Italian Art History
...point of view of the world around them. The commencement of art began on cave walls which still remain today in Lascaux, France and Altamira, Spain. Eventually the urge to draw and create art evolved from cave walls to paintings on paper and elaborate sculptures of marble. Each period of art shows the development and the growth of artistic styles and techniques and results in the characteristics that make that era recognizable and important. (Rowlands 7)
Before the days of ancient Rome's greatness, and Italy, as it is recognized today, the great European country was home of a nation called Etruria. The Etruscans and there civilization prospered between 950 and 300 BCE. in northwestern Italy, between the Arno River and the Tiber River which runs through Rome. The Etruscans developed wealth and power as a nation and then disappeared leaving hardly any documentation and very little evidence of there existence or there downfall. A major factor in discovering any information about there language and culture has been the inscriptions on their monuments, buildings, vast tombs, and the objects they left behind, notably bronze and terra cotta sculptures and polychrome ceramics. (http://www.mysteriousetruscan.com/art)
Although it has not yet been determined where the Etruscans came from it appears that the bronze sculptures left behind are similar in style to the bronze statues that the Greek are legendary for. Many art historians believe that the similarities in their sculptures and materials prove that Etruscans descended to Italy from Greece. Another form of art from Etruria is seen in the form of clay urns. Cremation and the burial of ashes in clay urns was a common practice before the arrival of the Etruscan era, however the Etruscans had huge ceremonies for the dead and decorated their cinerary urns which was somewhat uncommon before this time period....
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