ETRUSCA TOSCANA The Reception of Etruscan Civilisation in the Italian Renaissance

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ETRUSCA TOSCANA
The Reception of Etruscan Civilisation in
the Italian Renaissance
Fig. 1 Orcus mouth in Gardens of Bomarzo
Joel Holmstrom
Australian National University

1
Introduction
The Reception of Etruscan Civilisation in the Italian Renaissance
The Etruscan civilisation thrived in Italy prior to the Romans, in the first-half of the
first millennium BC, reaching its cultural peak in the sixth century
1
. An advanced and
imposing civilisation centred in ancient Etruria (approximately modern-day
Tuscany), in addition to culturally dominating the Italian peninsula up until the fifth
century BC, the Etruscans greatly influenced the Romans themselves. Though
contemporary with the ancient Greeks of Classical Athens, about whom we have a
wealth of knowledge, our understanding of Etruscan culture is gleaned mostly from
the writings of Greek and Roman authors. Additionally, the Etruscans’ material
remains, which although incredibly revealing, are vastly inferior in quantity
compared with that of their better-known cultural relatives. Roman civilisation drew
upon the Etruscans for the foundation of much of their civilisation and according to
traditional history, Rome was ruled over by a series of Etruscan kings for a long
while, kings that established the city and indeed the civilisation in its infancy. The
Romans owe as much to the Etruscans as they do to the Greeks, looking to them as
their mentors ‘in fields as diverse as hydraulic engineering, religion and law’
2
and
owing to them such seemingly ‘Roman’ ideas as togas, gladiatorial games, and
realistic portraiture. It is also through the Etruscans that the Romans received an
alphabet and numbering system
3
. Indeed, although Rome ultimately came to
dominate the Etruscans, even after they had surrendered to Rome’s military power,
1
N.T. de Grummond, in F. Buranelli, The Etruscans: Legacy of a Lost Civilisation, trans. N.T. de
Grummond, (Memphis, 1992), p. 26.
2
F. Buranelli, The Etruscans: Legacy of a Lost Civilisation, trans. N.T. de Grummond, (Memphis,
1992), p. 11.
3
N.T. de Grummomd, in F. Buranelli, The Etruscans: Legacy of a Lost Civilisation, trans. N.T. de
Grummond, (Memphis, 1992), p. 29.

2
the Etruscan ‘cultural supremacy remained unchallenged’
4
. Etruscan culture held a
firm grip on Roman civilisation and even if Rome sought to wholly remove it, she
was powerless to do so. Clearly acknowledging the influence and scope of Etruscan
power, the renowned Roman historian Livy commented that, ‘so great was the might
of Etruria that it filled with the fame of its name not only the land but also the sea,
throughout the whole length of Italy from the alps to the straits of Sicily’
5
, or more
directly proclaimed by Cato – ‘almost all of Italy was once under Etruscan control’
6
.
Visibly, the Etruscans left a hugely significant legacy in early Italian history, and
elsewhere in the history of Italy they are recalled as the original Italians and duly
celebrated. In more recent times artists such as Alberto Giacometti (Swiss-Italian),
Marino Marini and Amedeo Modigliani have looked to the Etruscans for inspiration
in their works
7
. In the century before these famed artists, the Italian unification
movement (Risorgimento) fuelled an intense surge of interest in early Italy and
particularly the Etruscans, who were seen as forbears of the modern patriots
8
. Late in
the eighteenth century, Etruscology had been firmly established in the Western
world, but from this point took on a new life. According to one scholar, at this time
the study of the Etruscans ‘transmogrified into Etruscomania; a widespread and often
mad fascination, both popular and academic, with all things Etruscan’, and this
would continue in the following centuries
9
. Earlier in the same century as
Etruscomania, the Etruscan Academy was formed in Cortona, dedicated to the
4
F. Buranelli, The Etruscans: Legacy of a Lost Civilisation, trans. N.T. de Grummond, (Memphis,
1992), p. 11.
5
Etruscan Italy: Etruscan Influences on the Civilisations of Italy from Antiquity to the Modern Era, J.F.
Hall (ed.), (Utah, 1996), p. 3.
6
N.T. de Grummond, in F. Buranelli, The Etruscans: Legacy of a Lost Civilisation, trans. N.T. de
Grummond, (Memphis, 1992), p. 26.
7
M. Grant, The Etruscans (London, 1980), p. 61.
8
N. Spivey and S. Stoddart, Etruscan Italy (London, 1990), p. 14.
9
D.J. Hamblin, The Etruscans (USA, 1975), p. 131.

3
further study of the Etruscan people and ‘their archaeological legacy’. The head of
this academy was called lucumo from the Etruscan title lauchume, meaning chief or
king
10
. In the century before, the Tuscan nobleman Grand Duke Cosimo II de’ Medici
‘commissioned a study of Etruria’ to be conducted
11
, clearly demonstrating that
Etruscan-interest had permeated the Italian aristocracy by that stage. As can be seen,
the study of and interest in the Etruscan civilisation grew exponentially in the
immediate aftermath of the Renaissance; at first in Italy and then throughout the
Western world.
It would accordingly make perfect sense therefore, if during the great renewal of
Classical culture from the late fourteenth to the sixteenth century in Italy, the
Etruscans had featured prominently in that restoration. This would surely be
compounded by the fact that the seed that blossomed into the Renaissance sprung
first in Florence, at the very heart of what was ancient Etruria. Florence and Tuscany
then remained at the heart of the Renaissance movement, producing arguably the
most gifted and renowned students of the Classical traditions across the spectrum of
professions. Significantly, the ancient Etruscans were as well highly accomplished in
many of the areas that garnered appreciation in Renaissance times. Indeed, N.T. de
Grummond argues that the achievements of the Etruscans ‘ranked with and set the
stage for the incredible flowering of the human spirit during the Roman Empire, in
the mediaeval Rome of the Popes and in the Italian Renaissance’
12
. Despite this, study
of the Renaissance is rather exclusively focused principally on the rebirth of Roman
and Greek culture, and how the Renaissance men of that day celebrated and
10
D.J. Hamblin, The Etruscans, p. 38.
11
D.J. Hamblin, The Etruscans, p. 37.
12
N.T. de Grummond, in F. Buranelli, The Etruscans: Legacy of a Lost Civilisation, trans. N.T. de
Grummond, (Memphis, 1992), p. 23.

4
amalgamated those two worlds, and were indeed inspired to produce incredible
works and spout ingenious ideas in the same tradition.
The Etruscans and their reception do not harvest much attention at all in standard
Renaissance studies, and it is possible that this is simply because in Renaissance Italy,
the Etruscans were likewise mostly ignored. The question is then, why would this
cornerstone of Western civilisation, with a people and culture ‘as sophisticated as
Greece and Rome’
13
, be totally ignored by the passionate Classicists of Renaissance
Italy? The aforementioned supposed hindrance perhaps lies in what happened before
the great rebirth, in the intervening years; the Medieval period between the fall of
Rome and the Renaissance. The apparent answer can readily be found: in these
intermediate years knowledge of the Etruscans seems to have disappeared into less
than obscurity; unlike the Romans and Greeks, ‘no one saw reason to preserve
Etruscan texts’, Etruscan religion was ignored and ‘for all practical purposes, the
Etruscan language was dead’
14
. Indeed, D.J. Hamblin puts it perfunctorily - ‘when
Rome fell the very memory of the Etruscan presence fell with it’
15
. If the preceding
millennium had indeed fostered total ignorance of the Etruscans, can it be true that
they really were largely forgotten or considered of little importance in the ultimate
age of Classical revitalisation? This investigation will explore this question and
thoroughly examine the nature and degrees of reception of Etruscan culture in
Renaissance Italy. In doing so, it will be argued that on the contrary, the Etruscans
were readily and exhaustively studied and appreciated during the Italian
Renaissance, influencing the movement’s many facets and its leading exponents. It
13
C. Riva, The Urbanisation of Etruria; Funerary Practices and Social Change, 700-600 BC (Cambridge,
2010), p. 2.
14
N.T. de Grummond, in F. Buranelli, The Etruscans: Legacy of a Lost Civilisation, trans. N.T. de
Grummond, (Memphis, 1992), p. 23.
15
D.J. Hamblin, The Etruscans (USA, 1975), p. 36.

5
will further be argued that an Etruscan spirit was sustained in Tuscany through the
Middle Ages, came to the fore in the Renaissance, and is even present in today’s Italy.
As a consequence, it is hoped that this endeavour may remedy in some small way the
‘academic neglect of (Etruscan) civilisation’
16
.
The investigation will be broken down into three chapters that will attempt to cover
as much of the topic as possible. The first chapter will delve into Renaissance writings
and literature in search of the Etruscans, the second will review Renaissance artworks
in the hope that true Etruscan inspiration may be found amongst them, and the third
will cover other aspects of Renaissance expression, such as architecture and Italian
Renaissance society. Questions that these chapters will attempt to at least partially
answer include: How comparable was interest in the Etruscan civilisation to that of
interest in the Roman and Greek worlds in Renaissance Italy? What aspects of
Etruscan civilisation were appreciated most by Renaissance umanisti? Did
Renaissance men from Tuscany feel a particular affinity with the Etruscans? And if
so, did it inspire them in their chosen endeavours? Did those in Renaissance times
have a better understanding of the Etruscans than we do today?
The first chapter will reveal and discuss the appearance of and references to the
Etruscans in Renaissance literature. Whatever written history and literature the
Etruscans themselves may have produced seems to have been wholly lost since
antiquity, and as such cannot be analysed for influence upon Renaissance writings.
Rather, this chapter will examine the words written by the likes of Giorgio Vasari,
Leonardo Bruni, Lorenzo Ghiberti and Flavio Biondo, in an effort to uncover their
individual level of interest in Etruscan civilisation and indeed whether the works of
these Renaissance scholars reveal a new appreciation for the Etruscans in their time.
16
N. Spivey and S. Stoddart, Etruscan Italy (London, 1990), p. 13.

6
The works of the notorious scholar Annio da Viterbo (Giovanni Nanni) will also be
delved into, investigating his intense interest for all things Etruscan; an interest that
compelled him to forge several historical works.
The second chapter will investigate the degree of Etruscan influence in the sculpture
and painting of Renaissance Italy. Etruscan artwork, though borrowing much from
the Greeks, is also known for being highly distinctive and the product of a unique
culture. It must have resonated with some inside the ambitious and sensational world
of Renaissance art. In addition, Etruscan works have historically been considered of
the highest quality - ‘from Etruria proper came wonderful examples of the
monumental arts of painting, sculpture and architecture’
17
. This was no doubt
evident in Renaissance times. This chapter will investigate Renaissance artworks and
artists, looking for singularly-influenced pieces as well as a broader thematic
connection between Etruscan styles and certain Renaissance artworks. The ideas of
some such as nineteenth century English art critic John Ruskin, who believed certain
works by many major Renaissance artists were ‘absolutely pure Etruscan’
18
, are
critical to this chapter’s analysis. The mere possibility that these often-derided views
had a kernel of truth to them is tantalising. The works of the Renaissance genius
Leonardo da Vinci will also be investigated for their purported Etruscan inspiration.
The final chapter will account for any interest in or connection to Etruscan culture
that is revealed in other forms of Renaissance expression, such as architecture and
indeed in the very Italian society/culture that was nurtured in the Italian peninsula
(particularly Tuscany) at the time. The Etruscan ideas about family, religion and their
17
N.T. de Grummomd, in F. Buranelli, The Etruscans: Legacy of a Lost Civilisation, trans. N.T. de
Grummond, (Memphis, 1992), p. 27.
18
S. Bule, ‘Etruscan Echoes in Italian Renaissance Art’, in Etruscan Italy: Etruscan Influences on the
Civilisations of Italy from Antiquity to the Modern Era, J.F. Hall (ed.), (Utah, 1996), p. 308.

7
apparent love of life is (without wanting to cater to stereotypes) somewhat reflected
in the modern-day Italian culture that ultimately first ‘appeared’ in Renaissance
times. Etruscan architecture, again drawn heavily from Greek notions, also had a very
distinctive character that seems at least partially linked to their purportedly intense
religiosity, but more importantly is hugely evident in the classic Italianate
architecture developed by the Renaissance maestros. This chapter will take a closer
look at how the essence of Etruscan culture was prolonged long after their civilisation
was consumed by the Romans, in Italian life, particularly that form manifested in
Tuscany.
This investigation will consider firstly evidence for the direct reception of Etruscan
civilisation in Renaissance Italy, meaning direct and knowledgeable references to the
Etruscans in the products of Renaissance men. To a lesser degree, it will consider the
indirect reception of Etruscan civilisation in Renaissance Italy, including that
received through the Romans that actually had its origin in Etruria and other traits
unwittingly derived from the Etruscans. For obvious reasons, it is to some extent
important to this investigation that those of the Renaissance who seem to have been
inspired by the Etruscans in any way were aware of this connection, but it is not a
necessity, and this investigation will seek to uncover that which was received both
knowingly and unknowingly. This project will be dealing specifically with the Italian
Renaissance, as opposed to the broader Renaissance that occurred throughout
Europe, and the reasons for this relate to Italy’s relevance as not only the originator
and focal point of the Renaissance but for its privileged position as the home region
of the Etruscans, as well as the Romans; a position that meant knowledge of the
Etruscans and indeed the continuing of Etruscan traditions, at whatever level, would
assuredly have only there been sustained.

8
Ultimately, the intended outcome of this investigation is to shed light on the role
played by the Etruscan civilisation in the age of Classical rebirth, often overlooked
academically; it is important that this culture and civilisation is investigated and
reviewed to the greatest extent, for in many respects, if much of modern-day Western
civilisation is attributed to the Romans, then it is also attributed to the Etruscans, who
were the Romans’ precursors and instructors in many areas. To that end, it is also
important to explore what level of recognition these forerunners received when the
wonders of the ancient world were definitively revived, when appreciation for the
achievements of Greece and Rome perhaps reached its greatest height and meant that
the foundations for those civilisations were re-laid in Europe. This investigation will
seek to draw the focus atypically upon the Etruscans and discover what impact their
unique civilisation had upon the brilliant minds and nourishing culture of
Renaissance Italy. Many of those brilliant minds were scholars, writers, poets and
authors of various works; works that will be placed under the microscope for the first
chapter’s analysis.

9
Chapter One
The Etruscans in Renaissance Writings and Literature
This chapter will explore the written works from Renaissance Italy in the hope of
finding the Etruscans; any and all references to the Etruscans will be sought and taken
into account as part of this investigation. This will include the writings of renowned
Renaissance-era scrittori such as Giorgio Vasari, Leonardo Bruni and Flavio Biondo
but also writers of much lesser acclaim. Vasari displays a deep reverence for Etruscan
art and the famed Renaissance artist Lorenzo Ghiberti makes the audacious claim
that Etruscan art trumps the Greek alternative in importance. It is comments such as
these that strongly suggest that the Etruscans were well and truly appreciated in
Renaissance Italy, and possibly held in higher regard than the Greeks in some cases.
Many other authors make reference to the Etruscans in some way or another (a
favourite topic being Etruscan tombs), and these instances will be discussed for how
they reflect an impassioned curiosity for the legacy of Etruria in Renaissance Italy. It
is the Dominican friar and pseudo-historian Annio da Viterbo (Giovanni Nanni) who
likely represents the most extreme case of Etruscophilia amongst Renaissance-era
writers. Seemingly obsessed by the Etruscans, he wrote several fictitious histories of
early Italy featuring the ancient inhabitants of his land and claimed he could read the
Etruscan language. Believing the Etruscans to be his ancestors, da Viterbo also
participated in the archaeological excavation of Etruscan tombs. Though indeed an
extreme example, the passion da Viterbo clearly had for the Etruscans may be
reflective of a larger Etruscan-appetite amongst scholars within Renaissance Italy and
certainly seems to indicate that learned Italians of his era, many coming from towns
with Etruscan origins, felt some sort of intrinsic connection with their perceived
ancestors.

10
Annio da Viterbo (real name Giovanni Nanni) was a friar of the Dominican order, a
scholar and a historian in fifteenth century Italy; he hailed from Viterbo, in what is
today northern Latium, a city with deep Etruscan roots. Seemingly inspired by the
antique history of his town and its people, da Viterbo developed an intense interest
in the Etruscans and may well have been ‘among the first to set about reviving the
memory and burnishing the reputation’
19
of these ancient predecessors to Rome. Da
Viterbo first published his history of early Italy in 1489, a history that put the
Etruscans front and centre, and contained many fantastical tales including ‘evidence’
that civilisation (in the form of the Etruscans) was brought to the heart of Italy by
Egyptian gods
20
and that the Etruscan language was directly related to Hebrew
21
. Da
Viterbo was eventually outed, as far as his histories were concerned at least, as a hack,
but not before his unbridled enthusiasm for the Etruscans had definitively resonated
with the rest of Italy. Indeed, his forged histories did not detract from the fact that he
participated in the excavation of Etruscan tombs, clearly had some depth of
knowledge concerning the Etruscans, and may even have been capable of reading the
Etruscan language; something scholars still struggle mightily with today. If nothing
else, Annio da Viterbo’s one-eyed adoration of the Etruscans and his considerable
output of ‘intensely patriotic and pro-Etruscan’ writings and lectures
22
meant that a
precedence for further research into the role of the Etruscans in the Italian psyche had
been set, a stone overturned. Interest in the Etruscans was to skyrocket thanks to him.
Early in the following century, a discovery was made that poured further fuel on the
smouldering fire of Etruscan-interest in Italy; three impeccably crafted statues were
19
D.J. Hamblin, The Etruscans (USA, 1975), p. 36.
20
N. Spivey and S. Stoddart, Etruscan Italy (London, 1990), p. 80.
21
D.J. Hamblin, The Etruscans (USA, 1975), p. 36.
22
N.T. de Grummond, ‘Rediscovery’, in Etruscan Life and Afterlife: A Handbook of Etruscan Studies, L.
Bonfante (ed.), (Detroit, 1986), p. 28.

11
unearthed in Tuscany, believed to be of Etruscan origin (one is now considered to be
Greek)
23
and one of these received special mention from Giorgio Vasari. Vasari, born
in Arezzo (Etruscan Aritim) south of Florence, proved to be one of the many marvels
of the Renaissance; he dedicated many years to the appraisal of his era’s greatest
artists in the form of his Lives. Working through the sixteenth century, Vasari was
also a competent painter and architect in his own right, and in such capacity, was a
close acquaintance of both Michelangelo and Titian. Vasari’s contribution to our
understanding of his own era is such that his works are ‘considered the fundamental
source for our knowledge of the origins, growth, and flowering of the Italian
Renaissance’
24
. Furthermore, as one expert describes him, ‘Giorgio Vasari epitomised
what we now refer to figuratively as a Renaissance Man’
25
. Bearing in mind then that
Vasari was one of the preeminent figures of the ever-aspiring Italian Renaissance, it
is significant that he seemingly took a keen interest in the Etruscans. Apparently a
witness to the unearthing of a bronze sculpture of a Chimaera (Fig. 2) in his
hometown in 1554, Vasari observed: ‘In this sculpture, one can recognise the
perfecting of that art which took place in antiquity among the Etruscans’
26
. It was
indeed a work of Etruscan origin and Vasari’s incredibly high praise surely speaks
volumes as to the level of respect and admiration that was held for Etruscan artworks
in Renaissance Italy; epitomised in Vasari’s audacious decree ‘the perfecting of art’.
23
D.J. Hamblin, The Etruscans (USA, 1975), p. 36.
24
M. Sonino, in G. Vasari, The Great Masters, trans. G. De Vere (London, 1986), p. 7.
25
M. Sonino, in G. Vasari, The Great Masters, p. 12.
26
S. Bule, ‘Etruscan Echoes in Italian Renaissance Art’, in Etruscan Italy: Etruscan Influences on the
Civilisations of Italy from Antiquity to the Modern Era, J.F. Hall (ed.), (Utah, 1996), p. 310.

12
Fig. 2 Etruscan Bronze Chimaera of Arezzo
This tendency to hold Etruscan works in greater esteem than their Roman and even
Greek counterparts, was apparently not advocated by Vasari alone and indeed, this
perhaps indicates that an appreciation of Etruscan artworks at least, was not only
widespread in Renaissance Italy but was somehow cultivated even more so than an
appreciation for Greek and Roman artworks. Contributing factors to this idolisation
of Etruscan art may have included a common bias amongst Tuscan humanists who
wished to glorify their very own ancient past, the rarity of Etruscan finds and relative
mystery surrounding their culture, but also that Etruscan works do seem to have been
of very fine craftsmanship. In the previous century, the renowned sculptor Lorenzo
Ghiberti, another towering Renaissance figure who produced the bronze doors of the
Florence Baptistry, observed when speaking of Etruscan times: ‘I believe that, in that
time more than any other, the art of painting flourished in Etruria – and even more
importantly than it ever did in Greece’
27
. For modern-day readers, aware of the
unequalled legacy left by ancient Greek arts, this is a somewhat stupendous claim;
but as Ghiberti declared, it is what he believed, and he was wholly willing to lavish
27
S. Bule, ‘Etruscan Echoes in Italian Renaissance Art’, p. 310.

13
the highest of praise upon Etruscan painters, himself being fully aware of that
Hellenic legacy. Like Vasari, Ghiberti perceived something truly exceptional in the
crafts of ancient Etruria.
Does this then reveal a strong Tuscan and Italian bias in the outlook of the
Renaissance’s greatest minds or were Vasari and Ghiberti well within their rights to
view Etruscan art as the pinnacle? It is perhaps impossible to give a definitive answer
to this; the judgment of the likes of Vasari and Ghiberti was quite possibly clouded
somewhat by a belief in the inherent superiority of their own heritage, but by the
same token it cannot be suggested that a devaluation of the worth and contribution
of the ancient Greeks to the various fields was a characteristic of the Renaissance.
Indeed, the opposite was the rule. This belief that the Etruscans were able to produce
‘perfect’ works of painting and sculpture should not be written off as inauthentic;
Renaissance scholars could indeed draw upon a great wealth of Roman and Greek
artefacts for consideration, and it was during the Renaissance years that the first
Etruscan troves were encountered. In the fifteenth century, ‘Tarquinia and Volterra
were the sites of vast Etruscan finds’, and over the course of the next century, ‘a great
amount of Etruscan art was recognised, collected and studied’
28
. Clearly then, the
great scholar Vasari and the maestro scultore Ghiberti were fully able to analyse the
respective quality of work from the three civilisations. On top of this, it can be
appreciated not only that Vasari’s ‘powers of observation were acute’
29
but also that
Etruscan achievements in painting were indeed manifold and their sculptural
prowess enabled them to produces figures of ‘almost photographic realism’
30
. The
assessments of the likes of Vasari and Ghiberti are therefore not without foundation,
28
S. Bule, ‘Etruscan Echoes in Italian Renaissance Art’, p. 313.
29
M. Sonino, in G. Vasari, The Great Masters, trans. G. De Vere (London, 1986), p. 12.
30
D.J. Hamblin, The Etruscans (USA, 1975), p. 12.

14
and quite possibly represented the common opinion in Renaissance Italy. To what
degree their assessment should be viewed as valid is beside the point, as it more
importantly represented the extraordinarily high standing of Etruscan artefacts in
Renaissance Italy.
The Etruscans were a hot topic for discussion within many Renaissance humanist
circles; the unearthing and discovery of Etruscan tombs was apparently the point
around which much Etruscan-fascination revolved. Such discoveries warranted a
mention in the writings of various scholars, poets and other uomi di letteri. A letter
from the humanist Lorenzo Vitelli to Francesco Filelfo describes an Etruscan tomb
31
,
and descriptions and/or discussions of Etruscan tombs are included in the writings
of the astrologist and abbot Sante Marmocchini, as well as the writers Pierfrancesco
Giambullari
32
, Rinaldo Baldelli, Tommaso Braccioli
33
, the humanist Antonio Ivano
34
and Giorgio Vasari, among others. A poem by humanist and Latin-language poet
Ugolino Verino waxes lyrical about Etruscan urns discovered in a tomb
35
and Leone
Battista Alberti, a polymath almost on par with da Vinci, wrote about the Etruscan
architectural style in his Ten Books on Architecture
36
. The fascinatingly unique Etruscan
tombs added to the air of intrigue that surrounded the Etruscans and many authors
were clearly eager to consider and interpret what was discovered. Vasari himself
31
G. Bartoloni and P. Bocci Pacini, ‘The Importance of Etruscan Antiquity in the Tuscan Renaissance’,
in The Rediscovery of Antiquity: The Role of the Artist, J. Fejfer, T. Fischer-Hansen and A. Rathje
(eds.), (Copenhagen, 2003), p. 451.
32
G. Bartoloni and P. Bocci Pacini, ‘The Importance of Etruscan Antiquity in the Tuscan Renaissance’,
p. 456.
33
G. Bartoloni and P. Bocci Pacini, ‘The Importance of Etruscan Antiquity in the Tuscan Renaissance’,
p. 458.
34
N.T. de Grummond, ‘Rediscovery’, in Etruscan Life and Afterlife: A Handbook of Etruscan Studies, L.
Bonfante (ed.), (Detroit, 1986), p. 25.
35
G. Bartoloni and P. Bocci Pacini, ‘The Importance of Etruscan Antiquity in the Tuscan Renaissance’,
in The Rediscovery of Antiquity: The Role of the Artist, J. Fejfer, T. Fischer-Hansen and A. Rathje
(eds.), (Copenhagen, 2003), p. 461.
36
N.T. de Grummond, ‘Rediscovery’, in Etruscan Life and Afterlife: A Handbook of Etruscan Studies, L.
Bonfante (ed.), (Detroit, 1986), p. 26.

15
attempted to interpret an Etruscan word inscribed on the leg of ‘his’ bronze
Chimaera, believing that it indicated who the creator might be
37
.
Fig. 3 Inside an Etruscan Tomb
Another who stands alongside Vasari as a great scholar in Renaissance times is the
historian and statesman Leonardo Bruni, who in 1416 published his History of the
Florentine People. This extensive work ‘went into some detail to establish the city’s
Etruscan roots’
38
and continues the trend amongst the Tuscans of Renaissance Italy,
who went to great pains to demonstrate that their hometowns were Etruscan in
origin, thereby confirming their own ancient lineage. Bruni himself, like Vasari, was
originally from Arezzo, but lived in Florence and was in close association with the
ruling Medici. His ‘extended coverage of the ancient Etruscans’
39
in his History
seemingly earned Bruni a particular reputation; in 1418 he was asked by
37
G. Bartoloni and P. Bocci Pacini, ‘The Importance of Etruscan Antiquity in the Tuscan Renaissance’,
in The Rediscovery of Antiquity: The Role of the Artist, J. Fejfer, T. Fischer-Hansen and A. Rathje
(eds.), (Copenhagen, 2003), p. 469.
38
S. Bule, ‘Etruscan Echoes in Italian Renaissance Art’, in Etruscan Italy: Etruscan Influences on the
Civilisations of Italy from Antiquity to the Modern Era, J.F. Hall (ed.), (Utah, 1996), p. 313.
39
G. Ianziti, Writing History in Renaissance Italy: Leonardo Bruni and the Uses of the Past (USA,
2012), p. 106.

16
Gianfrancesco Gonzaga to clarify the origins of his own city of Mantua. Dutifully,
Bruni ‘showed that Mantua’s foundation too could be traced back to the Etruscans’.
As another leading historian and indeed, a political animal in Medicean Florence, it
is once again highly significant that the Etruscans feature prominently in Bruni’s
writings, and it is also significant that despite the obvious pressures to produce work
favourable to his powerful patrons, ‘Bruni’s Estrucology boasts a solid grounding in
the key sources’
40
. This not only provides verification as to the meticulous nature of
Renaissance-era scholars but it further confirms the exalted status of the Etruscan
civilisation in Renaissance Italy. Yet another Renaissance-era historian of great
repute, Flavio Biondo, writing in the fifteenth century, makes numerous references
to the Etruscans in his recounting of Roman history and like Vasari and Bruni, is more
than willing to sing their praises, noting at one point: ‘it is clear from Livy’s report
that the Etruscans were a most impressive people’
41
. It is just as clear to us from the
writings of these Renaissance-era scholars that they too considered the Etruscans ‘a
most impressive people’. There can be little doubt that the Etruscans impressed in the
artistic world, and that realm will be entered for the purposes of the second chapter.
40
G. Ianziti, Writing History in Renaissance Italy: Leonardo Bruni and the Uses of the Past, p. 108.
41
F. Biondo, Italy Illuminated, trans. J.A White, (USA, 2005), p. 47.

17
Chapter Two
The Etruscans in Renaissance Art - Painting and Sculpture
This chapter will evaluate the works of art produced in Renaissance Italy, specifically
investigating which works show evidence of direct influence from Etruscan art or are
clearly inspired by Etruscan motifs and ideas. Renaissance art is a broad and multi-
dimensional matter, and many works, whether they be paintings or sculpture, have
come to define that period in many ways. Globally celebrated works such as da
Vinci’s Mona Lisa and many other works by Italian maestros such as Michelangelo
and Raphael seem to exemplify the genius of Renaissance thinking. Can it be true
that, like modern-era greats such as Giacometti and Modigliani, the supreme minds
of the Renaissance looked to the Etruscans for inspiration? We understand that artists
of this era drew upon the sculpture and painted works of ancient Rome and Greece
for their own creations, so it would not seem unusual for them to also reference the
Etruscan styles. Indeed, with the explosion of interest in the Etruscan world that
occurred in the nineteenth century, some art critics were so enamoured that they
declared works by Giotto, Ghiberti, Donatello, Fra Angelico and Botticelli were
‘absolutely pure Etruscan’. The main culprit here was of course the renowned English
art critic John Ruskin, whose claims are now largely disregarded. Though it will be
shown here that perhaps these overly optimistic assertions have some semblance of
reality to them, it is also true that nineteenth century art historians and critics were
overzealous when it came to examining the Etruscan influence on Renaissance art.
Another much-maligned train of thought argues that the Velcha Woman discovered
in an Etruscan tomb was the source for da Vinci’s portrait of Ginevra de’ Benci. Once

18
again, this assertion carries little to no currency today
42
. This chapter will consider
artworks that contain unmistakable traces of Etruscan influence.
The painters and sculptors of Renaissance Italy had every reason to want to copy
Etruscan styles. Not only would they feel they were realising their ancient inheritance
but Etruscan art had a quality and uniqueness all of its own; they did not simply
produce variations of Greek art, nor did they settle for the carbon-copying that
characterised much of Roman art. As M. Grant construes, ‘what the Etruscans did
and thought and made was surprisingly distinctive’
43
. A typical Etruscan fresco
featured a landscape setting with trees, birds and animals
44
; Etruscan artists were
‘close observers of nature’
45
and this allowed them to produce paintings of incredible
beauty, and as mentioned in the previous chapter, they could also ‘sculpt figures of
almost photographic realism’. The Romans were well-aware of the Etruscans’ artistic
ability and this awareness and acknowledgement of Etruscan prowess in Roman
times no doubt influenced the reception of Etruscan art in the Renaissance,
supporting such overtly approving observations as those mentioned in the chapter
above. In the first century AD, the Roman author and natural philosopher Pliny the
Elder said of Etruscan terracotta figures: ‘(they are) remarkable for their modelling
and artistic quality as well as their durability (and are) more deserving of respect than
gold’
46
. It seems that the celebration of Etruscan art during the Renaissance was only
matched by the Romans own high regard for Etruscan craftsmanship and their
supreme artistic-eye. Indeed, the stunning praise meted out by Vasari and Ghiberti
42
S. Bule, ‘Etruscan Echoes in Italian Renaissance Art’, in Etruscan Italy: Etruscan Influences on the
Civilisations of Italy from Antiquity to the Modern Era, J.F. Hall (ed.), (Utah, 1996), p. 308.
43
M. Grant, The Etruscans (London, 1980), p. 1.
44
N.T. de Grummond, in F. Buranelli, The Etruscans: Legacy of a Lost Civilisation, trans. N.T. de
Grummond, (Memphis, 1992), p. 27.
45
D.J. Hamblin, The Etruscans (USA, 1975), p. 104.
46
D.J. Hamblin, The Etruscans, p. 101.

19
seems to directly echo the appreciation for Etruscan artistic skill that Romans such as
Pliny exhibited. How could the artists of Renaissance Italy ignore this phenomenon
in the scholarly world? They could not ignore it, and with great Etruscan finds being
made in their own day, Etruscan art being unearthed and made available for glorious
reappraisal, the artists of the Italian Renaissance were provided with ample stimulus
to rediscover and reemploy the storied traditions of Etruscan artistic practice. Indeed,
alongside the masterfully crafted bronze Chimaera, other Etruscan finds throughout
the sixteenth century reaffirmed for the peoples of Italy the unmatched ability of
Etruscan craftsmen; these other discoveries of impeccable workmanship included a
large bronze Minerva also found in Arezzo (Fig. 4), and a bronze Orator discovered
at Sanguineta
47
.
Fig. 4 Etruscan Bronze Minerva of Arezzo
47
N.T. de Grummond, ‘Rediscovery’, in Etruscan Life and Afterlife: A Handbook of Etruscan Studies, L.
Bonfante (ed.), (Detroit, 1986), p. 30.

20
As early as 1260, in the late Middle Ages, artworks in Italy can be seen to contain
Etruscan influence and in the case of sculptor Nicola Pisano’s relief Annunciation in
the Pisa Baptistry (Fig. 5), his references to Etruscan artistic motifs are patently clear.
In the words of S. Bule, the ‘tendencies in the drapery type and folds, the hairstyle,
and the spirit of quiet and calm recall any number of Etruscan terracotta sarcophagi
and smaller urns with figures of reclining women’
48
.
Fig. 5 Annunciation by Nicola Pisano
A little later than this Arnolfo di Cambio imitated Etruscan styles in his Madonna and
Child sculpture in Orvieto’s San Domenico church
49
. If Etruscan art was already being
imitated in the late Middle Ages, it set an early precedence in Italian art to be followed
during the Renaissance, and it is surely safe to say that it undoubtedly was. Indeed,
in a time traditionally regarded as the emergence of the Renaissance, the Sienese
painter Ambrogio Lorenzetti completed his Maestà (1335), featuring a figure of Eve
48
S. Bule, ‘Etruscan Echoes in Italian Renaissance Art’, in Etruscan Italy: Etruscan Influences on the
Civilisations of Italy from Antiquity to the Modern Era, J.F. Hall (ed.), (Utah, 1996), p. 318.
49
N.T. de Grummond, ‘Rediscovery’, in Etruscan Life and Afterlife: A Handbook of Etruscan Studies, L.
Bonfante (ed.), (Detroit, 1986), p. 24.

21
that is ‘seemingly dependent on an Etruscan prototype’
50
. Thirty years prior to this,
Giotto’s frescoes in Padua’s Arena Chapel seem to indicate that he had ‘seen Etruscan
tomb painting’; the similarities are notable
51
. Moving into the heart of Renaissance art
we find further examples that clearly demonstrate the influence of Etruscan styles;
Michelangelo, among the most famous and talented of Renaissance men, recalled
Etruscan funerary figures in his representations of Night, Day, Dawn and Dusk in the
Florentine New Sacristy
52
. This bodes well for further exploration of Etruscan
inspiration; one of the most preeminent figures in Renaissance sculpting and painting
drew upon Etruscan art for his own work, almost certainly indicating that this tactic
was used frequently and unabashedly throughout Renaissance Italy. Indeed,
Michelangelo was seemingly inspired by the Etruscans for more than one work, and
perhaps in a much more meaningful way than we can guess. In his much-acclaimed
masterpiece depicting Biblical figures and stories on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
in Rome, the ‘Etruscan reclined figure motif’ features prominently. The reclined Noah
is one example, and even the legendary figure of Adam seems to echo a reclined
banqueter in a fresco from the Etruscan Tomb of the Lionesses
53
.
Clearly then, the use of Etruscan artistic ideas and forms was not at all foreign to
artists of the Italian Renaissance and did in fact serve as a central inspiration for many
prominent painters and sculptors. As if those examples discussed above were not
evidence enough of the influence of the Etruscans in Renaissance art, it seems highly
probable that several more iconic works including Michelangelo’s Pietà (Fig. 6), as
50
S. Bule, ‘Etruscan Echoes in Italian Renaissance Art’, in Etruscan Italy: Etruscan Influences on the
Civilisations of Italy from Antiquity to the Modern Era, J.F. Hall (ed.), (Utah, 1996), p. 318.
51
N.T. de Grummond, ‘Rediscovery’, in Etruscan Life and Afterlife: A Handbook of Etruscan Studies, L.
Bonfante (ed.), (Detroit, 1986), p. 21.
52
S. Bule, ‘Etruscan Echoes in Italian Renaissance Art’, in Etruscan Italy: Etruscan Influences on the
Civilisations of Italy from Antiquity to the Modern Era, J.F. Hall (ed.), (Utah, 1996), p. 320.
53
S. Bule, ‘Etruscan Echoes in Italian Renaissance Art’, p. 322.

22
well as Donatello’s David and Madonna and Child were inspired by Etruscan
counterparts that take very similar forms and are startling alike in composition
54
.
Fig. 6 Michelangelo's Pietà
Furthermore, it has been argued that Giorgio Vasari, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Antonio
Pollaiuolo, Benvenuto Cellini, the sculptor Andrea Sansovino, the polymath Leone
Battista Alberti, the legendary architect Filippo Brunelleschi, and one of the first great
Renaissance painters in Masaccio, were all influenced by the Etruscans at some point
in their artistic careers
55
. Cellini, who mentions the bronze Chimaera of Arezzo in his
autobiography, worked as a restorer on certain uncovered Etruscan bronze pieces
56
and Sansovino was ‘apparently acquainted with Etruscan urns and sarcophagi’
57
. Not
so much indicative of influence as interest, a particular drawing attributed to
54
S. Bule, ‘Etruscan Echoes in Italian Renaissance Art’, p. 322.
55
N.T. de Grummond, ‘Rediscovery’, in Etruscan Life and Afterlife: A Handbook of Etruscan Studies, L.
Bonfante (ed.), (Detroit, 1986), p. 24.
56
N.T. de Grummond, ‘Rediscovery’, p. 29.
57
N.T. de Grummond, ‘Rediscovery’, p. 30.

23
Leonardo da Vinci seems to depict the Etruscan tomb in Castellina
58
. That the very
archetype of Renaissance Man, the symbol of Renaissance genius, took an interest in
the Etruscans amongst his plethora of other pursuits should put it beyond doubt that
the pre-Roman Italians were a very present force two-thousand years later in
Renaissance Italy. They were keenly studied by the movement’s leading minds and
helped to inspire some of the Renaissance’s greatest artists to create their most
compelling and celebrated works. The Italian Renaissance produced far more than
just art however, and the third and final chapter will explore Etruscan inspiration
outside the worlds of art and literature.
Fig. 7 Etruscan Tomb at Castellina
58
G. Bartoloni and P. Bocci Pacini, ‘The Importance of Etruscan Antiquity in the Tuscan Renaissance’,
in The Rediscovery of Antiquity: The Role of the Artist, J. Fejfer, T. Fischer-Hansen and A. Rathje
(eds.), (Copenhagen, 2003), p. 456.

24
Chapter Three
The Etruscans in Other Forms of Renaissance Expression
This chapter will probe into other aspects of Renaissance expression in the hope of
finding Etruscan influence and/or references to the Etruscans. A focus of this chapter
will be Renaissance architecture, a fundamental aspect of the Renaissance legend, and
crucially, heavily derivative of Classical architecture. Renaissance architects achieved
acclaim on a level not dissimilar to the Renaissance artists of their own time and
indeed are still highly appreciated and mimicked in the Western world today; they
certainly laid the foundations for the development of modern Western architecture
59
.
They were renowned for their skill, attention to detail, and imagination. Likewise,
the Etruscans, though far less acknowledged for their architecture than the Greeks
and Romans and indeed, leaving far fewer intact structures behind to examine, were
nevertheless keen architects with very much their own distinctive style. Particular
attention has been given to their deviating temple design, which incorporated wood,
terracotta figures and an overall form most unlike their Greek and Roman
equivalents
60
. The legacy they left in the Roman architectural world was profound.
This fact alone means that Renaissance architects were inevitably heavily derivative
of Etruscan styles and ideas, but there is evidence that Etruscan traditions in
architecture continued independently of Rome also. Another aspect of the
Renaissance in which the Etruscans ‘reappeared’ powerfully is in the very society and
culture that was cultivated in the Italian cities, particularly those under ruling Tuscan
families eager to establish their own mythology and ancient origins as well as that of
their cities. The perceived eccentricity of Etruscan society was heavily parodied in the
59
K. Wheeler, Victorian Perceptions of Renaissance Architecture (Surrey, 2014), p. 14.
60
W.E. Dunstan, Ancient Rome (Plymouth, 2011), p. 17.

25
Roman and Greek spheres, but through their satire it is possible to uncover a culture
with a strong family focus, a general love of life, and an intense religiosity. These
cultural traits are confirmed and enhanced by the archaeological evidence,
particularly that found within Etruscan tombs. Such societal descriptions could easily
be employed in explaining the generalised view of modern-day Italian culture, whose
foundations lay very much in Renaissance times. Indeed, the evidence from
Renaissance Italy coupled with our understanding (however typecast) of
contemporary Italy suggests that before the Renaissance ‘the Etruscan spirit had been
simmering in Tuscany through all the intervening ages’ and significantly, ‘continues
to be a vital source of pride and influence there today’
61
.
In the architectural sphere, the Italians of the Renaissance imbibed wholly the tenets
established in Rome, and this is perhaps most intensely exposed in the life and works
of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio, whose highly influential writings and
designs he devised through intimate knowledge of the Roman architectural historian
Vitruvius’ Ten Books on Architecture
62
. For many enlightened men of Renaissance Italy,
art and architecture often went hand in hand, with many practitioners of the former
also practising the latter, and vice versa. Ergo, the most famous names in Renaissance
art such as da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Raphael, were also highly accomplished
architects and fervently sought exponents of both fields. Via the Romans, these
architects designed structures featuring many Etruscan-originating concepts; indeed,
a litany of elements that are usually considered characteristics of Roman architecture
ultimately came from Etruria. Among these include the Tuscan Doric column (‘it, and
not the Greek Doric, was copied by Renaissance architects’), the iconic terracotta tile
61
S. Bule, ‘Etruscan Echoes in Italian Renaissance Art’, in Etruscan Italy: Etruscan Influences on the
Civilisations of Italy from Antiquity to the Modern Era, J.F. Hall (ed.), (Utah, 1996), p. 313.
62
R. Tavernor, ‘Introduction’, in Vitruvius’ On Architecture (London, 2009), p. xv.

26
roof
63
, and it is in Etruscan houses that ‘we find the earliest examples of the atrium
and tablinum that later became the standard in Roman design’
64
, and accordingly,
Renaissance villa design. These very aspects of Roman architecture were those
championed in the designs of Italian Renaissance architects, almost certainly
believing the traditions they sustained were essentially Roman developments.
Alberti was seemingly directly influenced by Etruscan design in his buildings and
the architect Antonio da Sangallo ‘executed several drawings reconstructing the
mausoleum of Porsenna and other Etruscan antiquities’
65
. Interestingly, the villa built
for Lorenzo de’ Medici just outside Florence by Giuliano da Sangallo (Fig. 8), ‘appears
to have imitated elements of an Etruscan temple’. This is an example of direct and
knowing use of Etruscan motifs in architectural detail, and it is important to note that
a wall fresco painted by Pontormo within the same villa features the Etruscan deity
Vertumnus
66
, perhaps suggesting that an Etruscan theme was precisely intended.
Fig. 8 Medici Villa by Giuliano da Sangallo
63
N.T. de Grummomd, in F. Buranelli, The Etruscans: Legacy of a Lost Civilisation, trans. N.T. de
Grummond, (Memphis, 1992), p. 29.
64
F. Buranelli, The Etruscans: Legacy of a Lost Civilisation, trans. N.T. de Grummond, (Memphis,
1992), p. 38.
65
M. Tafuri, Interpreting the Renaissance; Princes, Cities, Architects (USA, 2006), p. 137.
66
N.T. de Grummond, ‘Rediscovery’, in Etruscan Life and Afterlife: A Handbook of Etruscan Studies, L.
Bonfante (ed.), (Detroit, 1986), p. 26.

27
Undoubtedly intending an Etruscan theme are the gardens created for the
Renaissance humanist and prince Vicino Orsini at Bomarzo in northern Latium; the
fantastical design of these gardens particularly recalls Etruscan demonology
67
.
Fig. 9 Sculpture in Gardens of Bomarzo
In terms of building design that may have passed directly from the Etruscans to the
architects of the Renaissance, as a continuing tradition, the New Sacristy in Florence
(designed by Michelangelo) presents a seemingly probable case. As S. Bule contends
– ‘the chapel’s use of sculptural and architectural funerary symbols which include
rams’ skulls, small masks, garlands, vases, candelabra, and false doorways might also
be seen as ultimately deriving from Etruscan sources’
68
. Since these elements seem
directly linked to Etruscan architecture and architectural adornments as opposed to
being characteristics of Roman architecture, the chapel may indeed represent the
survival of Etruscan architectural traditions two millennia after the Etruscan
67
N.T. de Grummond, ‘Rediscovery’, pp. 30 and 35.
68
S. Bule, ‘Etruscan Echoes in Italian Renaissance Art’, in Etruscan Italy: Etruscan Influences on the
Civilisations of Italy from Antiquity to the Modern Era, J.F. Hall (ed.), (Utah, 1996), p. 320.

28
civilisation ceased to wield power in Italy, and thus would be another sign that
Etruscan culture was never wholly diminished in their native region of Tuscany.
On a societal level, the blossoming cities of Renaissance Italy had not necessarily
verged away from much that underpinned Roman society, but the consummation of
Christianity in Italy and indeed Europe during the Middle Ages, meant that certain
important societal dynamics had shifted; the authority of the Church and the general
religiosity of the Italian people had been strengthened. Christian values had well and
truly replaced ‘pagan immorality’ and this cemented new ideas about family life and
the workings of society
69
; but for everyday Italians, their individual systems of
worship and religious traditions had perhaps only been altered at the most basic
underlying level. Despite the creation and consolidation of a new, Christian Europe,
the ancient, pre-Christian past was more important than ever to the peoples of Italy;
the ruling families in each city-state were desperate to solidify their power by
planting their familial origins as deeply into the past as possible. To this end, perhaps
the most powerful of the Renaissance families, the Medici of Florence, sought to
confirm beyond question their own ancient heritage through the Etruscans. The first
in the Medici political dynasty, Cosimo de’ Medici, so wanted to ‘legitimise his ascent
to power’ that he consolidated ‘his Etruscan roots with every possible tie’
70
. The
possibility of Etruscan heritage was clearly a boon and an asset to the attaining and
sustaining of power in the cities of Renaissance Tuscany and this speaks volumes as
to the amount of respect and admiration harboured for the Etruscan civilisation
within the highest tiers of Italian Renaissance society.
69
S.D. Bowd, Venice’s Most Loyal City: Civic Identity in Renaissance Brescia (USA, 2010), pp. 22-3.
70
G. Bartoloni and P. Bocci Pacini, ‘The Importance of Etruscan Antiquity in the Tuscan Renaissance’,
in The Rediscovery of Antiquity: The Role of the Artist, J. Fejfer, T. Fischer-Hansen and A. Rathje
(eds.), (Copenhagen, 2003), p. 470.

29
As interest in the Etruscans grew, so did the authority and qualities of those families
who appeared steeped in Etruscan tradition; the Medici were a prime example of this
– ‘the fascination with Etruscan civilisation served increasingly to exalt the roots of
the Medici family’
71
. The Medici took full advantage of their elevated position in the
sixteenth century. When Vasari’s bronze Chimaera was uncovered, it was soon
removed to Florence and appropriated by the Medici as their family emblem; this
exquisite Etruscan sculpture ‘was considered the link between the glorious past and
the present’
72
, and the Medici knew it. Indeed, the Etruscan roots of many Tuscan
towns seems to have counted for a lot more in Tuscan politics than previously might
have been considered. With Tuscans throughout the Renaissance clamouring to
prove their olden origins, the Classical revival in Tuscany clearly contained
something extra and highly unique. S. Bule goes so far as to assert that this ‘something
extra’ was the primary cause of divergent narratives within Renaissance Italy. He
argues that the fundamental difference between the Renaissance as it occurred in
Tuscany, and the same movement amongst the Venetians in north-east Italy was that
‘unlike their Tuscan counterparts, the Venetians did not have an Etruscan foundation
or heritage’
73
.
Can it then be that throughout Roman times and somehow through the
comparatively backward, ‘dark’, and highly tumultuous millennium of the Middle
Ages, when knowledge of the Etruscans ostensibly died out, an Etruscan flame still
burned in Tuscany? Whether it was as complex and deep as a feeling of being
71
P. Jacks, in S. Bule, ‘Etruscan Echoes in Italian Renaissance Art’, in Etruscan Italy: Etruscan
Influences on the Civilisations of Italy from Antiquity to the Modern Era, J.F. Hall (ed.), (Utah, 1996),
p. 317.
72
G. Bartoloni and P. Bocci Pacini, ‘The Importance of Etruscan Antiquity in the Tuscan Renaissance’,
in The Rediscovery of Antiquity: The Role of the Artist, J. Fejfer, T. Fischer-Hansen and A. Rathje
(eds.), (Copenhagen, 2003), p. 470.
73
S. Bule, ‘Etruscan Echoes in Italian Renaissance Art’, in Etruscan Italy: Etruscan Influences on the
Civilisations of Italy from Antiquity to the Modern Era, J.F. Hall (ed.), (Utah, 1996), p. 309.

30
Etruscan and an undying connection to the Etruscan spirit, or as practical as the
passing down from generation to generation of simple traditions from Etruscan
times, it does seem the case that the Etruscans, in whatever form, were ever-present
in the Tuscan soul. There is evidence that this Etruscan core has survived even to the
modern-day. If this be the case, then it must also have been very present in
Renaissance times. Examples of modern-day aspects of Italian life, particularly in
Tuscany, that seem to directly hearken back to the Etruscans include shepherds’ huts
in the Tuscan and Latin countryside that have ‘a structure very similar to the oldest
Etruscan houses’
74
. This is truly remarkable in itself; that a hut-design could pass
down the generations for two and a half millennia, through the different ages and
amid the ever-changing and developing Western milieu, while remaining virtually
unchanged, is a miracle of tradition and a testament to the extraordinary strength of
culture. Gardening equipment provides another example of design being carried
down the ages; the distinctive Etruscan hoe is still seemingly used by Italian farmers
in the Tuscan countryside to this very day
75
. In these examples, it can be seen that
Etruscanism permeated the foundations of Italian culture. It must have survived
through Roman times on a basic level and finally, when Rome fell and the Italian
peoples were once again left to their own devices, that Etruscan nature must have
continued and possibly refreshed in the Romans’ absence, until at last the time
ripened when the Etruscans could re-emerge triumphantly in the Italian Renaissance.
74
F. Buranelli, The Etruscans: Legacy of a Lost Civilisation, trans. N.T. de Grummond, (Memphis,
1992), p. 36.
75
F. Buranelli, The Etruscans: Legacy of a Lost Civilisation, p. 149.

31
Conclusion
The Reception of Etruscan Civilisation in the Italian Renaissance
In Renaissance Italy, the Etruscans were recognised as the original Italians and
revered on the same level as the Romans and Greeks, sometimes to an even greater
degree. They formed a crucial part of the Classical revival, to the extent that the Italian
Renaissance would have been very different without their influence. The Etruscan
heritage of Tuscany was fundamental to that same region being at the very forefront
of the Renaissance movement, and the perception that the Etruscans were the
Tuscans’ direct ancestors was a prime motivator for the Renaissance Men who
created the Renaissance legend. As renowned Etruscan scholar G. Bonfante has said,
‘it is no coincidence that the Renaissance began in Tuscany’
76
. This investigation has
demonstrated that the Etruscan civilisation was received with open arms in
Renaissance Italy, though its impact and influence are perhaps far subtler to the
uneducated eye than that of the Roman and Greek civilisations. The Etruscan
civilisation, like its role in the Roman world, served as the movement’s underpinning;
it provided the inspiration for the emergence of Classical rebirth and was the
sustenance that drove the Renaissance minds to believe in their own antiquity,
thereby securing their confidence in reproducing the glories of the ancients.
The first chapter showed that mention and praise of the Etruscans are riddled
throughout Renaissance literature. Etruscan tombs were especially discussed,
providing an ongoing stimulant to Etruscan-interest amongst Renaissance scholars.
This chapter demonstrated that the Etruscans were very highly thought of within the
circles of Renaissance humanists, and feature prominently in the works of the era’s
76
G. and L. Bonfante, The Etruscan Language: An Introduction (Manchester, 2002), p. xviii.

32
leading historians and scholars: Giorgio Vasari, Leonardo Bruni and Flavio Biondo.
Examples from the writings of Vasari and Lorenzo Ghiberti were used to show that
Etruscan-appreciation was such that it sometimes exceeded the appreciation shown
towards the Romans and Greeks, especially concerning Etruscan artistic merit. This
chapter also addressed the life and works of Renaissance Italy’s greatest Etruscan
advocate, the hoaxer Annio da Viterbo, whose contribution to Etruscan reception in
the Renaissance was phenomenally positive despite his many shortcomings as a
scholar. Da Viterbo enveloped himself in Etruscan myth and identity; he is
representative of just how powerful the Etruscan legend could be in Renaissance
Italy. These various literary works make it patently clear not only that ‘Renaissance
Tuscans were quite aware of the Etruscans and recognised them as distant ancestors’,
but that they deeply ‘admired’ Etruscan culture
77
.
The second chapter explored the world of Renaissance art and showed that Etruscan
influence in this realm was manifold. Etruscan influence can be found in the works
of the Great Masters and provided inspiration for some of the most celebrated
Renaissance artworks. This chapter discussed how Etruscan art was held in the
highest esteem by Renaissance artists; like the Romans before them, the painters and
sculptors of Renaissance Italy saw in Etruscan art a quality and skill unmatched. It
was shown in this chapter that from the thirteenth century onwards, Etruscan motifs
and styles were being imitated and developed by the most skilled artists of the era,
including Giotto, Donatello, Michelangelo and many others. It was Michelangelo’s
embracement of the Etruscan style that is perhaps the most remarkable; it is even
evident in the legendary artist’s arguably most-recognised work, the Sistine Chapel
77
S. Bule, ‘Etruscan Echoes in Italian Renaissance Art’, in Etruscan Italy: Etruscan Influences on the
Civilisations of Italy from Antiquity to the Modern Era, J.F. Hall (ed.), (Utah, 1996), pp. 309-10.

33
ceiling. All in all, while Etruscan art was placed on a pedestal for its superior quality,
it was the distinct stylistic aspects of Etruscan painting and sculpture that the
Renaissance artists were quick to adopt and eventually set as something of a standard
in pockets of Italian Renaissance art.
The final chapter examined Italian Renaissance architecture while taking a broader
look at the culture and society being fostered in Renaissance Italy, particularly in the
region of Tuscany. It was found that Renaissance architects unwittingly incorporated
many Etruscan elements in their designs, probably unaware that several fundamental
characteristics of the Roman architecture that served as their model, had in fact
originated in Etruria. Borrowing directly from Etruscan architecture was no mean
feat however, given what little remained to be imitated, but whether through the
continuing of architectural traditions or by the architectural extrapolation of
miniatures found in tombs, several Renaissance-era structures are clearly Etruscan-
themed. This chapter showed that the societies and people of Renaissance Tuscany
had an intense belief in their Etruscan heritage and were eager to confirm that
heritage through whatever means. The establishment of Etruscan lineage was shown
to be a crucial component in the claims to power of the ruling Tuscan families. This
chapter also argued that the seemingly significant Etruscan presence in Renaissance
Italy despite the nonexistence of Etruscan writings and the modern assertion that
knowledge of the Etruscans was all but lost during the Middle Ages, suggests that an
Etruscan energy burned on in their homeland on a fundamental cultural level, long
after their civilisation’s demise; in Roman times, in the Middle Ages, in the
Renaissance, and even today.
In summary, the Etruscans played a significant role in Renaissance-era Italy, a role
essentially different from that played by the substantially more-recognised and

34
studied Romans and Greeks, and one that those latter two civilisations could not
assume. The Etruscan spirit in Tuscany, after millennia of quiet simmering, finally
erupted once more in the late fourteenth century, inspiring in stages the peoples of
Italy to revisit their ancient past, inhabit it in the present, and build upon those
seemingly flawless foundations to create a bold new world. The Etruscan legacy was
turned to by politicians, scholars, historians, poets, painters, sculptors and architects
in order to strengthen and legitimise their own standings within their respective
spheres, but what they also found in the Etruscans was a civilisation to which they
owed much, and indeed could still learn much from. This investigation has
endeavoured to demonstrate that attitude by analysing the various mediums through
which it was displayed in Renaissance Italy.

35
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