Tarquinia: MRA-ITA-Tar002
Type Sample Item
Sample ID
- MRA-ITA-Tar002
Sample Material Type
- Mural painting
Sample Sub-type
- fragment
Dimensions (cm)
- Length
- 3.1
- Width
- 1
- Height
- 1.5
Weight
- weight value (g)
- 4.1
Geographic Location
- Country
- Italy
- Place
- Tarquinia
Site/monument
- Italy (ITA)
Tarquinia
Necropoli di Monterozzi
Tomba degli Auguri
Historical note about the site/monument
- The tomb is part of the Monterozzi necropolis and was uncovered in 1878. The necropolis to which it belongs includes more than 6000 tombs, at least 200 of which contain mural paintings. The practice of painting the walls of tombs was an uncommonly enduring tradition in Tarquinia, and seems to have persisted for nearly the entire duration of the city’s settlement (from the 7th-2nd centuries BCE). The Tomb of the Augurs is one such burial chamber, and presents a small rectangular room which probably housed two sarcophagi. The walls of the tomb hold lively large-scale frescoes from the 6th century BCE depicting funerary rituals and the games associated with them. It has been suggested on stylistic grounds that the painter of the murals was an Ionian-Greek, possibly from Phocaea.
Further reading:
[1] Wikipedia contributors. (2021, April 30). Tomb of the Augurs. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 16, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tomb_of_the_Augurs&oldid=1020757461.
[2] Holloway, R. R. (1965). Conventions of Etruscan painting in the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing at Tarquinii. American Journal of Archaeology, 69(4), 341-347.
[3] Avramidou, A. (2009). The Phersu game revisited. Etruscan Studies, 12(1), 73-88.
[4] Cecchini, Adele (2012). Le tombe di Tarquinia-Vicenda Conservativa, restauri, tecnica di esecuzione. Kermes Quaderni, Nardini Editore.
Chronological period (sample)
- 6th century BCE