Typology of faces on Etruscan terracotta (to the problem of the evolution of the style of head types according to P.J. Riis)

Abstract

Introduction. Etruscan-Italian fine art experienced a noticeable artistic influence from Greece. Iconographic types of the head and face were transmitted both through the import of finished Greek products and through the circulation of matrices and the artists themselves, which complicates the chronology and typology of monuments. P.J. Riis proposes to systematize the "evolution" of Etruscan terracotta styles by constructing a chronological series from the early archaic to the late classic [Riis, 1981]. The purpose of the work was to study the concept of P.J. Riis about iconography in Etruscan coroplastics and the creation of generalized morphological characteristics of local types (regional styles).

Materials and methods. Illustrated chronological tables from P.J. Riis and the method of composite portrait in digital version were used.

Results and discussion. P.J. Riis examined 352 types of images, their archaeological context geographically confined to Northern Etruria (Clusium), Central (Vulci, Volsinia), Southern (Caere, Veii, Falerii, Latium) and Etruscan Campania (Capua). The earliest production of Etruscan terracotta was concentrated in Campania, Southern and Northern Etruria, the first hellenized style of terracotta spread from Etruscan Capania into Southern Etruria. The composite portraits based on the combined samples of archaic art indicate the absence of significant sex differences. In the composite female portrait for all samples of the archaic period, a contribution of morphological elements of the types of Southern and Central Etruria is visually noted. The greatest contribution to the morphology of the face in the composite female portrait for all samples of the classical period was made by Central Etruria and Capua. The resulting composite portraits by region indicate the heterogeneity of facial iconography in the archaic and classical art of Central Italy and visualize the conclusions of P.J. Riis on the development of several local traditions of fine art style.

Conclusion. The classification of P.J. Riis is constructed in such a way that it assumes for its further completion with new archaeological data, so it can be considered as an attempt to create a “visual” history of the Etruscan portrait, at least part of it. © 2024. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license

References

Andreev Yu.A. Arhaicheskaja Sparta. Iskusstvo i politika [Archaic Sparta. Art and politics]. St. Petersburg, Nestor-Istorija Publ., 2008. 342 p. (In Russ.).

Belikov A.V., Goncharova N.N. Analiz izobrazitel'nogo kanona antichnoj skul'ptury antropologicheskimi metodami [The study of the aesthetic canon of the antique sculpture by anthropological methods]. Vestnik antropologii [Bulletin of Anthropology], 2012, 22, pp. 114–133. (In Russ.).

Gavrilin K.N. Iskusstvo rannego Rima i Yuzhnoj Etrurii epohi rascveta (VI-V vv. do n.e.) po materialam koroplastiki [The art of early Rome and Southern Etruria of the heyday (6th-5th centuries BC) based on coroplastic materials]. Moscow, Progress-Tradiciya Publ., 2015, 240 p. (In Russ.).

Mavleev E.V. Koncepciya etrusskogo portreta. Semantika poiska i hudozhestvennoe otkrytie [Etruscan portrait concept. Search semantics and artistic discovery]. In Obraz-smysl v antichnoj kul'ture [The value of the image in ancient culture]. Moscow Publ., 1990, pp. 203–222. (In Russ.).

Mavleev E.V. Grecheskie mify v Jetrurii (o ponimanii jetruskami grecheskih izobrazhenij) [Greek myths in Etruria (about the Etruscans’ understanding of Greek images)]. Antichnyj mir i arheologija [Ancient World and Archeology], 1979, 4, pp. 82–104. (In Russ.).

Savineckij A.B., Nizametdinov Sh.U., Syroezhkin G.V., Safiullin A.E. Razrabotka metodov sozdaniya i obrabotki obobshchennyh komp’yuternyh izobrazhenij i ih prilozhenie v antropologii [Methods for creation and analysis of generalized digital images and their application in anthropology]. Nauchnaya vizualizaciya [Scientific Visualization], 2015, 7 (5), pp. 53–67. (In Russ.).

Shpak L.Yu. Izobrazhenie cheloveka v votivnoj tradicii antichnogo Sredizemnomor'ja (po literaturnym dannym) [The image of a person in the votive tradition of the ancient Mediterranean (according to literary sources)]. Moscow University Anthropology Bulletin [Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Serya XXIII. Antropologya], 2020, 4, pp. 138–152. DOI: 10.32521/2074-8132.2020.4.138-152 (In Russ.).

 Andren A. Architectural Terracottas from Etrusco-Italic Temples. Lund Press, 1940. 516 p.

Comella A. Tipologia e diffusione dei complessi votive in Italia in epoca medio e tardo repubblicana: Contributo alla storia dell’artigianto antico. Mélanges de l’École française de Rome, 1981, 93, pp. 717–803.

Comella A. Offerte in forma di figura umana. In: Thesaurus cultus et rituum antiquorum (ThesCRA I). Eds. by Barlty J.Ch. et al. Los Angeles, Getty Publications Press, 2004, pp. 330–359.

Riis P.J. Tyrrhenika: An Archaeological Study of the Etruscan Sculpture in the Archaic and Classical Periods. Munksgaard Press, 1941. 216 p.

Riis P.J. Introduction to Etruscan Art. Munksgaard Press, 1953. 144 p.

Riis P.J. Art in Etruria and Latium during the first half of the fifth century B.C. l'Antiquité classique, 1967, 13, pp. 67-96.

Riis P.J. Etruscan types of heads: a revised chronology of the archaic and classical terracottas of Etruscan Campania and Central Italy. København, Munksgaard Press, 1981. 93 p.

Steingraeber S. Zum Phanomen der etruskisch-italis chen Votivkopfe. Mitteilungen des Deutschen Archaologishen (RM), 1980, 87, pp. 215–253.