Etruscan temple
The Etruscan temple (lat. Templum tuscanum ) is a widespread type of ancient temple architecture in Italy and the best-documented building form of the Etruscans to date .
Vitruvius architecture concept
For a long time, Vitruvius's information determined the image of the Etruscan temple: the buildings were clearly oriented on a podium with a flight of stairs , the ratio between the vestibule with Tuscan columns (pars antica) and the cella area (pars postica) was 1: 1; the rear area would have been divided into three parts and the ratio of length to width would have been 6: 5. In principle, this information applies to many Etruscan sacred buildings, however, in recent years in particular, more and more differently designed systems have been excavated.
Development and types
The earliest temples of the 6th century BC. BC consist of a single cult room, the roof of which is supported by two pillars in the middle ( Veji - Piazza d'Armi). Only since the late 6th century BC The Tuscan temples with a three-part rear tract, which shaped the Etruscan era (Veji - Portonaccio sanctuary, Orvieto - Belvedere temple , Pyrgi - temple A) , prevailed . In contrast to the Roman triad temple on the Capitol , however, only the middle room served as a cella for the worship of a single god; the function of the two tubular side rooms (alae) is disputed. The excavations of the last decades have also made other types of temples known in the Etruscan heartland. So you took from the Greek architecture borrowed Peripteroi (Pyrgi - Temple B), sacral building with surrounding portico ( Tolfa ), single-room places of worship with a temenos ( Bolsena - Poggio Casetta) and Etruscan temple with one or more Vorterrassen ( Tarquinia - Ara della Regina, Talamone - Talamonaccio).
architecture
The Etruscan temple usually stands on a stone, profiled podium , to which an outside staircase leads. Except for the foundation layers, it was made of wood and clay. To protect this ephemeral structure from wind and weather, the roof frame was clad with burned and painted terracotta panels. Frequent finds are the three-dimensional front tiles on the eaves ( Antefix ), various cladding panels and three-dimensional high reliefs ( Antepagmentum ) that served to protect the beam heads. In contrast to the Greek temple , the gable was up to the 3rd century BC. Open. Pliny reports that the buildings in the interior were often decorated with painted stucco reliefs, which has been archaeologically proven in part ( Falerii - Temple of Celle, Pyrgi - Temple A).
Aftermath
Builders and architectural theorists of the Renaissance, including Leon Battista Alberti and later Andrea Palladio , dealt intensively with the Tuscan column and the definition of a Tuscan order, which they associated with robustness, rigor and modesty. In the Grand Duchy of Tuscany , under the Medici, some new buildings from the 16th century were designed in the Tuscan style, such as B. the Uffizi loggia designed by Giorgio Vasari . Other modern buildings were designed entirely as Etruscan temples. These include the Tempietto of the Orsini family in the gardens of Bomarzo and the Church of Saint Paul in Covent Garden , London , which was built by Inigo Jones in the 18th century and represents the most faithful implementation of an Etruscan temple in the sense of Vitruvius.
Detailed view of the Uffizi Gallery's loggia
Tempietto of the Orsini family in the gardens of Bomarzo
Church of Saint Paul in Covent Garden, London
literature
- Stefan Steingräber: Etruria. Cities, sanctuaries, necropolises. Munich 1981 (Scientific travel guide through Etruria)
- Arvid Andrén: Architectural Terracottas from Etrusco-Italic Temples. Lund 1940/41
- Ambros Josef Pfiffig : Religio Etrusca. Graz 1975
- Giovanni Colonna (Ed.): Santuari d'Etruria. Milan 1985 (catalog of the Arezzo 1985 exhibition)