship is abrupt.
In his preliminary study of the paintings, Moretti
comments, "a breath of sea air seems to reach the
dark underground room across a fissure in the
tufa wall and to cancel every remaining shade of
melancholy." But in the conventions of the pavilion
the dancers are outside the tomb too, and the paint-
ing merely reaches for a moment from the near
distance of the celebration to the far distance of
the sea.
We may now return to the program of the Tomb
of Hunting and Fishing. The elaborate, two cham-
ber plan of the tomb gave considerable freedom to
its designer. He satisfied the requirements of tomb
decoration with the banquet scene in the pediment
of the inner chamber (pl. 75, fig. 2) and the view
through the open walls of the pavilion of the outer
chamber to a grove and the funeral dance in prog-
ress there (pl. 77, fig. 6). To these scenes he added
29 For dolphin lore in antiquity, cf. E. B. Stebbins, The
Dolphin in the Literature and Art of Greece and Rome (diss.,
The Johns Hopkins University 1929).
30M. Moretti, BdAr 45 (I960) 346-352. The publication
of the additional painted tombs discovered at Tarquinii in
the years following 1960 is naturally eagerly awaited by all
students of Etruscan art.
31 The visits to Tarquinia which led to the writing of this
paper were made in the company of Dr. Tony Hackens, and
I am grateful to him for his stimulating companionship. Sin-
347
the hunting group in the pediment of the outer
chamber (pl. 76, fig. 5), and finally the remark-
able frescoes of the inner room. There can be little
doubt that the decoration of the tomb was planned
around these paintings which bring a distant view
of the sea and its shore to the banqueters looking
down from the pediment-as they would have
looked down in life from the funeral banquet on the
ridge of Monterozzi. These paintings are not alien
to the principles of Etruscan art. They are a bril-
liant but logical development of the convention of
the pavilion in the tomb. The future of Etruscan
tomb painting, however, lay not with the Tomb of
Hunting and Fishing but with more confined views
of the immediate funeral celebration. Except for
a small appearance in the Tomb of the Ship, the
idea of the panoramic distant vista was soon lost,
and after the fifth century the coherent illusionistic
decoration of the chamber tomb was also forgotten.
Something over four hundred years later illu-
sionistic painting was to be born again when the
Romans, who had given the world the visual stimu-
lus of vast monumental architectureerected on con-
crete vaults, demanded that their sunken dining
rooms and narrow bed chambers be opened out
with illusionistic painting. Once again the artistic
tradition was Greek, the result Italian. Once again,
illusionism in painting was to have an architectural
basis. For we may be confident that the remark-
able composition of the frescoes of the Tomb of
Hunting and Fishing could have been envisaged
only if the painted tomb was already understood
as a pavilion opening freely to the world outside.31
BROWN UNIVERSITY
NOTE: E. H. Richardson, The Etruscans (Chicago
1964) appeared while this article was in the course
of publication. It is a pleasure to see (pp. 116 and
198) that Mrs. Richardson has independently adopt-
ed the same position regarding the program of the
Tarquinii tombs that is reached in this paper.
cere thanks are also expressed to the following gentlemen for
help in securing photographs, Dr. Dietrich von Bothmer, Metro-
politan Museum of Art, New York, Cav. Gino Filipetto, Secre-
tary of the Swedish Institute in Rome, Dott. Mario Moretti,
Superintendent of Antiquities for Southern Etruria, and Mr. S.
Artur Svensson, A. B. Allhem Publishers, Malm6, Sweden.
Clerical and photographic expenses were met with a generous
grant from the Smith Fund of the University of North Caro-
lina, Chapel Hill.
 HOLLOWAY PLATE 75

METRI

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A B

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FIG. i. Section and plan (after MonPitt, Tarquinii, fasc. ii, p. 2, fig. 2)

A?K c~x~?~~:-
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FIc. 2. Inner chamber (after Leisinger, p. 20)

Tarquinii, Tomb of Hunting and Fishing
PLATE 76 HOLLOWAY

FIc. 3-. Inner chamber, detail of left wall (after MonPitt, Tarquinii, fasc. II, pl. B)

FIG. 5. Outer chamber, rear wall (after MonPitt, Tarquinii, fasc. 11, pl. A)
Tarquinii, Tomb of Hunting and Fishing
 HOLLOWAY PLATE 77

FIG.4. Inner chamber,right wall (after MonPitt, Tarquinii, fasc. ii, pl. ii)

FIG. 6. Outerchamber,right wall (after MonPitt,Tarquinii, fasc. ii, p. 4, fig. 5)

Tarquinii,Tomb of Hunting and Fishing

Fic. 8. Caere,Tomb of the Cornice,outer chamber (after King Gustav Adolf

et al., EtruscanCulture,Land and People, Malmioand New York 1962, fig. 6o)
PLATE 78 HOLLOWAY

Fic. 7. Tarquinii,Tomb of the Bulls, outer chamber,rear wall

(courtesyA. B. Allhem Publishers,Malmo6)

FIc. 9. Clusium,Tomb of the Hills, outer chamber,detail (after MonPitt, Clusium,fasc. I, p. i8, fig. 18)
 HOLLOWAY PLATE 79

FIG. IO. Tarquinii, Tomb of the Lionesses(after Leisinger,p. 27)

FIG. II. Tarquinii, Tomb of the Querciolano. I, reproductionin Vatican

Museumof lost original (after Scrittiin onore di B. Norgara,
Cittlidel Vaticano1937, pl. xxxi, fig. I)

Attic red-figurevolute kraterattributedto the Painterof

FIG. I2.
the Woolly Silens, detail of neck (MMA07.286.84,RogersFund
1907,courtesyMetropolitanMuseumof Art)
Fic. 13. Tarquinii, Tomb of the Lionesses, detail of rear wall Fic. 14. Tarquinii, Tomb of F
(after Leisinger, p. 29) reproductionin Ny CarlsbergG
Poulsen,EtruscanTomb Pain
 HOLLOWAY PLATE 8I

FIG.15. Tarquinii,Tomb of the Chariots,detail of Stackelberg'ssketchof the original (after Weege, pl. 2)

FIG. 16. Tarquinii, Tomb of the Pulcella (after Leisinger,p. 85)

Fic. 19. Tarquinii, Tomb of the Ship, left wall, drawingafter original (after BdA 45 [11960]346, fig. )
PLATE 82 HOLLOWAY

FIG. 17. Tarquinii,Tomb of the FuneralCouch (after Leisinger,p. 78)

FIc. 18. Tarquinii,Tomb of the Augurs (after Pallottino 1952, p. 37)