Legacy Of The Etruscan Sarcophagus

Etruscan Sarcophagus

The Sarcophagus of the Spouses is significant in early Roman-Etruscan history because it manifests the most important human value: the eternal bond between husband and wife, as seen through its terracotta shape, its place in early Roman history, and how the Etruscans portray the ideals of humanity. Every piece of art in history leaves a legacy. Each culture and place in history has left a legacy on how we live today. The legacy that is left helps people today live their lives with a better purpose. In other words, as Gloria Fiero wrote, “Each generation leaves a creative legacy, the sum of its ideas and achievements. The legacy represents the response to our effort to ensure our individual and collective survival, our

need to establish ways of living in harmony with others, and our desire to understand our place in the universe.” The eternal bond between husband and wife and the significance of extending their devotion into the afterlife is seen through all aspects of the Etruscan Sarcophagus. This shows the great impact that the Sarcophagus has had to lead to the discoveries of the values of the Etruscans and the goal of humanity in their society.
The physical and visual aspects of the Sarcophagus manifest the Etruscan ideals of humanity. Found in an Etruscan tomb in a necropolis, Banditaccia at Cerveteri, this is considered the most important work ever found in these tombs. It was made in 520 BCE, just eleven years before the last Etruscan King was kicked out of Rome. It is made from painted Terra Cotta in high-relief form, meaning it is raised. A Khan Academy article says, “The Sarcophagus of the Spouses is a masterwork of terracotta sculpture. Painted terracotta sculpture played a key role in the visual culture of archaic Etruria.” The figures are relaxed which contrasts Greek art which was extremely stiff. Underneath the sculptures of the figures is a coffin where their bodies would lay. All of these aspects of the form of the Sarcophagus are alluding to the function. It takes the form of a bed, upon which the deceased couple are resting. The function serves similarly to the Kouros; as a grave marker and it is indicative of their burial practices. In much of Greek and Egyptian art the women are portrayed smaller, or below the men to show status. However, the Sarcophagus exhibits the importance of the woman in Etruscan culture by displaying the woman equally to her husband. The physique of the figures of the suggest that they are at a banquet. This is unusual because in Greece, the banquets were reserved for just men, but the Sarcophagus suggests that Etruscan women attended banquents as well. This manifests the Etruscan value of the eternal bond between husband and wife. The couple would be together throughout their life, at banquets and at all occasions, and also they are together in the afterlife and in their tombs.
The Sarcophagus’s place in early Roman history helps describe how the Etruscans value the artwork and the eternal truths that is seen through the Sarcophagus.

The Etruscans occupied the region to the north of Rome, between the Arno and Tiber Rivers to the west of the Apennine Mountains. The Etruscan culture was well-developed and advanced but distinctively different from the cultures of the other peoples in the region. Their culture developed from a prehistoric civilization known as Villanovan. The Etruscans were in Northern Italy just North of the Romans, before the Romans became the vast empire that they are remembered as. The Etruscan were advanced in many things related to art so many cemeteries and sanctuaries have been excavated. The sarcophagus was found in the city Cerveteri in Banditaccia Necropolis. Greek potters and their works influenced the development of Etruscan art. “The Sarcophagus of the Spouses as an object conveys a great deal of information about Etruscan culture and its customs.” The Etruscans are well known for their terracotta freestanding sculptures, which is what the sarcophagus is. The main source of history of the Etruscans was the art and the inscriptions that came with them. There are many Etruscan texts however they are mostly very short and do not give much information about the culture and values. Therefore, most of what we know about the Etruscans comes not from text, but from art and archaeological record. The sarcophagus is an Etruscan

funerary work which comprises an especially rich source of evidence for artistic achievement during the Late Classical and Hellenistic periods.
The Etruscan Sarcophagus answers the eternal question of what it means to be human.

To the Etruscan, the true meaning and goal of human beings was to find an eternal bond and somebody who you put your trust and devote your life to. Although this is a funerary sculpture and most funerary objects are dedicated to one person’s life, the couple is shown together which implies that the couple had devoted their lives to each other and have an eternal relationship. This shows the couples devotion to continue this bond into the afterlife. Though the Sarcophagus, the Etruscan role of women is discovered. Women enjoyed a different and more privileged status in Etruscan society than of the Greek and Roman society. The Sarcophagus suggests that the couple is reclining at a banquet. This in itself was a rarity. It was not normal for Greek and Roman women toeven attend banquets however it is evidently a normality of the Etruscans. “The Etruscans provide their dead with tombs designed to resemble the lavish dwelling places of the deceased.” The value of an eternal bond between a couple is what stands out most in the Sarcophagus. The intimacy of the couple is seen through their archaic smile and the position they are resting in. The sarcophagus shows much emotion and almost an entire story in itself in contrast of the Kore and Kouros which were more stiff and did not have as much attention to describing intimacy. The overall eternal truth simply states that the ultimate goal for humanity

is seeking an eternal bond and somebody to devote your life to and continue the bond into the afterlife.
The universal questions that the Etruscan Sarcophagus answers have relevance today. This piece of art manifests the importance of seeking an eternal bond. This goal of humanity is still aimed for today. The goal of most humans today is to find an eternal lover and this the same way the Sarcophagus is a representation of the eternal love, people today wear a ring on their finger to signify an everlasting trust between the couple. Also, in the same way the this eternal bond is expressed through art, love is conveyed in art form very often today. This is seen in contemporary paintings, music, photography, and media. The Etruscans lived many years ago and had a very different lifestyle from today but the eternal truth they represent has a lasting legacy today.