Etruscan Gifts: Artifacts from Early Italy in the 91��ɫ��ý Collection

Dates:

February 1, 2024 - February 9, 2025

Location:

Walker Gallery

This exhibition draws from artworks at the 91��ɫ��ý Museum of Art and explores the origins of Etruscan civilization, contacts with the Phoenicians, Greeks, and contemporary cultures in ancient Italy, and their wider legacy.

Selected Works

An ancient, dusty-colored clay, stem-footed bowl — *Impasto Stem-footed Bowl/Urn Lid (ciotola di copertura)*, Villanovan, 8th century BCE. Given in Memory of Valentine Giamatti, PhD. 2015.41.4

An ancient clay vessel that would hold water and has a fancy handle — *Impasto Dipper (attingitoio),* Villanovan, ca, 750-700 B.C.E. Given in Memory of Valentine Giamatti, PhD. 2015.41.6

an ancient broad, shallow bowl with two handles on a pedestal vase, made of terracotta with black-figure painted decorative motifs — Black-Figure “Eye Cup” or Kylix, Greek (Attica), from Caere (Cerveteri), Etruria, ca. 530-520 BCE, clay. Gift of Edward Perry Warren, Esq., Honorary Degree, 1926. 1913.7

an ancient vessel used to hold liquids; it has a foot, wide mouth, and two handles. The buff colored piece shows figures painted in black.i — *Black-Figure Stamnos*, Etruscan, late 6th-early 5th centuries BCE. Given in Memory of Valentine Giamatti, PhD. 2015.41.1

An ancient, black, drinking cup has a broad, shallow bowl with two handles atop a pedestal base. — *Bucchero Kylix (“Ionian Type”)*, Etruscan, 650-625 B.C.E. Given in Memory of Valentine Giamatti, PhD, 2015.41.8

An ancient, large, clay, two-handled vessel, designed to hold liquids, and decorated with black-figure paintings of Greek mythological figures — *Red-Figure Column Krater with Oedipus and the Sphinx* , Related to the ‘School of Polygnotos’
Greek (Attica), clay, from Gela, Sicily, ca. 430 BCE. Gift of Edward Perry Warren, Esq., Honorary Degree, 1926. 1913.8

About

What we know of the Etruscans comes from ancient writers, who often were rivals and adversaries, and from the archaeological record. These sources document a culture that emerged in central Italy at the end of the second millennium BCE that was entirely distinct from its neighbors. At their zenith in the sixth century BCE, the Etruscans controlled much of the Italian peninsula from the Po River valley in the north to the Bay of Naples in the south. Importantly, this included the nascent city of Rome. Here, the Etruscans helped create the urban fabric of the city and established many religious and political institutions that survive to this day.

This exhibition is made possible with generous support from the Stevens L. Frost Endowment Fund for the 91��ɫ��ý Museum of Art.

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