Tomb of Hunting and Fishing, Etruscan tomb in Necropolis of Monterozzi, Italy.
The Tomb of Hunting and Fishing is an Etruscan burial chamber in the Monterozzi necropolis near Tarquinia, in Tuscany. It consists of several rooms whose walls are almost entirely covered with painted frescoes dating to the 6th century BCE.
The chamber was built in the 6th century BCE and uncovered by archaeologists in 1873. It is among the oldest painted tombs in the necropolis and has contributed greatly to our understanding of Etruscan funerary painting.
The painted walls show fishermen on small boats, hunters with dogs, and guests at a banquet. These images give a direct sense of how the Etruscans spent their time away from work and how they celebrated together.
Access is through the National Etruscan Museum in Tarquinia, which runs a shuttle to the necropolis. The chamber is underground, so it is worth bringing a light layer as the rooms tend to be cooler than outside.
One of the frescoes shows a young man diving from a cliff into the sea, a scene that appears almost nowhere else in Etruscan art. What makes it striking is that it seems to capture a passing moment of pleasure rather than any ritual or ceremony.
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