The Tomb of the Triclinium ( it, Tomba del Triclinio) ). is an Etruscan tomb in the Necropolis of Monterozzi (near

Tarquinia Tarquinia (), formerly Corneto, is an old city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Central Italy, known chiefly for its ancient Etruscan tombs in the widespread necropoleis, or cemeteries, for which it was awarded UNESCO World Heritage sta ...

, Italy) dated to approximately 470 BC. The tomb is named after the Roman ''

triclinium A ''triclinium'' (plural: ''triclinia'') is a formal dining room in a Roman building. The word is adopted from the Greek ()—from (), "three", and (), a sort of couch or rather chaise longue. Each couch was sized to accommodate a diner who r ...

'', a type of formal dining room, which appears in the

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of Mural, mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the ...

es of the tomb. It has been described as one of the most famous of all Etruscan tombs. Since its discovery in 1830, the tomb's frescoes have deteriorated and lost some of their color and detail. In 1949 they were moved to the

Tarquinia National Museum The Tarquinia National Museum ( it, Museo Archeologico Nazionale Tarquiniense) is an archaeological museum dedicated to the Etruscan civilization in Tarquinia, Italy. Its collection consists primarily of the artifacts which were excavated from the ...

to conserve them. Thanks to watercolor copies made by Carlo Ruspi shortly after the tomb's discovery, it is still possible to see the frescoes in their former state. The artistic quality of the frescoes has been described as superior to many other Etruscan tombs, and is thought that the artist who decorated the tomb was a Greek

metic In ancient Greece, a metic ( Ancient Greek: , : from , , indicating change, and , 'dwelling') was a foreign resident of Athens, one who did not have citizen rights in their Greek city-state ('' polis'') of residence. Origin The history of foreign ...

Description

The tomb consists of a single room. The fresco on the back wall shows a

banquet A banquet (; ) is a formal large meal where a number of people consume food together. Banquets are traditionally held to enhance the prestige of a host, or reinforce social bonds among joint contributors. Modern examples of these purposes i ...

scene, borrowed from depictions of drinking scenes on

Attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a ''loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...

red-figure pottery Red-figure vase painting is one of the most important styles of figural Pottery of ancient Greece, Greek vase painting. It developed in Athens around 520 BCE and remained in use until the late 3rd century BCE. It replaced the previously dominan ...

from the early fifth century. The banqueteers recline on three couches called '' klinai''. On the floor under the ''klinai'' a cat prowls towards a

rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adul ...

and a

partridge A partridge is a medium-sized galliform bird in any of several genera, with a wide native distribution throughout parts of Europe, Asia and Africa. Several species have been introduced to the Americas. They are sometimes grouped in the Perdi ...

. On the left wall three female dancers, one male dancer and a male musician with a

barbiton The barbiton, or barbitos ( Gr: βάρβιτον or βάρβιτος; Lat. ''barbitus''), is an ancient stringed instrument related to the lyre known from Greek and Roman classics. The Greek instrument was a bass version of the kithara, and ...

appear. They are placed between small trees filled with birds. On the right wall a similar scene is shown. On the entry wall two youths jump down from their horses. They may be ''

apobates In antiquity, the term "desultor" (Latin, "one who leaps down") or "apobates" (Greek, "one who gets off") has been applied to individuals skilled at leaping from one horse or chariot to another. As early as the Homeric times, we find the descript ...

'' or a reference to the

Dioscuri Castor; grc, Κάστωρ, Kástōr, beaver. and Pollux. (or Polydeukes). are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri.; grc, Διόσκουροι, Dióskouroi, sons of Zeus, links=no, from ''Dîos'' (' ...

as intermediaries between the earthly life and the afterlife. The similarities between the frescoes in the Tomb of the Triclinium and

Tomb 5513 A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

(also in the Necropolis of Monterozzi) led Steingraber to conclude that they were the products of the same workshop. The strong influence of red-figure Attic vase painting has convinced some experts that the artist who decorated the tomb was a Greek

References

External links

Images of the tomb at The Mysterious Etruscans
{{coord, 42, 14, 56, N, 11, 46, 18, E, type:landmark_region:IT-VT, display=title 1830 archaeological discoveries

Triclinium A ''triclinium'' (plural: ''triclinia'') is a formal dining room in a Roman building. The word is adopted from the Greek ()—from (), "three", and (), a sort of couch or rather chaise longue. Each couch was sized to accommodate a diner who r ...

Description

See Also

References

External links