Etruscan Funerary Art

Etruscan is a term given to a culture that lived in central Italy (near what is now Tuscany) beginning in a bout 750 BC. Though they had the same access to marble and stone as Rome would have, even if it was imported, they seemed to prefer using Terracotta for their sculptures. Terra means earth or clay (as in terrain) and Cotta comes from the Latin cocta, which is where we got the word cook. So Terracotta is a ceramic made of baked clay. One reason for this preference may have been the tradition of erecting buildings made of wood, which would not have supported stone on the pediments.

Because of the familiarity of Terracotta in temples and in the image of goddesses, it also seemed to be the preferred technique for building Sarcophagi. Sarco/phagus means flesh (like Sarcoma) and to eat (like esophagus). This, because traditional sarcophagi were made of limestone and the pH of the stone seemed to act as a catalyst for decomposition hence, "flesh eaters".

In the image below a couple can be seen together having a party so-to-speak. The man once held a goblet and the couple looks very much alive. They have fleshy cheeks, large eyes, and archaic smiles. This represents what they are doing currently in the after-life, not necessarily how they lived in mortality. If you view the lower half, you would assume they were laying supine like in the Egyptian coffins. The two views shared with the lower and upper halves are a reminder that although they are dead and at rest, they are also very much alive as an enduring couple.

Sarcophagus of the Spouses in the Nat'l Museum of Rome

Closer detail of facial expression

Married Couple from Cerveteri in the Louvre

Later Hellinistic examples.