form usually adopted is that of a spherical vase with a flat handle
on the top and three tall mouths.
Etruscan Terracotta Work.-Some features of terracotta work are peculiar to the people of Etruria, who employed this material both for finer works of art and for more utilitarian purposes; Several ancient writers speak of their preference for clay and their skill in its use, Pliny attributes its introduction to Corinthian refugees in the 7th century, and states that the art of modelling in clay was brought to perfection in Italy, and especially in Etruria. Certainly for their statues the Etruscans appear to have preferred clay to other materials (except perhaps bronze), and also for use in architecture. The Romans employed Etruscan artists to decorate their temples, and the statue of Jupiter on the Capitol was made by Volca of Veii about 500 B.C., in clay painted Vermilion, ias was also the chariot on the pediment of the ternple. For the decoration of temples terracotta remained in use even down to Roman times; these buildings being usually of wood covered with slabs of terracotta, like the early Greek buildings discussed in the preceding section. Remains of temples with terracotta decoration of this kind have been found at Cervetri (Caere), at Alatri, and at Civita Castellana (Falerii), as well as at Civita Lavinia (v. supra). Other remains of terracotta decorations come from Conca (Satricum), Orvieto, Pitigliano and Luni, where the pediment of the temple has the figures of Olympian deities, muses and the slaughter of Niobids, all executed in terracotta on a large scale. The date of these sculptures is about 200 B.c. At Alatri and Falerii the decoration consists of a complete system of terracotta plating pver the woodwork of the roofs and architraves, ornamented with patterns in relief or painted and surmounted with carved antefixal ornaments. Some of the antejixae from Cervetri are very effective examples of sculpture and exhibit in a marked degree the influence of Ionic Greek art, due to the Hellenic elements with which the civilization of Caere and the Campanian cities was permeated. The form of monument which best exhibits the Etruscan fondness for terracotta as a material for sculpture is the sarcophagus, of which some remarkable archaic examples exist, and a considerable number of later date. Among the former the most conspicuous example is the well-known Castellani sarcophagus in the British Museum, dating from the end of the 6th century B.C. The sides are decorated with friezes of figures in relief, and on the cover is a group of a man and a woman reclining, executed in the round life-size. These figures are undoubtedly genuine native work, and in the obvious inability of the sculptor to achieve success in working in the round they contrast strongly with the reliefs, which are truly Hellenic in style if not in subject. There are similar examples in the Louvre, and in the Museo Papa Giulio at Rome. The later sarcophagi which belong to the 3rd century B.C. follow on the same lines. They invariably consist of a rectangular body or coffer with sculptured reliefs on the front and sides, and a flat cover on which reclines a. figure representing the deceased person. They were used for holding the ashes of the dead. Usually they are of small size, measuring not more than 18 by 12 by 12 in., but some are large enough for a bod? to lie in at full length. The reliefs freely modelled in the style o later Etruscan art are often of a funerary character, representing the last farewell to the dead in the presence of Charon and ot er death»-deities; others have mythological subjects, such as the combat of Eteokles and Polyneikes; the slaying of the dragon by Kadmos; or the parting of Admetos and Alkestis. They are usually painted in ternpera on a white ground, the bright colouring having a very vivid effect. By far the finest examples of this class are one from Cervetri, now in the British Museum, and another very similar in the Archaeological Museum at Florence, with which were found coins of about 150 B.C. The former (Pl. I. fig. I) is shown by its inscription to be the tomb of one Seianti Thanunia, whose life-size effigy adorns its cover; a most realistic example of Etruscan portrait-sculpture in perfect preservation, richly coloured, and adorned with jewelry. The dimensions of this sarcophagus are 6 ft. by 2 ft. by I ft. 4 in.; it has no reliefs on the front but a simple pattern of pilasters and qua trefoils. Owing to its great size the figure of the lady was shaped in two halves, the joint being below the hips. The Florence sarcophagus represents a lady of the name of Larthia Seianti. Roman Terracotta Work.—The uses of clay among the Romans were much the same as amongst the Greeks and Etruscans, in architecture and sculpture, as well as for other purposes; the main differences were that in some cases its use was more extensive in Rome, in others less; and generally that the products of Roman workshops are inferior to those of earlier times. But the technical processes are in the main those previously employed. The Romans divided the manufacture of objects in clay into two classes: opus jigulinum for fine ware made from argilla or creta figularfis and opus doliare for tiles and common earthenware. Of their use of tiles and bricks in architecture this is not the place to speak, except for the ornamental architectural details which come strictly under the heading of terracotta.
Ornamental tiles followed much on the lines of those used in Greece, whether roof-tiles or antefixal ornaments, though the latter are both simpler and inferior in design. Terracotta was largely used at Pompeii for this purpose, and also for gutters and well mouths. A characteristic feature of Pompeian houses is the trough like gutter which formed an ornamental cornice to the comp luv tum or open skylight of the atrium and peristyle; these were adorned with spouts in the form of masks or animals' heads, through which the rain-Water fell from the gutters into the impluvium. Some ood examples of roof-tiles and antefixal ornaments have also been found at Ostia.,
Terracotta mural decoration was also largely employed by the Romans for the interior and exterior of their buildings; in the form of slabs ornamented with reliefs hung on the walls or round the cornices. Cicero speaks of fixing the bas-reliefs (typos) “ on the cornice of his little atrium.” These slabs usually measure about I8 by 9 to 12 in., .anCl have nearly all been found in Rome, though isolated examples occur in other places. There is a series of 160 in the British Museum (Pl. II. fig. 6), whole or fragmentary nearly all of which were Collected at Rome by Charles Towneleyand there is another large collection in the Louvre, Others from the Baths of Caracalla are in various museums at Rome: These reliefs were pressed in moulds, as is shown by the frequent repetition of certain subjects with at most only slight differences; moreover the relief is low, with sharp and definite outlines such as a mould would produce. They were sometimes retouched before baking, hence the variations. Reliefs entirely modelled are much rarer, but some examples exist, of considerable artistic feeling and freedom. Circular holes are left in the slabs for the plugs by which they were attached in their places. The cla varies in quality and appearance, and in tone ranges from a pafe buff to a dark reddish-brown. Traces of colouring are sometimes found; backgrounds of a light blue, and figures or more commonly details such as hair being painted red, yellow, purple or white. These colours are painted in tempera, and their use is purely conventional. The slabs are usually ornamental, with cornices of egg-pattern and palmettos. or with an edging of open-work.
The fi ures are mostly in low relief, grouped with large, fiat surfaces iietween in the manner of contemporary Roman art; in some cases the whole groundwork is composed of patterns of scroll work or foliage, more or less conventionalized. The compositions consist either of narrow friezes with rows of Cu- ids or masks, or groups of two or three figures resembling tempfe-metopes. The style is in general bold and vigorous, and being essentially architectural it is not devoid of dignity and beauty. The known examples fall into two groups according to their treatment: (a) The naturalistic style, corresponding to the so-called" Hellenistic" reliefs of Augustan art; (b) the conventional, notto say archaistic, corresponding to the classicist tendencies of another school of Augustan artists represented by the “ New Attic” reliefs. Both groups find close parallels in the metal-work and pottery of this period, to which date they may therefore be assigned. The subjects cover a very wide field. Many are no doubt inspired by well-known works of art;= others are closely related to the “ New Attic” types, including dancing and frenzied maenads or the seasons. Others again, reflecting the spirit of the time, reproduce Egyptian landscapes. Scenes from the circus or arena, or quasi-historical subjects, such as triumphs over barbarians, again illustrate favourite themes of Roman Imperial art. Of mythological subjects, the most popular are Dionysiac scenes, Satyrs gathering and pressing grapes, and Victory slaying a bull; while heroic legends are also represented. Of -a more conventional type are figures of Cupids carrying wreaths, priestesses sacrificing, or single figures surrounded by elaborate scrolls. Roman Sculpture in Terracotta.-Frequent allusions in classical writers indicate that the ancient statues of the Romanswere mostly of terracotta, and Pliny notes that even in his day statuettes of clay were still preferred for temples. There are also references to signa fctilia placed on pediments of buildings such as the Capitoline temple. As noted in the previous section, during the greater part of the Republic, Rome was indebted for these to Etruscan artists, but the style of the figures was probabl more Greek than Etruscan. In 493 B.C. Gorgasus and Damophilus of Himera in Sicily ornamented with terracotta reliefs and figures the templeiof Ceres (now Santa Maria in Cosmedin). Towards the end of the Republic modellers in clay are mentioned, such as Possis, who imitated grapes and other fruit, and the sculptor Arcesilaus. But their work in this material appears to have been confined to models for scul ture or metal work, and the invasion of the masterpieces of Greek art and the general adoption of marble by sculptors led to the neglect of terracotta as a medium of the glyptic arts. Few statues of any size in this material now exist, but there is an interesting series in the British Museum, found in a well near Porta Lati-na at Rome in 1767, restored by Nollekens, and acquired by Charles Towneley. Some terracotta hgures of considerable size were found at Pompeii, having formed the cult-statues of a temple; others were employed for adorning gardens, like the series from Rome just mentioned. Terracotta figures were also employed as architectural members of the caryatid type. All these belong to the Augustan and succeeding period, or at least are not later than the reign of Nero.
Terracotta statuettes similar in style to those' of Greece are also found in houses and tombs of the Roman period or as votive
