To examine the Etruscan paintings hardly falls un der our present limits. With a few imperfect sepul chral remains at Tarquinia, they arc to be found only on vases; if, indeed, these latter are not properly to be considered as belonging to the colonial Greek school. For our own part, we arc persuaded that not one of the Necro-Et•uscan vases, as they arc com monly styled, is of a date anterior to the consular government. Funeral ceremonies among the ancient inhabitants of Italy consisted in simple inhumation, and it was not till after their intercourse with Greece that the burning of the body, and the consequent use of urns were introduced. True, vases of magnificent design and large capacity, appear to have been con secrated in temples, and employed as ornaments in houses; but granting some of these to have reached our time, the nature of the subjects represented, or the style of the design, shows that they cannot be of a higher antiquity than the date assigned. Regarded as works of art, these productions can hardly be ad mired sufficiently. The pictorial representations are of two kinds, monochromatic shadows, usually black upon a light ground, or monochromatic outlines in similar style; or the order is reversed, the ground being dark, the figures light, but whole pieces are never executed after this method. Of these two man ners, the outline figures present the more perfect spe cimens of design, and when the difficulty of tracing an outline at a single stroke in a pigment which ad mitted of no repetition, and on a surface front which no line once impressed could be effaced—we compare the correctness, truth, beauty, grace of the forms and expression, we are forced to ascribe no ordinary skill and dexterity to the artist, and no common taste and refinement to the age and nation in which such works could be produced. One general observation, how ever, may be recorded; taking these remains univer sally, the delineations are inferior to the perceptions of the abstract beauty of forms, perceivable in the shape of the vases themselves; whence perhaps the conclusion may be ventured, that the Etruscans were greater in sculpture than in painting. These obser vations do not invalidate the high antiquity of Greek vases.
From the spirit of some of the preceding remarks, it might be inferred that little certainty can he obtain ed in this inquiry; that much doubt, difficulty, and ob scurity is involved in the history of Etruscan sculp ture, no one who has studied the subject will deny. But it is equally true, that these doubts and difficul ties arise as much from the absurd opinions and inter minable wanderings of those who have pretended to elucidate matters, as from any erroneous principles in the real grounds of judgment. Writers have ventured upon this theme, which requires both taste and know ledge of practical art, who were mere antiquarians; what is even worse, each has his favourite theory to make good. Laying aside all prepossessions, there fore, and with some experience in the application of those principles on which works of art are to be dis criminated, we shall find, not only that there is a cer tain and definite style which peculiarly distinguishes Etruscan design, but also that the remaining labours of this school may be regularly classed, from the de gree or kind of excellence which they exhibit.
Art contains within itself, and, if rightly interro gated, will always furnish precepts by which its own productions may be discriminated. In searching for these principles, we must carefully compare the monu ments of different nations and those of the same peo ple with each other. We shall thus be able to detect certain peculiarities of mode—of expression—of form—certain specialities in the relation between fan cy and feeling and nature, which constitute what is termed a national style, or, in other words, character ize the national genius. Thus, if we place in contrast certain sculptures found in Italy with others of any age from Greece, there will be perceived considerable di versity in the relations just mentioned, clearly indi cating a mental as well as mechanical diversity. These remains, history informs us, can be ascribed only to the early inhabitants of Etruria, and to this diversity is given the name of the Etruscan style. Again, com pared among themselves, these remains exhibit in trinsic distinctions of manner or excellence, which enable the examinator to assign them to their respec tive ages. We thus discover three epochs of art among the Etruscans.
The first or ancient style commences with the ori gin of the people. It has been assimilated to the Egyp tian, but the resemblance is not more than that general similarity which characterizes the infancy of invention in every nation. Yet there are distinctions to be tra ced which clearly discriminate the two manners. In the earliest monuments of Tuscany may be perceived an unfettered imagination essaying its powers in modes feeble indeed, but varied;—no systematic, as in east ern art, no conventional representation. In Egyptian sculpture every thing seems to spring from a foreign impulse, whose object is not the advancement of art, or the imitation of nature;—in Italian statuary, all wears the impress of native volition. The character istics of the first epoch are rigidity—ignorance of the naked—feebleness of relief—perceptions of beauty; es pecially in the forms of the head, exceedingly imper fect. The contours are composed nearly of straight lines, the limbs are without joints, and the action forced, yet destitute of movement. The face is an im perfect oval, elongated at the base, and ending in a peak. The eyes, long and narrow, are placed oblique: as is likewise the month, the external angles in both being drawn downwards. The features are flat; and here the meagreness of relief is chiefly apparent, the eye-balls being nearly on a level with the frontal bone. The general effect thus remains without power, while the individual forms are far from pleasing. Yet there is frequently a robustness of design, a vigour and firm ness of handling, which, though destitute of grace, seem to contain the rudiments of those forcible, mas culine, even exaggerated conceptions and execution, the peculiar characteristics of Tuscan art in every succeeding age.