Etruscan architecture
Etruscan architecture was created between about 900 BC and 27 BC, when the expanding civilization of ancient Rome finally absorbed Etruscan civilization. The Etruscans were considerable builders in stone, wood and other materials of temples, houses, tombs and city walls, as well as bridges and roads. The only structures remaining in quantity in anything like their original condition are tombs and walls, but through archaeology and other sources we have a good deal of information on what once existed.
From about 630 BC, Etruscan architecture was heavily influenced by
The main monumental forms of Etruscan architecture, listed in decreasing order of the surviving remains, were: the houses of the wealthy elite, the mysterious "monumental complexes", temples, city walls, and rock-cut tombs. Apart from the podia of temples and some house foundations, only the walls and rock-cut tombs were mainly in stone, and have therefore often largely survived.[3]
Temples
The early Etruscans seem to have worshipped in open air enclosures, marked off but not built over; sacrifices continued to be performed outside rather than inside temples in traditional
Usually, only the podium or base platform used stone, with the upper parts of wood and mud-brick, greatly reducing what survives for archaeologists.[6] However, there is evidence for the portico columns sometimes using stone, as at Veii.[7] This has left much about Etruscan temples uncertain. The only written account of significance on their architecture is by Vitruvius (died after 15 BC), writing some two centuries after the Etruscan civilization was absorbed by Rome. He describes how to plan a "Tuscan temple" that appears to be a Roman "Etruscan-style" (tuscanicae dispositiones) temple of a type perhaps still sometimes built in his own day, rather than a really historically minded attempt to describe original Etruscan buildings, though he may well have seen examples of these.[8]
Many aspects of his description fit what archaeologists can demonstrate, but others do not. It is in any case clear that Etruscan temples could take a number of forms, and also varied over the 400-year period during which they were being made.
Vitruvius specifies three doors and three cellae, one for each of the main Etruscan deities, but archaeological remains do not suggest this was normal, though it is found.[11] Roman sources were in the habit of ascribing to the Etruscans a taste for triads in things such as city planning (with three gates to cities, for example), in ways that do not seem to reflect reality.[12] The orientation of the temple is not consistent, and may have been determined by a priest watching the flight of birds at the time of foundation.[13]
The exteriors of both Greek and Roman temples were originally highly decorated and colourful, especially in the
Features shared by typical Etruscan and Roman temples, and contrasting with Greek ones, begin with a strongly frontal approach, with great emphasis on the front facade, less on the sides, and very little on the back. The podia are also usually higher, and can only be entered at a section of the front, just presenting a blank platform wall elsewhere. There may only be columns at the front portico.[17] In Etruscan temples, more than Roman ones, the portico is deep, often representing, as Vitruvius recommends, half of the area under the roof, with multiple rows of columns.[18]
At least in later temples, versions of Greek Aeolic, Ionic and Corinthian capitals are found, as well as the main Tuscan order, a simpler version of the Doric, but the attention to the full Greek detailing in the entablature that the Romans pursued seems to have been lacking. Fluted Tuscan/Doric columns can also be found, against Greek and later Roman conventions.[19]
Etruscan architecture shared with Ancient Egyptian architecture the use of large cavetto mouldings as a cornice, though not on the same massive scale. The cavetto took the place of the Greek cymatium in many temples, often painted with vertical "tongue" patterns (as in the reconstructed Etruscan temple at Villa Giulia, illustrated above), and combined with the distinctive "Etruscan round moulding", often painted with scales.[20]
Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus
The first building of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus on the Capitoline Hill was the oldest large temple in Rome, dedicated to the Capitoline Triad consisting of Jupiter and his companion deities, Juno and Minerva, and had a cathedral-like position in the official religion of Rome. Its first version was traditionally dedicated in 509 BC,[21] but in 83 BC it was destroyed by fire, and was rebuilt as a Greek-style temple, which was completed in 69 BC (there were to be two more fires and new buildings). For the first temple Etruscan specialists were brought in for various aspects of the building, including making and painting the extensive terracotta elements of the entablature or upper parts, such as antefixes.[22] But for the second building they were summoned from Greece.
The first version is the largest Etruscan temple recorded,[23] and much larger than other Roman temples for centuries after. However, its size remains heavily disputed by specialists; based on an ancient visitor it has been claimed to have been almost 60 m × 60 m (200 ft × 200 ft), not far short of the largest Greek temples.[24] Whatever its size, its influence on other early Roman temples was significant and long-lasting.[25] Reconstructions usually show very wide eaves, and a wide colonnade stretching down the sides, though not round the back wall as it would have done in a Greek temple.[26] A crude image on a coin of 78 BC shows only four columns, and a very busy roofline.[27]
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Temple plan, following Vitruvius and the Portonaccio Minerva temple, with three doors
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Temple of Apollo,Veii, with partial modern visualization
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St Paul's, Covent Garden, London, 1630s, largely follows Vitruvius's directions for a "Tuscan temple", but lacks external decoration and colour.
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Gorgon antefix, Orvieto, end of the 5th century. Heads of both Silenus and gorgons were common subjects for antefixes.
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Winged-Horses of Tarquinia, 4th century BC
Monumental complexes
"Monumental complex" or building is a term used for a few large sets of buildings relatively recently uncovered by archaeology, the term reflecting a lack of certainty over their function. The two leading examples are the Archaic building at Poggio Civitate and another at Acquarossa (Zone F); both are 6th-century or earlier. Both have sets of buildings round a courtyard, which use stone, at least in the foundations, roof tiles, and elaborate decorations in architectural terracotta. Their size is exceptional for their early date. One obvious possible function is as palatial dwellings; another is as civic buildings, acting as places for assembly, and commemoration of aspects of the community. Only the stone foundations and ceramic fragments remain for excavations to discover.[28]
Houses
It seems clear from the richer tombs that the Etruscan elite lived in fairly spacious comfort, but there is little evidence as to what their homes looked like, although some furniture is shown in tomb frescos. The rock-cut tomb chambers often form suites of "rooms", some quite large, which presumably resemble in part the atrium homes of the better-off Etruscans.[29] Unlike several of the necropoli, Etruscan cities have generally been built over from the Romans onwards, and houses have left little trace. Where remains survive, there are tightly packed tufa bases, with perhaps mud-brick above, but in some places the lower parts of tufa walls survive even in small houses. One complete set of foundations shows a house 7.9m by 3.9m (25 x 13 feet).[30] At large farms, mines, quarries and perhaps other sites employing many people, workers lived in dormitories.
A form of models of houses in pottery, and sometimes bronze, called "hut urns" gives us some indications. These were apparently used to hold cremated ashes, and are found in the Etruscan Iron Age Villanovan culture and early burials, especially in northern areas.[31] The hut urns show a conventional model with a single interior space. They are usually round or slightly oval, often with prominent wooden beams laid in two rows on the sloping roof, which cross at the central ridge and project some way in "V"s into the air; these projections seem to have been sometimes carved or otherwise decorated. The urns always have a large square-ish door for access, sometimes two, and the outline of windows in the walls may be indicated by ridges or marks in the clay. There is very often a window and exit for smoke, above the door in the roof, and at the opposite end.[32]
Such houses were made of earth and organic materials, using mud brick and wattle and daub.[33] Stone hearths and perhaps stone rings at the base are found. Even the well-off seem rarely to have lived in stone houses, and rock-cut tomb chambers often represent wooden ceilings in stone. The "Tomb of the Reliefs" at Banditaccia suggests that possessions such as tools and weapons were often hung from the walls for storage.[34]
On the
Tombs and tumuli
Rich Etruscans left elaborate tombs, mostly gathered in large
Some tombs are stone buildings, often in rows, rather like small houses. Others are round
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Necropolis of Monterozzi
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Tombs atBanditaccianecropolis
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Tombs atBanditaccianecropolis
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Tumulus atBanditaccianecropolis
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Maze of tumuli atBanditaccianecropolis
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View from above of a crowded necropolis at Orvieto
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Tomb entry atBanditaccianecropolis
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Painted false door; the "hammerhead" surround is a frequent motif
Walls and fortifications
Etruscan cities, which often sat on hill-tops, became walled from about the 8th century, first in mud-brick, then often in stone. The Romans considered the
The stonework is often of fine quality, sometimes using regular rectangular blocks in a rough ashlar, and sometimes "cyclopeian", using large polygonal blocks, partly shaped to fit each other, somewhat in the manner of the well-known Inca masonry, though not reaching that level of quality. Gaps are left, which are filled in with much smaller stones.[44]
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Fiesole, town wall. Fairly regular blocks in courses
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The 2nd-century Porta Marzia at Perugia, its upper part built into a later wall
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Polygonal masonry wall at Rusellae
Road network
Several important and unimportant
The
Bridges were common, though fords more so where these would suffice. Presumably many were in timber, but some at least used stone underneath a timber roadway.[49]
Notes
- ^ Boethius, 34; see Izzet, 20–21 for a discussion of Etruscan cultural importing in general
- ^ Boardman, 220, 255
- ^ Christofani
- ^ Taylor
- ^ Izzet, 19–21
- ^ Boethius, 48; Christofani
- ^ Banti, 31–32; Boethius, 59
- ^ Christofani; Boethius, 33–34
- ^ Banti, 31–32
- ^ Banti, 32
- ^ Christofani
- ^ Boethius, 35
- ^ Christofani
- ^ Boethius, 59
- ^ Boethius, 59–63; Boardman, 255
- ^ Christofani; Banti, 31–32
- ^ Christofani
- ^ Christofani
- ^ Boethius, 49–54
- ^ Winter, 61–67; Another view of the reconstructed Etruscan temple at Villa Giulia
- Ab urbe condita, 2.8
- ^ Stamper, 12–13
- ^ Christofani; Boethius, 47
- ^ Boethius, 47–48
- ^ Stamper, 33 and all Chapters 1 and 2. Stamper is a leading protagonist of a smaller size, rejecting the larger size proposed by the late Einar Gjerstad.
- ^ Christofani
- ^ Denarius of 78 BC
- ^ Meyers, 2–6
- ^ Boethius, 75–89; Banti, 27–28; Christofani
- ^ Boethius, 75–77
- ^ Banti, 25; Boethius, 26–27
- ^ Boethius, 26–27
- ^ Banti, 25
- ^ Christofani
- ^ Richardson, 74
- ^ Christofani
- ^ Banti, 20–21, 26, 28
- ^ Izzet, 16
- ^ Banti, 21
- ^ Christofani; Izzet, 16–17, cautions against transferring such details automatically
- ^ Banti, 29
- ^ Boethius, 33–34
- ^ Christofani; Boethius, 66–68
- ^ Boëthius et al, 67–68
- ^ Izzet, 193–195
- ^ Izzet, 193
- ^ Izzet, 193
- ^ Izzet, 194
- ^ Izzet, 195
References
- Banti, Luisa, Etruscan Cities and Their Culture, 1973, University of California Press, ISBN 0520019105, 978-0520019102
- ISBN 0198143869
- Cristofani, Mauro, et al. "Etruscan; Architecture", Grove Art Online, Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press, accessed April 9, 2016, subscription required
- Izzet, Vedia, The Archaeology of Etruscan Society, 2007, Cambridge University Press,
- Meyers, Gretchen E., in Michael Thomas, Gretchen E. Meyers (eds.), Monumentality in Etruscan and Early Roman Architecture: Ideology and Innovation, 2012, University of Texas Press,
- Richardson, L. Jr., A New Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, 1992, JHU Press,
- Stamper, John, The architecture of Roman temples: the republic to the middle empire, Cambridge University Press, 2005
- Taylor, Laurel, "Temple of Minerva and the sculpture of Apollo (Veii)", Khan Academy essay
- Winter, Nancy A., "Monumentalization of the Etruscan Round Moulding in Sixth Century BCE Central Italy", in Monumentality in Etruscan and Early Roman Architecture: Ideology and Innovation, edited by Michael Thomas, Gretchen E. Meyers, 2012, University of Texas Press,
Further reading
- Borrelli, Federica, Maria Cristina Targia, Stefano Peccatori, and Stefano Zuffi, The Etruscans: Art, Architecture, and History. J. Paul Getty Museum, 2004
- Meritt, Lucy Shoe, and Ingrid E. M. Edlund-Berry, Etruscan and Republican Roman Mouldings. 2nd ed. University Museum, University of Pennsylvania in cooperation with the American Academy in Rome, 2000
- Sprenger, Maja, Gilda Bartoloni, Max Hirmer, and Albert Hirmer. The Etruscans: Their History, Art, and Architecture. H.N. Abrams, 1983
- ISBN 978-0415673082(includes: Ara della Regina, Gravisca and Giovanna Bagnasco Gianni, "Tarquinia, sacred areas and sanctuaries on the Civita plateau and on the coast; Baglione, Maria Paola, "The Sanctuary at Pyrgi,"; Bizzarri, Claudio, "Etruscan Town Planning and Related Structures,"; Edlund-Berry, Ingrid, "The architectural heritage of Etruria"; "The phenomenon of terracotta: architectural terracottas")