Christiansen Jette, Winter Nancy A. Etruria I: Architectural Terracottas and Painted Wall Plaques, Pinakes: c. 625-200 BC

NY Carlsberg Glyptotek, 2010. — 198 p.The Etruscans are known particularly from their tombs, which were cut into the rock or constructed of large blocks of stone. Their houses are less visible when one is travelling today through Tuscany, the land of the Etruscans. Their early buildings were made of wood, mud and straw, but from around 650 BC onwards larger houses were erected on foun dations of stone blocks. Parts of the roof construction were ornamented with colourful elements of terracotta. Friezes of horsemen, warriors and banquets or ornamental tiles with the masks of gods or monsters were placed in the pediments and along the sides. On the corners and ridge of the roof were sculptures. Painted plaques formed continuous friezes on the walls of colonnades and interiors of buildings. Architectural components of terracotta are easily broken, but fragments survive and can be seen in the Glyptotek’s collection.