The Sarcophagus of the Spouses (Italian: Sarcofago degli Sposi) is a tomb effigy considered one of the masterpieces of Etruscan art. [1] The Etruscans lived in Italy between two main rivers, the Arno and the Tiber , and were in contact with the Ancient Greeks through trade, mainly during the Orientalizing and Archaic periods. [ 2 ]

The Sarcophagus of the Spouses is an anthropoid (human-shaped), painted terracotta sarcophagus found in the ancient Etruscan city of Caere (now Cerveteri, Italy). The sarcophagus, which would have originally contained cremated human remains, was discovered during the course of archaeological excavations in the Banditaccia necropolis of ancient ...

2021年2月22日 · Among these impressive works of funerary sculpture, painting, and metalwork, the Etruscan sarcophagus stands as one of the culture’s hallmarks and it also holds a special place in the history of art. Decorated sarcophagi made up part of a much larger landscape of the Etruscan afterlife.

In Etruscan tomb painting and on sculpted sarcophagi, we see everything from concerts to parades, food, drink, socializing, dancing, and other pleasures of life. The Etruscans, it seems, were expert revelers who wanted to take this perpetual celebration with them into the afterlife.

The Sarcophagus of the Spouses was found in Cerverteri, a town in Italy north of Rome, which is the site of a large Etruscan necropolis (or cemetery), with hundreds of tombs. The sarcophagus vividly evokes both the social visibility of Etruscan women and a type of marital intimacy rarely seen in Greek art from this period.

But the intimacy of these couples, their tender gazes, and nudity, seen below the coverlets on their marriage beds, are unprecedented in Etruscan art. The parents’ sarcophagus (above, left), carved in a local volcanic stone, shows the more naturalistic character of Etruscan art.

Excavated in the 19th century, the Sarcophagus of the Spouses is a vital link to ancient Etruscan culture. Found in a necropolis near Cerveteri, Italy, this artifact dates back to the 6th century BCE. It serves as a testament to the Etruscan society and beliefs in the afterlife.

The sarcophagus, made of fired clay, was discovered in 1881 in 400 fragments in the Banditaccia necropolis in Cerveteri. A single comparable piece is known, which is now on display at the Louvre. The quality of the details is such that we can observe numerous aspects of the clothing and manners of the symposiasts.

Recomposed from about four hundred fragments, the sarcophagus of the spouses is actually an urn intended to hold the material remains of the deceased. Shaped in the round, the work represents a couple lying on a bed (kline), their busts raised frontally in …

The Sarcophagus of the Spouses was found in Cerverteri, a town in Italy north of Rome, which is the site of a large Etruscan necropolis (or cemetery), with hundreds of tombs. The sarcophagus vividly evokes both the social visibility of Etruscan women and a type of marital intimacy rarely seen in Greek art from this period.