ICCROM Mora Samples Collection
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Tarquinia: MRA-ITA-Tar015

Type Sample Item

Sample ID

MRA-ITA-Tar015

Sample Material Type

Mural painting

Sample Sub-type

micro-fragment

Weight

weight value (g)
0.9
Notes
fragments + container

Other info about sample identity

21 [hand-written on the cork]

Geographic Location

Country
Italy
Place
Tarquinia

Site/monument

Tomba del Barone

Historical note about the site/monument

Monterozzi necropolis in Tarquinia is called after the hill on which it is located and is popular for its high number of sepulchers (more than 6,000), some of them monumental. The necropolis goes back to the 7th and 3rd century BCE, being one of the most long-termed. The site conveys a glimpse to the Etruscan lifestyle and notion of afterlife. The Tomb of the Baron is called after Baron Kestner, who collaborated with the archaeologist Stackelberg for its discovery in 1827. It consists on a single room of 4.55 x 3.88 x 2.38 size (w x d x h) with walls entirely painted in archaic style and dated back to the 6th century BCE. The roof is double pitched with central column, that is entirely painted. On the walls, there is a parting scene with three figures, one is likely to be a woman and another a flautist, and a tree. The scene is likely to represent the division between the worlds of the living and of the dead. On the right, a mural painting features two young men holding two horses with bridles.

Sources and further reading:
Romanelli, Pietro (1938). Tarquinii, Volume 2. Le pitture della tomba della Caccia e della Pesca. Roma: Libreria di Stato.
Dasti, Luigi (1878). Corneto Tarquinia: tombe etrusche dipinte. Avezzano: Studio Bibliografico Adelmo Polla.
Cecchini, Adele (2012). Le tombe di Tarquinia-Vicenda Conservativa, restauri, tecnica di esecuzione. Kermes Quaderni, Nardini Editore.

Chronological period (sample)

6th century BCE

Inventory