Dallas Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin, Spring 1983 Page: 2
[32] p. ill. ; 26 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
An Archaic Etruscan Head of Terra Cotta
Our knowledge of the ancient Etruscans is characterized
by images of a pleasure-loving people whose spontaneous
gaiety is witnessed time and again through their art. The
Etruscans occupied central Italy, primarily between the Po
and Tiber rivers, for several centuries during the first
millennium B.C. Their often colorful contributions to ancient
art include a particular disposition for life size terra cotta
sculpture. One especially sensitive example is the female
head featured on the cover of this issue and recently
presented to the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts for all to enjoy.
The head is mold made, nearly nine inches tall in its
present condition, and exemplifies the beauty of female
youth. The head was the primary element of an architectural
antefix designed to cover one of the end-tiles along the
eaves of a roof. Originally the head was crowned with a
stephane or diadem, now lost, and large Etruscan
disk-shaped earrings were once attached to the ears. The
hair over the brow and flanking the face has been modeled
in a rippling pattern enhanced by undulating lines of black
paint to create a wavy effect. Large staring eyes, accented
by raised eyebrows and enhanced with blue paint (now a
dull lavender), contribute significantly to the motionless
frontality of the head. The double iris for each eye testifies
to the artist's preoccupation with decoration over total
naturalism. The intensity of the powerful gaze is muted by a
subtle smile and a soft modeling of the face with its
delicately rendered nose and fleshy cheeks. An uninhibited
use of bright colors, typical of Etruscan painting, contrasts
with the powdery white face to create a conscious vitality
and an appealing freshness as effective today as it must
have been in antiquity. The high brow which appears to
offset the balance of the face would not have affected it in
this manner when seen at a sharp angle from below the
roof line in its original setting.
Antefixes with female heads were generally arranged
alternately with those having the heads of satyrs, those
promiscuous companions of Dionysus, god of wine, drama,
and ecstasy. The female images would, therefore, represent
maenads who normally cavorted with Dionysus and the
satyrs in classical mythology. The Etruscans, continuously
responsive to Greek artistic influences, would have become
familiar with the cult of Dionysus and the motifs of satyrs
and maenads from the Greek colonies of Campania in
southern Italy and would have considered the row of
maenad and satyr heads as guardians - protective
devices projecting from the roof line to ward off evil from the
confines of the building.
The date of the Dallas antefix can be established in the late
Archaic era, about 500 B.C. on the basis of stylistic
parallels with other Greek and Etruscan sculptures. Greek
artistic influence in Etruria was especially intense during the
late Archaic period, and another stimulus deriving from"9
. ., . .
/
bakCOVER
Etruscan Head from an antefix, c.500B.C.
Painted terra cotta; h. 831/32", W. 55/8", d. 53/16"
DMFA, Foundation for the Arts Collection,
anonymous gift in honor of Melba D. Whatley
1982.93. FA
(Photography by David Wharton)
eastern Greece, from lonia, manifests itself at this time in
sculptural form and painting designs throughout much of
Mediterranean art, as seen for example in the ornately clad
marble korai or maidens dedicated on the Athenian
acropolis. Etruscan parallels in terra cotta for the Dallas
maenad antefix can be found in a number of major
collections in Europe and America. One stylistically close
example with red hair, but with green eyes, is in the British
Museum in London, while another, slightly earlier antefix in
the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, has its stepane
and earrings well preserved. The Dallas head, however,
while lacking its original stephane and earrings, is more
fully developed in its commensurate facial parts. The
bulging, slanting eyes of faces reflecting strong lonian
influence during the the 520s have been mellowed and
adjusted in the Dallas head, providing greater serenity of
expression and naturalism of form.V~
-~ ' ~Fa'5
*P~ ~.~r~ ls~5~
r d ..,
v~
" ~P~k r\,
aP ~
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Periodical.
Dallas Museum of Fine Arts. Dallas Museum of Fine Arts Bulletin, Spring 1983, periodical, Spring 1982; Dallas, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth224890/m1/2/: accessed May 21, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Dallas Museum of Art.