Rethinking Etruria
Institute for the Study of the Ancient World
April 23 - July 25, 2025
Reviewed by Ed Voves
The Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (ISAW), located in the shadow of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, has added another achievement to its impressive credentials. ISAW, a research facility of New York University, has resolved a mystery of the so-called "mysterious" Etruscan people of ancient Italy.
As I discussed in a series of Art Eyewitness essays about the Etruscans, back in 2020, it is puzzling why there have been no major exhibitions dealing with the fascinating culture of the Etruscans for many decades in the United States. The ISAW solved that problem by presenting Rethinking Etruria, which opened on April 23rd at the Institute's 84th street headquarters.
Ed Voves, Photo (2025)
Gallery views of the Rethinking Etruria exhibit. The top photo shows bronze votive figurines, 5th century B.C. and sandstone pyramidal bases, found at Poggio Colla. Below, are Kylix cups, 4th-3rd centuries, B.C., decorated by the Sokra Group of Etruscan vase & cup painters.
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Etruscology is a vast and perplexing subject. A non-Indo-European people, the Etruscans were long thought to have migrated to Italy from Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) toward the end of the Bronze Age. Recent DNA studies have confirmed that the Etruscans - or their ancestors - were resident in Italy for a very long time, perhaps as far back as the Neolithic age.
The historical Etruscan era extends from their earliest identifiable settlements, ca. 900 B.C., to the time of the conquest and incorporation of the Etruscan city-states by the Roman Republic over the succeeding centuries. By the time of Caesar Augustus, the Etruscans were fully under Rome's control, but it is worth noting that Maecenas, the adviser-in-chief to Augustus, was of Etruscan descent.
Since the ISAW has only two exhibition galleries, both of modest dimensions, it would be impossible to mount a wide-ranging exhibition devoted to the Etruscans. But as with other topics in ancient history which have featured in ISAW exhibits, the ISAW curators are accomplished in making a lot happen in a little space.
Ed Voves, Photo (2025)
Gallery view of the Rethinking Etruria exhibit. In the background is a replica of the Vicchio Stele, excavated at Poggio Colla in 2015.
Rethinking Etruria focuses on two key sites in Italy which have yielded important discoveries, as recently as 2024. These are the temple sanctuary of Poggio Colla, located near the town of Vicchio, northwest of Florence, and the spectacular tombs carved into a formidable ridge of tufa rock at Norchia, a rugged area seventy-two kilometers northwest of Rome.
The necropolis of Norchia is hardly a new, unexplored site of archaeological "digs." Norchia featured in the trailblazing expeditions of George Dennis, the "father of Etruscology." Back in the early 1840's, Dennis and his friend, the artist Samuel Ainsley, roamed the bandit-infested region in search of ancient remains. Dennis recounted the moment of Norchia's discovery in his 1848 book, The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria.
At length, we turned a corner in the glen, and lo! a grand range of monuments burst upon us. There were a line of sepulchers, high in the face of the cliff which forms the right-hand barrier of the glen, two or three hundred feet above the stream - an amphitheater of tombs!
Dennis was unable to capitalize on his success. A gifted amateur, he lacked private wealth, academic credentials or political patronage. Eventually, his book would ignite interest in Britain in the Etruscans - D.H. Lawrence was a devoted reader.
In the meantime, it was left to another non-professional, this time from Italy, to conduct a thorough study of Norchia. In 1852, Mariano Lattanzi began excavating several of the temple-like tomb structures cut-into the cliff face of Norchia. Important discoveries have been made since then, but so have the deprivations of tomb robbers, who, heedless of the need to record the details of place and condition, have been the bane of Etruscology.
Ed Voves, Photo (2025)
Gallery view of Rethinking Etruria, showing the Marce Atie Stamnos, a red-figure stamnos or wine jar, with scenes from the Trojan War.
In July 2022, a splendid ceramic red-figure vessel, a stamnos, was unearthed in one of the less accessible of the Lattanzi tombs. Evidently, tomb robbers had missed this and several other important, if less spectacular, artifacts, preserved in the tomb.
Known today as the Marce Atie Stamnos, the vessel depicts heroes from the Trojan War: Achilles, Ajax, Nestor and Troilus. Scholars believe that it was created around 330 B.C. in the Etruscan city of Vulci. The Trojan War imagery is credited to a workshop of Etruscan painters called the "Funnel Group" because of the shape of the decorative motif.
Ed Voves, Photo (2025)
The Greek hero, Achilles, depicted on the Marce Atie Stamnos
And a heroine, too, is shown on the Marce Atie Stamnos. This was an important consideration for the Etruscans who accorded great respect - and property-owning rights - to women. Here we see the Amazon queen, Penthesilea, riding to death and glory before the walls of Troy.
Ed Voves, Photo (2025)
The Amazon Queen, Penthesilea, killed by Achilles at Troy
A stamnos was used to hold wine for celebrations and religious ceremonies - or in this case as a tomb offering, much as the ancient Egyptians did.
Ed Voves, Photo (2025)
On its rim, the Marce Atie Stamnos is inscribed with the name of
"Marce
Atie (son) of Velxae (and) Paci (or Puci)"
The rim of this ceramic vessel is inscribed with the name of Marce Atie, who commissioned it. He must have been a man with considerable wealth and piety to be able to afford such a lavish gift for use in the "after life."
Ed Voves, Photo (2025)
Gallery view of Rethinking Etruria. Displayed, at left, behind the
Marce Atie Stamnos, is a much-eroded portrait of Alexander the Great
Museum authorities in Italy have generously permitted this magnificent vessel to travel to the U.S. for the first time. Although there are fifty important Etruscan artifacts on view in the ISAW exhibition, the Marce Atie Stamnos is such a spectacular work of art that I found it difficult to devote sufficient time and attention to the rest of the exhibition.
This is a problem, for there is much in Rethinking Etruria to study and appreciate. The ISAW exhibition team has facilitated the learning process, however, through short digital image/text displays. These presentations enable visitors to comprehend the exhibition artifacts within the context of Etruscan culture and to visualize the temple of Poggio Colla and the Norchia tombs in their topographical settings.
Much of the information in these presentations is based on the ability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to sift and integrate masses of data. Drone photographic surveys supplied the details of terrain. The resulting visualizations of what the Norchia "amphitheater of tombs" and the Poggio Colla temple looked like in antiquity are almost magical.
Ed Voves, Photo (2025)
Two images from the Rethinking Etruria digital presentations. At top, is an aerial view of the Norchia tombs taken by a drone. Below is an AI rendering of the temple-like sepulchers, as they likely appeared in antiquity. Some of these family tombs could hold 80 bodies.
AI rendering of the Poggio Colla temple as it appeared in antiquity.
© Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (NYU)
AI and 3D imaging were also combined to create a replica of the Stele of Vicchio, found in 2015 during excavations at Poggio Colla. Made of local sandstone, the Vicchio Stele is a gravestone-shaped marker which functioned in similar fashion to representations of tablets showing the Ten Commandments.
Considering the reputation of the Etruscans as "the most religious of men", the discovery of the Vicchio Stele is an event of great importance. After further study, the stele may resolve some of the mystery of Etruscan sacred beliefs and rituals.
Ed Voves, Photo (2025)
A replica of the Vicchio Stele, excavated at Poggio Colla in 2015. The 3D model of the stele was created by the LaGuardia Studio of NYU.
Dating to the 6th century B.C., the Vicchio Stele measures 3.9 by 1.9 feet (1.2 by 0.6 meters) and weighs 500 pounds (227 kg). The stele is inscribed with 120 legible letters and punctuation marks from the Etruscan alphabet. But only one passage of the inscription has been deciphered:
"Of Tinia (or for Tinia) in the (place) of Uni two (objects) were dedicated."
3D model of the Vicchio Stele with its four inscriptions highlighted.
© Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (NYU)
Tinia and Uni were two of the Etruscan gods. The Vicchio Stele originally stood upright so that people visiting the temple could read the religious inscriptions. Over the course of time, the Poggio Colla temple was burned and rebuilt. During the rebuilding process, the Vicchio Stele was placed in with the foundation stones, helping to strengthen the rising new temple.
There was nothing perfunctory about Etruscan religious practice. The Etruscans lived in close communion with the gods and were notable for their practice of divination. A written code of sacred beliefs and rituals, passed down from the gods to a prophet named Tages, was the foundation of Etruscan civilization.
Scarcely visible today, the inscriptions on the Vicchio Stele were words to live by. Deciphering these cryptic words constitutes a big - if halting - step forward in understanding Etruscan religion.
AI, drone photography, lazer scanning and digital recreations have added immeasurably to our understanding of the ancient world. However, there are occasions when simple photos, taken on the spur-of-the-moment, can rival even the most cutting-edge technology. Below are two photos, recording the excavation of the Marc Atie Stamnos. The look on the face of one of the archaeologists speaks for itself!
Ed Voves, Photo (2025)
Two images from the Rethinking Etruria digital presentations, showing the excavation of the Marce Atie Stamnos.
The exhilaration of holding a just-excavated treasure like the Marce Atie Stamnos is a pleasure few of us will ever enjoy. But the curators and staff at ISAW have served-up a special treat for history lovers to share when they visit Rethinking Etruria.
Yes, go ahead and place your fingers on the replica of the Vicchio Stele! Get in touch with history. Feel the sensation of the "mysterious" Etruscans awakening from the sleep of centuries.
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Text: Copyright of Ed Voves, all rights reserved. Original photography, copyright of Ed Voves.
The following two images come from the ISAW web pages for the Rethinking Etruria exhibition and are copyright of ISAW/NYU:
AI rendering of the Poggio Colla temple as it appeared in antiquity.
© Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (NYU)
3D model of the Vicchio Stele with its four inscriptions highlighted.
© Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (NYU)
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