Alabaster cinerary urn with reclining figure on lid
Etruscan, about 200-100 BC
From Chiusi, Etruria (now in Lazio, Italy)
Luxurious in death
This once richly-painted cinerary urn (container for the
cremated remains of the dead) reflects the Etruscan love of
banqueting. A favourite pastime in life, it seems to have been what
they most liked to envisage themselves doing in the afterlife. This
type of cinerary urn was very popular from the fourth century BC
onwards, and tomb-paintings from the sixth century frequently
depict banqueting with lavish entertainment provided by acrobats
and dancers. It was perhaps this passion which gave rise to the
Roman historian Livy's stereotypical view of the obesus
etruscus ('fat Etruscan'): certainly from the corpulent
appearance of the portraits in their tombs they were proud to
display their obesity, which was probably felt to indicate their
wealthy status and luxurious style of living.
The deceased man wears a cloak, a festive garland round his neck
and a wreath on his head, comfortably leaning on two tasselled
cushions. He holds a shallow vessel of a type normally used for
pouring liquid offerings (omphalos phiale), but it seems
that the Etruscans may have used it at banquets. Perhaps, though,
it is shown here as it was thought to be a suitable drinking-vessel
for the deceased in the afterlife. The inscription names the man as
Vel Umrana, son of Arnth. It is written retrograde (right to left)
as normal with Etruscan inscriptions.
The scene on the chest possibly represents Eteokles and
Polyneikes, the sons of Oedipos, in battle before the walls of
Thebes, a popular theme in classical art. However, the uprooted
tree is unexplained: it was perhaps involved in an Etruscan form of
the legend.
E. Macnamara, The Etruscans-1 (London, The British Museum Press, 1990)
L. Bonfante (ed.), Etruscan life and afterlife: a (Michigan, Wayne State University Press, 1986)