Chapter I: Preface

The following sketch is based upon investigations made in the Etruscan Tombs at Corneto and Chiusi, and on comparison of the original wall-paintings with the facsimiles and drawings made from them and preserved in the Helbig Museum in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. It was originally published in Danish, in 1919, as a guide to students in that Department.

I am greatly indebted to Mr. G. F. Hill, of the British Museum, for his revision of the translation.

Meanwhile the first volume of the promised work of Fritz Weege (_Etruskische Malerei_, Halle, 1921) has appeared, copiously and splendidly illustrated. The text contains general views concerning Etruscan religion and society rather than descriptions of the paintings themselves, and I cannot refrain from saying that I find Weege’s statements and opinions, and the parallels which he adduces, too often more fanciful than convincing, in spite of the vast erudition displayed therein. I do not find anything in my own text which I feel inclined to alter after reading his book.

FREDERIK POULSEN.

COPENHAGEN,
_January_ 1921.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

_Facing page_
1 Wall-painting from the Tomba Campana 7

2 Main picture in the Tomba dei Tori at Corneto 7

3 Back wall in the Tomba degli Auguri 11

4 Right main wall in the Tomba degli Auguri 12

5 Part of the left main wall in the Tomba degli Auguri. (After a
coloured drawing in the Helbig Museum) 12

6 Painting from the Tomba del Pulcinella 12

7 Left main wall of the Tomba delle Iscrizioni 15

8 Back wall of the Tomba delle Iscrizioni 15

9 Picture from the Tomba del Morto at Corneto 16

10 Picture from the Tomba del Triclinio 16

11 ‘La bella ballerina’ in the Tomba Francesca Giustiniani
_Frontispiece_

12 Right main wall in the Tomba delle Iscrizioni 19

13 Back wall in the Tomba delle Leonesse at Corneto 20

14 Left main wall in the Tomba del Barone 20

15 Right main wall in the Tomba delle Bighe 22

16 Etruscan terracotta head in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek 22

17 Part of the small frieze in the Tomba delle Bighe.
(After _Arch. Jahrb._ 1916) 22

18 Wall-painting from the Tomba del Morente: the lassoing of
the horse 24

19 Part of the small frieze in the Tomba delle Bighe.
(After _Arch. Jahrb._ 1916) 24

20 Part of the Tomba della Scimmia at Chiusi 24

21 Part of the small frieze in the Tomba delle Bighe.
(After _Arch. Jahrb._ 1916) 27

22 Part of the small frieze in the Tomba delle Bighe.
(After _Arch. Jahrb._ 1916) 27

23 Symposium in the Tomba delle Bighe 27

24 Back wall in the Tomba dei Leopardi
(After _Arch. Jahrb._ 1916. Pl. 9) 31

25 Married couple on an Etruscan cinerary urn 31

26 Picture from the Tomba degli Scudi at Corneto 35

27 Picture from the Tomba degli Scudi at Corneto. (After a coloured
drawing in the Helbig Museum) 35

28 Arnth Velchas and wife on couch. Picture in the Tomba dell’ Orco
(After a coloured drawing in the Helbig Museum) 36

29 Head of Arnth Velchas’ wife. From the Tomba dell’ Orco 37

30 Back wall in the Tomba del Vecchio 37

31 Symposium in the Tomba Golini at Orvieto 38

32 Wall-painting in the Tomba Golini 38

33 Kitchen interior in the Tomba Golini 40

34 Painting in the Tomba del Letto funebre, at Corneto 40

35 Demon in the Tomba dell’ Orco 49

36 Picture in the Tomba dell’ Orco at Corneto 50

37 Hades, Persephone and Geryon in the Tomba dell’ Orco 50

38 Drawing from Michelangelo’s sketch-book 51

39 Wall-painting from the Tomba François at Vulci 54

40 Painting in the Tomba Golini at Orvieto 54

41 Painting from the Tomba della Pulcella 54

42 Relief on a tomb altar from Chiusi. In the Barracco
Collection in Rome 56

43 Cinerary urn from Chiusi 56

44 Roman sarcophagus in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek 58

45 Procession of the dead in the Tomba del Tifone 58

46 Painted frieze in the Tomba del Cardinale 58

47 Part of the frieze in the Tomba del Cardinale 58

ETRUSCAN TOMB-PAINTINGS