Legacy Of The Etruscan Sarcophagus

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Etruscan Sarcophagus The Sarcophagus of the Spouses is significant in early Roman-Etruscan history because it manifests the most important human value: the eternal bond between husband and wife, as seen through its terracotta shape, its place in early Roman history, and how the Etruscans portray the ideals of humanity. Every piece of art in history leaves a legacy. Each culture and place in history has left a legacy on how we live today. The legacy that is left helps people today live their lives with a better purpose. In other words, as Gloria Fiero wrote, “Each generation leaves a creative legacy, the sum of its ideas and achievements. The legacy represents the response to our effort to ensure our individual and collective survival, our …show more content…

The Etruscans occupied the region to the north of Rome, between the Arno and Tiber Rivers to the west of the Apennine Mountains. The Etruscan culture was well-developed and advanced but distinctively different from the cultures of the other peoples in the region. Their culture developed from a prehistoric civilization known as Villanovan. The Etruscans were in Northern Italy just North of the Romans, before the Romans became the vast empire that they are remembered as. The Etruscan were advanced in many things related to art so many cemeteries and sanctuaries have been excavated. The sarcophagus was found in the city Cerveteri in Banditaccia Necropolis. Greek potters and their works influenced the development of Etruscan art. “The Sarcophagus of the Spouses as an object conveys a great deal of information about Etruscan culture and its customs.” The Etruscans are well known for their terracotta freestanding sculptures, which is what the sarcophagus is. The main source of history of the Etruscans was the art and the inscriptions that came with them. There are many Etruscan texts however they are mostly very short and do not give much information about the culture and values. Therefore, most of what we know about the Etruscans comes not from text, but from art and archaeological record. The sarcophagus is an Etruscan …show more content…

To the Etruscan, the true meaning and goal of human beings was to find an eternal bond and somebody who you put your trust and devote your life to. Although this is a funerary sculpture and most funerary objects are dedicated to one person’s life, the couple is shown together which implies that the couple had devoted their lives to each other and have an eternal relationship. This shows the couples devotion to continue this bond into the afterlife. Though the Sarcophagus, the Etruscan role of women is discovered. Women enjoyed a different and more privileged status in Etruscan society than of the Greek and Roman society. The Sarcophagus suggests that the couple is reclining at a banquet. This in itself was a rarity. It was not normal for Greek and Roman women toeven attend banquets however it is evidently a normality of the Etruscans. “The Etruscans provide their dead with tombs designed to resemble the lavish dwelling places of the deceased.” The value of an eternal bond between a couple is what stands out most in the Sarcophagus. The intimacy of the couple is seen through their archaic smile and the position they are resting in. The sarcophagus shows much emotion and almost an entire story in itself in contrast of the Kore and Kouros which were more stiff and did not have as much attention to describing intimacy. The overall eternal truth simply states that the ultimate goal for humanity

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