The Amazon Sarcophagus is one of the most important monuments in Etruscan art of the Hellenistic period and a testament to the sophisticated knowledge and originality that informed the reception of Greek myth in Etruria. It was found in 1869 in a small chamber tomb in the Monterozzi necropolis at Tarquinia, where it was used for the burial of an Etruscan woman, Ramtha Huzcnai, in the latter half of the 4th century B.C. The sarcophagus is made of limestone alabaster and is decorated with tempera paintings and reliefs of mythological subject: an Amazonomachy on the chest and the death of Acteon on the lid. The Amazonomachy myth, with its pan-Hellenic character and polysemic narrative, is attested in Etruscan art since the Archaic period and gains increasing popularity in the 4th century B.C. The Amazon Sarcophagus represents one of the most mature expressions of the reception of this myth in Etruria. Its paintings are articulated in four separate scenes and comprise 25 figures, 12 Greeks fighting 13 Amazons. Victories and defeats appear to balance each other, with an equal number of fallen figures on either side. When approached as a single Amazonomachy, the paintings seem to commemorate order and harmony, while reminding the viewer of the uncertainty of fate. This reading tells us one story, but there may be others. By examining the paintings individually, then identifying iconographic links across different scenes and exploring the place of the sarcophagus within the artistic, social and cultural context in which it was created and used, this paper will discuss how the pictorial narrative is ethically charged and carefully structured according to rhetorical principles that contribute to expanding and transforming the original meaning of the Amazonomachy myth.
Hybris and Sophrosyne on the Amazon Sarcophagus from Tarquinia
Tiziana D'Angelo
2020-01-01
Abstract
The Amazon Sarcophagus is one of the most important monuments in Etruscan art of the Hellenistic period and a testament to the sophisticated knowledge and originality that informed the reception of Greek myth in Etruria. It was found in 1869 in a small chamber tomb in the Monterozzi necropolis at Tarquinia, where it was used for the burial of an Etruscan woman, Ramtha Huzcnai, in the latter half of the 4th century B.C. The sarcophagus is made of limestone alabaster and is decorated with tempera paintings and reliefs of mythological subject: an Amazonomachy on the chest and the death of Acteon on the lid. The Amazonomachy myth, with its pan-Hellenic character and polysemic narrative, is attested in Etruscan art since the Archaic period and gains increasing popularity in the 4th century B.C. The Amazon Sarcophagus represents one of the most mature expressions of the reception of this myth in Etruria. Its paintings are articulated in four separate scenes and comprise 25 figures, 12 Greeks fighting 13 Amazons. Victories and defeats appear to balance each other, with an equal number of fallen figures on either side. When approached as a single Amazonomachy, the paintings seem to commemorate order and harmony, while reminding the viewer of the uncertainty of fate. This reading tells us one story, but there may be others. By examining the paintings individually, then identifying iconographic links across different scenes and exploring the place of the sarcophagus within the artistic, social and cultural context in which it was created and used, this paper will discuss how the pictorial narrative is ethically charged and carefully structured according to rhetorical principles that contribute to expanding and transforming the original meaning of the Amazonomachy myth.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.