Pictorial fragments
Pictorial fragments
Etruscan production
6th–5th century BC
Mural painting
The seven fragments are examples of Etruscan funerary painting and date to the Late Archaic period. The technique confirms this attribution: the figures stand out against a light plaster background, defined by fine outlines painted in red or black, while the palette employs the typical colours of the period — red, white, blue, and black.
From an iconographic point of view, the scenes reflect a repertoire of themes that spread during the Archaic age, focusing on aspects of everyday life — in this case, particularly on the banquet. Dancers, flute players, and symposiasts, accompanied by a servant and by high-ranking male figures in solemn poses, compose a group that finds parallels in the Late Archaic tombs of Tarquinia and Chiusi.