Author Description

This sumptuous volume presents the results of one of the most sensational and important archaeological finds of the last quarter century: the discovery, by new seismic-geophysical methods, of a completely new series of richly painted Etruscan tombs near Tarquinia. In order to reproduce with exact fidelity the original colors of the tomb decorations, special methods of entry and photographic techniques were developed, and both a new reproductive technique and a new printing style were employed. The result is a series of plates of unparalleled fidelity to the original colors and textures. The material included in New Monuments of Etruscan Painting is so varied, so unexpectedly stimulating, so full of intricate problems of chronology, technique, style, iconography, and religious and cultural history, that it will lead to a series of investigations of individual tombs which ultimately will force a revision of our entire conception of Etruscan painting and will again raise the question of the origin of the world of Etruscan imagery.For the presentation of so vast a body of research material the present publication is ideally suited, with its complete and unusually faithful photographic documentation, its plans and sections of each tomb, and its selected illustrations of objects found in the sepulchers. New Monuments of Etruscan Painting constitutes an invaluable source of new data for the understanding of Etruscan civilization, and enormously increases the material basis of Etruscan studies. For years to come it will serve as an indispensable basis for discussions of Etruscan art and society.