The Etruscans were an ancient people who ruled Italy and the surrounding lands in Europe during the sixth and fifth centuries BCE. This was two thousand years ago…a very long time, and much of their history has been lost. We do know that they were good traders and merchants, because Etruscan art has been found all around the Mediterranean Sea.
Etruscan artists made this amphora, a fancy name for a storage jar. The 15 inch tall jar probably held olive oil or honey or grains for sale. The pottery was decorated with scenes that were painted onto the clay before it was baked in a hot oven – very much like handmade pottery is still made today.
This ancient vase shows a hound dog looking back at a horse and a man dressed in a white shirt. They are likely getting ready to go hunting, because the other side of the jar shows a deer and a rabbit fleeing for their lives.
How many places has this pottery jar been in two thousand years? How did it keep from being broken? Since 2010 it has been at the Art Institute of Chicago, kept safely in the museum’s display of ancient Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art.
Etruscan art flourished in ancient Italy in 8th to 1st centuries BCE, the centuries between the Ancient Greeks and the Roman empire. The best known examples of Etruscan are are painted murals in burial chambers, metal jewelry and sculptures, and terracotta pottery and statues.