Images

This is a detail of a large Etruscan ritual calander from Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Italy. The Etruscan language is preserved in about 10,000 short texts; the grave, votive, and ownership inscriptions. Only four longer texts are known so...

This leaf wreath antefix shows the head of Achelous. Achelous was the god of water and rivers of the whole world. Clay. From Curti, near Capua, Italy. Etruscan, 480-460 BCE. It is on display at the Altes Museum in Berlin, Germany.

On this bronze mirror, a scene is carved. It depicts the killing of Clytemnestra by her son, Orestes. Engraved around 440 BCE. Acquired in 1843 CE. It is on display at the Altes Museum in Berlin, Germany.

Square-shaped cippi were found inside burial chambers and carried an egg-shaped top, possibly as a symbol of life and fertility. The scenes depicted in bas-reliefs are connected with cult of the dead and burial, as are here the dances are...

The base is surrounded by a frieze of Greeks and Amazons, yet without fighting action. Possibly, this early Etruscan "Amazonomachy" is a game or a parade within the context of the death cult. The Amazons' clothing corresponds with that on...

This antefix depicts the head of Juno; an ancient Roman goddess. Clay. From Latium, Italy. Circa 500-480 BCE. It is on display at the Altes Museum in Berlin, Germany. Acquired from Collection Bellori in 1698 CE.

The upper part of the head is lost. This statue is one of the earliest large-scale sculptures from Vulci. It was created under the influence of Greek-Daedalic sculpture. The hairstyle and jewelry are based on oriental antetypes. From Vulci...

This head belonged to a crouching sphinx with a lion's body and wings. It stood wither on a tumulus or as a "sentinel" at the entrance to the grave. Nenfro (tuff). From Vulci, Italy. Circa 600 BCE. It is on display at the Altes Museum in...

This garland sarcophagus, known in drawings since the 15th century CE, originally stood on the Tiber Island in Rome. In a photograph taken between 1864-1866 CE, it is seen surrounded by ornamental plants in the garden of Palazzo Caffarelli...

The head and torso of this statuette did not originally go together. The head is a portrait of the Roman Emperor Trajan (r. 98-117 CE). Records of the sculpture, first presumed to be a gladiator, can be traced back to the Venetian Andrea...