Tarquinia: MRA-ITA-Tar031
Type Sample Item
Sample ID
- MRA-ITA-Tar031
Sample Material Type
- Plaster
Sample Sub-type
- fragment
Dimensions (cm)
- Length
- 3
- Width
- 2.3
- Height
- 1.3
Weight
- weight value (g)
- 5.9
Geographic Location
- Country
- Italy
- Place
- Tarquinia
Site/monument
- Tomba delle Leonesse
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 Lionesses (Tomba delle Leonesse) was found in 1874 and goes back to ca. 520 BCE. The space is accessed through a staircase; the final area is the actual funeral chamber and has the traditional gabled ceiling, similarly to other tombs in the necropolis. The ceiling is decorated with checkerboard pattern, while the mural painting is divided into smaller areas with six red pillars that evoke an open area (Fig.1 and Fig.2). The tomb is named after two felines with spotted coat looking at each other and that lie in the fronton, on the central wall. These two animals are two leopards, although they were originally defined as lionesses. On the front wall, there are two musicians playing a double flute on the side of a crater. On the right and the left, a dancer and another couple of dancers. On the other walls, people are represented while banqueting and engaging in convivial scenes. Beneath, there are dolphins darting between the waves.
Sources and further reading:
Romanelli, Pietro (1938). Tarquinii, Volume 2. Le pitture della tomba della Caccia e della Pesca. Roma: Libreria di Stato.
Ducati, Paolo (1937). Le pitture delle tombe delle Leonesse e dei Vasi Dipinti. Roma: Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato.
Cecchini, Adele (2012). Le tombe di Tarquinia-Vicenda Conservativa, restauri, tecnica di esecuzione. Kermes Quaderni, Nardini Editore.
Chronological period (sample)
- 6th century BCE