Tarquinia’s Etruscan Museum: Artifacts

By now, I’m sure you’re suffering from Etruscan fatigue, but I promise we’re almost through the museum. But please humor me one last post. There are a few more artifacts I know will captivate you, as they did me.

Sit back and enjoy a last look at these amazing objects from 2500 years ago.

I’ll start you off with some lovely jewelry,
as pretty as can be found today.

And of course, one needs a bronze mirror with which to admire that jewelry.

Etruscans are known for their elaborately engraved bronze mirrors.

Unmistakably Attic-inspired art.

There were some curious ceramic body parts.

You can guess what these are.

A unique bronze tripod stand.

Can you decipher this?

How about this?

In case you’re having trouble, here’s the translation for you (above).
(Yeah, I still couldn’t figure it out either.) 

Unfortunately, the sun did not shine on the Etruscans forever. Around the 4th century B.C.E., gloom began to pervade their art. With the Romans breathing down their figurative necks, they undoubtedly sensed their pending demise. The mirth reflected in their paintings and objects of art gave way to scenes of war and garish demons.

Is the party over?

And with that, we’ll leave the world of the Etruscans.

But will we really? In the heart of what once was the center of Etruscan culture, recent DNA tests show that many modern-day inhabitants have the same genetic makeup as skeletons found in the Etruscan tombs.

I like to think the Etruscans are alive and well in the 21st century.