Mystery still surrounds the origins of the Etruscans, whose artistic, energetic,
pleasure-loving society dominated the western side of Italy from Bologna to Rome
for 400 years after 700 BC. Modern Tuscany was the heartland of Etruria. Archaeologists
variously suggest they came from the north beyond the Alps or migrated from Lydia
(western Turkey) driven out by a long famine; the culture also showed Greek influence,
but that probably came through trade contacts. The Etruscans left no written literature
and the jottings of their language found in tombs has not been deciphered. What
they did leave behind was an astonishing legacy of colourful tomb paintings, decorated
pottery, bronze work and, above all, gold ornaments. "The masterpieces of
Tuscan goldsmiths' work remains unmatched and unmatchable even today," observed
Professor Raymond Bloch of the Sorbonne, author of three books on Etruscan life.
That inheritance, however, is reflected today in Arezzo, once a city-state of
ancient Etruria, which is a centre of the modern Italian gold jewellery industry.
The Etruscans had several advantages. Besides the fertile Tuscan countryside,
Etruria had iron, tin, copper and zinc mines in the mountains. The people who
had migrated there from the north around 1000 BC knew all about iron and refining,
so Etruria enjoyed not just prosperous agriculture, but minerals to export in
return for more luxurious things such as ivory, silver and gold. Greek merchants,
who were trying to extend their own sphere of influence into the western Mediterranean,
thus found an intelligent, civilised people with whom they could do business and
exchange ideas. It has even been suggested that goldsmiths from Greece, where
gold was scarce after the collapse of Mycenæ,
moved to Etruria. By 500 BC, Etruria boasted good roads, well-laid-out cities,
a well-trained army (on which Roman legions were later modelled) and its influence
extended to Rome itself.
In this environment, art and craftsmanship could flourish, including virtuoso
goldsmiths. The Etruscans prided themselves particularly on their techniques of
filigree,
delicate tracery in gold wire, and granulation,
tiny particles of gold creating an intricate pattern. Over 5000 individual grains
of gold may carpet an ornament. It is immensely time-consuming, painstaking work,
and indeed, jewellery historians have long wondered how they did it?
"Jewellers … have become increasingly frustrated by the fact that they
cannot do granulation as well as the Etruscans" noted Graham Hughes in The
Art of Jewellery, "although the Etruscans had no temperature control, no
high precision tools, no refined metals, no accurate drills … and no magnifying
glasses with which to survey their superlative work." One such masterpiece
is a pendant head of the horned river god Achelous in which granules of gold create
a magnificent beard (the pendant is now in the Etruscan section of the Louvre
in Paris).
Etruscan jewellery is a showcase for the goldsmiths' art, partly because the men
had a much more relaxed attitude to women than, for example, the Greeks or Romans.
Women held a privileged position, sitting beside their husbands on the banquet
couch in their finest jewels. One gold clasp, adorned by an oval plate and five
lions, was over 300 centimetres (one foot) long. Another clasp of double gold
sheet had a line of nine golden birds along its top. The goldsmiths had free rein.
"The Etruscans seem to have made everything we wear today" Graham Hughes
observes, "bracelets, clasps, earrings of great splendour ... necklaces and
pendants, equipped with chains of modern intricacy and complete flexibility."
After 300 BC, Etruria, which had always remained a rather loose alliance of city-states,
gradually succumbed to the growing power of Rome itself. Its unique identity as
a buoyant, artistic society vanished, but its gold work can still be admired today.
Etruscan gold ornaments can be seen in several Italian museums including Museo
Nazionale de Villa Guila and the Vatican
Museum in Rome, Museo
Archeologico in Florence, the Museo
Poldi Pezzoli in Milan, and at the Louvre
in Paris.
See also: library/history
and library/jewellery.