The beginning, the Etruscans...

I wanted to start at the very beginning, with the Etruscans.  Although wall paintings were supposedly only for the wealthiest of families, well-preserved wall paintings in the large underground tombs at Tarquinia have been discovered.  These wall paintings show the specific themes of the time period in which the Etruscans lived.  The materials used to create these wall paintings were the same popular materials used in later Roman paintings as well, plaster.  Known as fresco painting, paint is applied to wet plaster in sections so that the painting becomes a part of the plaster and therefore the wall.  I’ll post another blog about frescoes next and explain it in some depth.
Example # 1

the Tomb of the Lioness at Tarquinia

At this stage, proportions were not the primary focus of the artwork.  If you look at this first example, it is clear that proportions were not paid close attention to.  The very thin waist and extremely thick legs of the two characters illustrate this point.  Not much attention is paid to the dimensionality of objects either with no variation of value, though the concept probably was not yet understood. You can also see that there is more attention paid to the detail in the landscape than to the figures, which is true of mostly all Etruscan paintings.  

Example #2

Tomb of the Bulls at Tarquinia. This is from 540 BCE illustrating Achilles ambushing a Trojan prince. 

See how this painting shows the moment just before the attack to convey a feeling of suspense.  Also in this painting, the attention is mostly paid to the landscape elements. 

Example # 3, 4

 Looking at these two paintings, part of the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing in Tarquinia, the concern of the Etruscans with rendering nature and activities performed in nature is clear.  Proportion and scale are not of importance as you can see by comparing the sizes of the figures to the sizes of the birds.  But you do get a view into what the Etruscans enjoyed doing throughout the day as you can see especially by example #3, the figure is jumping from a cliff into the water, possibly for a swim.  The color is still pretty flat, no real dimensionality or shadows to speak of.