The gate of the year

Figure on the left:

Etruscan wall painting (375 - 350 B.C.) from the Tomba dell’Orco, Tarquinia,Viterbo.
The image represents a demon of the Underworld, winged, with a beak-like nose, bearded and with tangled hair, armed with an ax or a hammer. The term demon derives from the Greek daimon, which indicated sometimes a single divinity, but, more frequently, a divine power, or a spiritual being of a semi-divine status. Over time, it was employed mainly to designate the malevolent or subterranean spirits, associated with the world of the dead (Stephens 2005). The Etruscans had developed a rich demonology, of which witnesses remain primarily in funerary art. Among the various demonic figures there are those of young women, sometimes winged. Particularly frequent is the one called Vanth, probably in origin a goddess who determined human destinies. Among the male demons, a prominent role was held by Charun, personification of death, guardian of the gateways of the Underworld, represented with a gray-green body, hooked nose, hair like snakes and a mallet in his hand. His name derives from the Greek Charon (the ferryman who carried the spirits of the dead across the infernal rivers), but his aspect and functions are different. Another demon frequently present in the tombs is Tuchulcha, a therianthropic being, with beak and legs of a bird of prey, long and pointed ears, snake-like hair and large wings (Pallottino 1981).

[Image: http://library.artstor.org/library/]

Figure on the right:

Fresco on the wall of the Tomba dell’Orco at Tarquinia (375 - 350 a.C.), representing the Etruscan divinity Aita, corresponding to the Greek Hades, Lord of the dead. For the Latins, the god Hades was identified with Pluto, sometimes called Orcus: that is the reason for the name with which this Tomb is conventionally known. In the Greek world, Hades, the ruler of the subterranean world, whose name was interpreted as “the Invisible One” and to whom were consecrated caves and underground cavities, had as his prominent attribute a special headdress, which had the quality of rendering invisible who wore it. In Greek art there are no representations of this sacred object, which is identified by this Etruscan painting as a wolf skin (Stella 1956, p. 441). The employment of animal masks and costumes, through which the dead were made “present”, shall reappear during popular ceremonies from the Middle Ages until the contemporary era.

[Image: http://www.canino.info/inserti/monografie/etruschi/tombe_tarquinia/culto _morti.htm]




World of the Dead

Back

Figure on the left: Etruscan wall painting (375 - 350 B.C.) from the Tomba dell’Orco, Tarquinia,Viterbo. The image represents a demon of the Underworld, winged, with a beak-like nose, bearded and with tangled hair, armed with an ax or a hammer. The term demon derives from the Greek daimon, which indicated sometimes a single divinity, but, more frequently, a divine power, or a spiritual being of a semi-divine status. Over time, it was employed mainly to designate the malevolent or subterranean spirits, associated with the world of the dead (Stephens 2005). The Etruscans had developed a rich demonology, of which witnesses remain primarily in funerary art. Among the various demonic figures there are those of young women, sometimes winged. Particularly frequent is the one called Vanth, probably in origin a goddess who determined human destinies. Among the male demons, a prominent role was held by Charun, personification of death, guardian of the gateways of the Underworld, represented with a gray-green body, hooked nose, hair like snakes and a mallet in his hand. His name derives from the Greek Charon (the ferryman who carried the spirits of the dead across the infernal rivers), but his aspect and functions are different. Another demon frequently present in the tombs is Tuchulcha, a therianthropic being, with beak and legs of a bird of prey, long and pointed ears, snake-like hair and large wings (Pallottino 1981). [Image: http://library.artstor.org/library/] Figure on the right: Fresco on the wall of the Tomba dell’Orco at Tarquinia (375 - 350 a.C.), representing the Etruscan divinity Aita, corresponding to the Greek Hades, Lord of the dead. For the Latins, the god Hades was identified with Pluto, sometimes called Orcus: that is the reason for the name with which this Tomb is conventionally known. In the Greek world, Hades, the ruler of the subterranean world, whose name was interpreted as “the Invisible One” and to whom were consecrated caves and underground cavities, had as his prominent attribute a special headdress, which had the quality of rendering invisible who wore it. In Greek art there are no representations of this sacred object, which is identified by this Etruscan painting as a wolf skin (Stella 1956, p. 441). The employment of animal masks and costumes, through which the dead were made “present”, shall reappear during popular ceremonies from the Middle Ages until the contemporary era. [Image: http://www.canino.info/inserti/monografie/etruschi/tombe_tarquinia/culto _morti.htm]