Author Description

"Myths and More on Etruscan Stone Sarcophagi focuses on the chronology and meaning of representations, in painting or (painted) relief, on one hundred forty-eight coffins. After the appearance of R. Herbig's catalogue Die jungeretruskischen Steinsarkophage (Berlin) in 1952 many new tombs with sarcophagi were discovered. It is therefore worthwhile to review Herbig's chronology and interpretations after a period of fifty years. It appears that the sarcophagi have been made over a period of around six generations, between approximately 350 and 200 B.C., at a time which was crucial in the history of Etruria. Between 396 and 264 B.C. Rome conquered the Etruscan world. The question is: what impact did this conquest have on the minds of the Etruscan ruling elite and of the artisans, at Vulci, Cerveteri, Tarquinia and its hinterland, at Orvieto, Chiusi and Volterra? Attention is paid to the find-spots, the family tombs, the owners of the sarcophagi, as well as to their social background and civil status."--BOOK JACKET.