Our knowledge about the Etruscan
civilization is
extremely limited. Our understanding of
their
language is still incomplete and most of
the
information that is known comes to us
through
the Romans, their one time subjects who
grew to
become their masters. The Etruscans
lived under
a series of autonomous city-states
spread out
across northern and central Italy. By
the 3rd
Century B.C., they would be absorbed
into the
burgeoning Roman Empire.
Made from a reddish clay, this gorgeous
head
still bears a remarkable amount of the
original
polychrome that once decorated its
surface. His
long beard is colored black. A series
of
undulating engraved lines imitate the
texture of
the beard, further enhancing the sense
of
naturalism. The physiognomy of this
figure
suggests he may be the satyr Silenos, a
legendary companion of Dionysus. His
plump,
full cheeks, broad nose, and full beard
all
suggest this attribution. It is
possible that this
sculpture served as an architectural
decorative
element known as an antefix.
Antefixes were placed at the ends of
cover tiles
that ran along the sides of a building's
roof.
These polychrome terracotta plaques
provided
necessary protection from the weather
for the
wooden framework of the building. This
custom
was prevalent all over Etruria (the
lands of the
Etruscan), Latium, and Campania from the
7th
century B.C. until the Roman period. In
Archaic
and Classical times, the Estrucan city
of Caere
(modern Cerveteri) seems to have been an
important center for the production of
such
works and this protome may very well
come from
there.
