http://collections.mfa.org/collections/315167/objects/rdfAGR.Etruscan Collection Highlightshttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1337231/resize%3Aformat%3Dfullhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1052064/resize%3Aformat%3DfullCinerary urn with coverLate 3rd century B.C.Limestone (possibly travertine), the chest is smoother and less porous than the lidThis object is one of five ash urns found in a tomb of the Velsi family of ancient Chiusi. This urn is the largest and best preserved of the group. Its inscription, ""FASTIA VELSI LARZL VELUS PUIA," which extends across the front and part of the left end of the lid, identifies the cremated remains as those of "Fastia Velsi, wife of Larza Velu." The woman reclining on two cushions is likely an idealized portrait of Fastia Velsi herself. She wears a sleeveless tunic held in by a belt, a veil, and a mantle which she holds in her right hand. On her right foot, which protrudes slightly beyond the edge of the lid, is a sandal. Around her neck is a torque and on her right arm two twisted bracelets. A slight ridge on the third finger of the left hand may indicate a ring. On the urn's front is a Skylla, a winged marine monster with the torso of a young woman and coiled fishtails instead of legs. On its forehead is a pair of small wings, in its left hand a sword (?), in its right a stone (?). Many Etruscans believed that the journey to the Underworld involved a dangerous sea voyage.Painted on the molding above the panel is an egg-and-dart pattern; on each side a fluted column. A patera in a sunken panel decorates each end. The portion below the panels, on both front and ends, is hewn into the form of a double scroll. The back of the chest is unadorned. The object's pigmentation includes black, brown, pale blue, red, and pink. A small spot on the back of the lid is restored, and the ends of the chest below the panels are slightly damaged. Otherwise, the condition of the ensemble is excellent, and a great deal of the paint remains.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/151379/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1518640/resize%3Aformat%3DfullDrinking cup in the shape of a bent leg550–530 B.C.Ceramic, BuccheroThis plastic cup is divided into two sections. The bottom half is in the form of a bent human leg. Two projections at the knee allow it to stand upright. The upper half of the cup has a bearded human face on the front and a feline head on the back. There is incised decoration around the neck and the rim.Cup, sculptural.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/154307/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/799144/resize%3Aformat%3DfullFacsimile of painting on right wall, Tomba del Triclinio1900Tempera on canvasOriginal in the Tomba del Triclinio, (east wall) Tarquinia, c. 470 B.C.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/200830/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1114662/resize%3Aformat%3DfullMirror case with Dionysos, Eros and Pan3rd century B.C.Gold, Silver, relief appliqueOn the cover, in high relief, Dionysos supported by Pan blowing pipes and Eros holding a torch. Remains of gilding. See 13.2860.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/228402/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1398558/resize%3Aformat%3DfullNude female figure, handle of a patera (shallow bowl)350-300 B.C.BronzeNude young woman which served as a patera handle. She stands at ease, both arms raised to hold the vessel. She is wearing only a pair of soft, flat shoes and a necklace with a bulla flanked by two crescent-shaped pendants. Her face is rounded, her eyes wide. She has her hair parted in the center and falling in waves through the forehead to the ears. A thick ribbon decorated with a diamond shaped pattern crowns her head. She supports the attachment plate for a bowl with both hands, the juncture element takes the form of tendrils and on the back it is decorated with a palmette. She stand on a circular flat base. Rich green patina.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/106/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1398561/resize%3Aformat%3DfullOval hut urn9th century B.C.TerracottaOval hut urn of dark burnished fabric with separate door which was originally held in place by a rod placed through pierced projections in door center and on either side of the opening. Used as a receptacle for a cremation burial, this urn is also important as a representation of an early Italic building, the type of which only the barest foundation have survived. Projections along the ridgepole perhaps suggest Cretan connections (Hencken). Incised design around edge of roof. Lower section of roof restored in plaster on one side toward the back of the hut; large chip missing from bottom edge on the opposite side. Some cracking, but generally well-preserved.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/262859/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1002731/resize%3Aformat%3DfullPainted Plaqueabout 470 B.C.TerracottaOne of two painted Etruscan plaques (pinakes in Greek) with musicians used to cover the walls of a tomb. This one features a female lyre-player, filleted, in chiton, himation (or short stole) and sandals (tied around ankles) walking to right, on the broad band; she is holding her instrument by a cloth strap attached to her left wrist, and she strums with a plectron in right hand. A plant is at the right. No. III at bottom right. Colors: red, blue-black, and surface green on white ground.Painted and fired. Above: fillet and ovolo, wave (left to right) bands; below: broad band broken by a maender in the form of crennelation.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/267783/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1066236/resize%3Aformat%3DfullPerfume jar (balsamarium) in the shape of female head (Aphrodite / Turan?)late 3rd–early 2nd century B.C.BronzeA balsamarium or perfume vase in the shape of a woman's head, most likely the goddess of love Turan or the Lasae, Etruscan spirits of beauty who waited on divine and mortal women at their toilet. As it was found in a tomb in Etruria (between Ferentium and Bomarzo), most likely a prized possession of a wealthy Etruscan lady. The head is decorated with a diadem with two doves (associated with the worship of Aphrodite), elongated drop earrings, and a necklace of pendants. The eyes were inserted--probably glass irises were set into a fine lime paste. The base is decorated with a rosette.The lid is missing and there is no evidence of any attached handles. Dark and light green patina with heavy earth encrustation.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/153141/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1398541/resize%3Aformat%3DfullRhytonLate 4th century B.C.Bruschi GroupCeramicThis unusual vessel is composed of two mold-made faces set back to back: the upper one a bearded Greek warrior with curly hair and wearing a Corinthian helmet pushed up on top of his head; the lower one a caricature of a bearded man, perhaps a Syrian or Phoenician, with a broad nose, almond eyes, and thick, smiling lips. The warrior's mouth is open and pierced. Below his chin is a scallop-shaped opening, partly restored, with angled incisions on the yellow-brown painted rim. In the top of his helmet, which is coated with a wash of diltute glaze,is a small spout, the tip broken off. The warrior's hair is black and his skin a light brown. The whites of the eyes are properly colored. A double-channeled handle is set on either side, below the ears. Four "warts" on the "Syrian's" nose and by his mouth provide a resting surface for the vessel. He has brown skin and large white eyes with black pupils; unlike the warrior's, the eyes are outlined in black. The "Syrian's" long beard forms the underside of the rhyton's mouth. The vase is loosely connected with the double-headed kanatharoi of the Clusium Group (Harari, Gruppo Clusium, pp. 65-68, 70-72, pls. 41-43, 49-55). Both the kantharoi and the rare examples of rhyta with a single head (double-headed rhyta are otherwise unknown) have the mouth above the head and the spout below, the reverse of what is seen here; compare the gold head-rhyta in the Panagyurishte Treasure (Venedikov and Gerassimov, Thracian, figs. 125-127; A Minceav, Pulpudeva 3 [Sofia, 1980], pp. 177-188). Beazley (EVP, p. 190) pointed out two vases, a complete vessel in the Vatican (Z 129) and a fragment in the Todi Museum (487; Trendall, Vasi antichi, II, pp. 254-255, pl. 66j; CVA Musei Comunali Umbri, Todi, pl. 9, 5) that not only are the closest parallels for this rhyton in style and composition but also help to explain the inversion of the relationship of spout and mouth. The complete example in the Vatican again has two heads back to back; one is a bald Oriental similar to the "Syrian" here, and the other is a balding grotesque, whose acquiline nose gives him an Eastern flavor as well. The latter has a gaping mouth and asymmetries that strongly recall masks of both Atellan farce and New Comedy (cf. Bieber, Theater, 1961, pp. 100-101, 248 figs. 377, 381, 820) Since the gaping comic mouth could conveniently be used as the mouth of the vase, there is a certain logic (missing in the Boston rhyton) in putting the spout in the tops of the heads. Turning the heads upside down to pour from the spout, moreover, increases the comic effect. The Vatican piece is unmistakably humorous in intent, while the Boston rhyton is more ambivalent, since the warrior's head is not a caricature. Nonetheless, it seems likely that both vases were intended as parodies of foreigners, including Greeks as well as Semites, and their drinking habits. It is not improbable that the Etruscans knew that rhyta were used in the drinking rituals of the lands surrounding the Aegean and the Black Sea. (On these rituals, see Venedikov and Gerassimov, Thracian, pp. 72-77; H. Hoffmann, Greek Vases in the J. Paul Getty Museum 4[1989], pp. 157-160.) Rhyta of fourth-century type have even been found as far south as the Golan Heights (M. Hartal, Israel Exploration Journal 37 [1987], p. 271, fig. 2). In the Thracian realm, at least,, these rituals had a Bacchic character, in which comedy would be entirely appropriate. The designers of the Etruscan rhyta seem to have played on a considerable knowledge of the geographic and cultural associations of this exotic type of vessel. A relationship to the rhyta of the Bruschi Group has been observed in a miniature Etruscan jug with a grotesque face applied like a mask to its front (Andre Emmerich Gallery Inc., Classical Art from a New York Collection [New York, 1977], no. 46)http://collections.mfa.org/objects/154465/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1337231/resize%3Aformat%3DfullSarcophagus and lid with husband and wife350–300 B.C.TravertineThe top of the cover takes the form of a bed with pillows, and a man and his wife embrace under a large sheet. She wears a complex earring and he a bracelet of twisted strands. There is no costume visible.On the long side below the man is a frieze with four pairs of Greeks and Amazons in combat. A bead-and-reel molding appears above, and simple pilasters frame the scenes on the corners. The other side, the long panel below the woman, has only a plain fillet molding above, suggesting it was the back of the sarcophagus proper. The frieze features two pairs of horsemen and foot soldiers in combat, with a warrior in fighting pose on foot in the center.On the left end (facing the frieze with Greeks and Amazons), two lions bring down a bull. The bead-and-reel molding is seen above. On the right end, two griffins are tearing into a fallen horse.The condition is, generally speaking, excellent, with some traces of a dark brown deposit and an overall light brown to yellow patina.The sarcophagus is inscribed for Thanchvil Tarnai and her husband Larth Tetnies, son of Arnth Tetnies and Ramtha Vishnai.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/151377/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1298121/resize%3Aformat%3DfullSarcophagus and lid with portraits of husband and wifeLate 4th–early 3rd century B.C.Volcanic tuffThe cover of the sarcophagus shows a man and woman lying nearly facing each other on a bed with pillows and a large sheet wrapped about them.The portrait of the man is of particular interest to the study of Etruscan (and Early Roman) portraiture, foreshadowing in many respects the Roman Republican portraiture which would, in considerable degree, devlop from the Etruscan form. The woman wears a double fillet or braids around her hair, a heart-shaped earring, and a long chiton with sleeves. It is difficult to tell what, if any, clothing the man was wearing, unless details of costume were added in paint. The pediments at each end of the lid have three ideal, female(?) heads in relief in rosettes.The front of the body shows a ceremony, interpreted by some as the couple's marriage and by others as their reunion in the afterlife. They clasp hands in the center, or (more precisely) he places his hand around her wrist, while he also holds a knotted staff in the left hand. Four attendants follow on either side. Those on the left comprise (from center to corner) a man with a tall staff, a lantern or jar suspended from it; a woman with a tray on her head and a pitcher in her lowered right hand; a woman with a large fan or flabellum and a situla in her lowered right hand; and a woman with a lyre and plectron. On the right appear a young man with a chair; another with a small stick or scepter; a third with a curved horn; and a woman with a wreath and double flutes.On the left end, two women, parasol over their heads, ride in a cart drawn by two mules driven by a male attendant. A winged spirit of death waves two snakes at them. On the right end, a bearded magistrate mounts a two-horse chariot, attended by a man with the pastoral staff or lituus.Since the man on the major front panel wears the Greek himation, it has been suggested that he is the heroized deceased, leading his wife to the underworld. If such be the case, she may have survived him to have her own separate procession on the left end, and the scene on the front thus may be taken as a symbolic "marriage" ceremony, the union with death and life in the underworld rather than merely in life on earth.The lid is broken across at the couple's legs and has been rejoined, with two small pieces missing. The body has cracks. There are minor chips and abrasions, but the general condition is excellent. The surfaces have a crusty brown patina.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/151378/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1337623/resize%3Aformat%3DfullScarab with Aktaion and a dog by a fountain450–400 B.C.CarnelianDeep, almost opaque, brownish red carnelian. Scarab with a flat, oval base engraved in intaglio; pierced lengthwise. Youthful Aktaion in ¾ view but head in profile to left, in the process of seating on or standing from a chair in profile. He holds the leash of a dog facing him with his extended right hand. Drapery covers his genitalia and wraps around his free arm. In the background a fountain with a lion-headed spout pours water into a container on the ground. A star below the spout. Etruscan inscription ATAIUN behind the youth’s head. Back carved as a beetle with a hatched line around the thorax and three lines dividing the elytra. Winglets are shown in relief. Naturalistic legs with spined front legs. Plinth with tongue pattern. Small chip missing at the feet of the chair.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/186692/rdfhttp://collections.mfa.org/internal/media/dispatcher/1001281/resize%3Aformat%3DfullSpool earringearly 5th century B.C.Gold“A baule” or spool earrings consist of a band of sheet metal rounded at one end and rolled into a cylinder. A hook at one end of the earring either passed through the earlobe or a suspension hoop in the ear. The upper zone of decoration, which covered the earlobe, is shaped like a pediment with a palmette drawn in beaded wire and terminating in spirals. Granules of many different sizes fill in space at the base of the palmette. A thin strip of sheet gold forms an undulating ribbon-like border between the two zones. The main decorative zone is divided into eighteen squares, all separated by a ribbon border. The squares alternate between a hemisphere of plain sheet gold and one covered with granules, creating a pattern of matte/textured and polished/smooth surfaces. The sheet gold hemispheres are marked with a pyramid of three granules that form a central bead. An embellished disk closes one end of the spool. The disk is decorated with a border of flat open circles (beaded filigree wire); beaded filigree is used to embellish the open area in the center. The earring forms a pair with 03.765.http://collections.mfa.org/objects/181365/rdf