Word: etruscan
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Chief among the macchiaioli was Giovanni Fattori of Leghorn, called "The Etruscan" for his bold, brusque colorism. His vision was acute and reportorial. He sought out such scenes as a cavalryman dragged across a field by his horse or oxen idly sniffing an oddly crumpled hat, the only sign of life in a devastated battleground. Another leader was Giovanni Boldini from Ferrara, who traveled through Spain with Degas and later settled in Paris to paint exquisitely mannered portraits. A third was Vincenzo Cabianca from Verona, who loaded his canvas with oil until its scumbled surface resembled earthen ware, yet caught...
...says Brothwell, "is no longer pure excavation. It has matured into a discipline demanding the cooperation of a variety of scientific fields." In their quest to extend history, archaeologists are using proton magnetometers to search for the ancient Greek city of Sybaris. They have used aerial photography to locate Etruscan tombs and to find a lost Andean road that was once part of a pre-Inca civilization. By analyzing the content of bone, they have shown Piltdown man for what he was-a forgery that fooled scientists for 41 years...
Motifs from Egypt. The earliest items in the exhibition came from the tombs of the Etruscan aristocracy. At first Etruscan artisans borrowed heavily from the Phoenicians, who in turn had taken their art motifs-typically the sphinx-from ancient Egypt. The Phoenicians favored storytelling art, but the Etruscans shed narrative for simple beauty. The gold cup (see color) celebrates no victory, tells of no heroic deeds. Decorated only by intricate little sphinxes, the cup delights the eye with its untainted lines...
...handsome; others, done by less gifted artists, are flat and static. The most unusual figure is of a youth lying on his back. The lines of this statue are softer and more classical than those of the others, but all the statues give new evidence of the closeness of Etruscan to Roman art. Says Professor Mario Moretti, regent of the Villa Giulia: "It's very hard to say at this point where Etruscan art ends and Roman Republican art begins...
...buried family certainly hewed to Etruscan tradition. Their statues show them dozing or talking or sitting-exactly as they might have been caught in life. And in nearly all the figures, one leg is carefully crossed under the other. It was a poignant bid for immortality, this ancient superstition. For the Etruscans believed that since in life the feet are in motion and are therefore often visible only one at a time, to show both feet at once was to suggest death, final and eternal...