Etruscan and Roman Art

This module primarily focuses on the Romans but also introduces the Italic people who occupied central Italy before the Romans, the Etruscans. The influence and modernity of Roman civilization is everywhere evident in our world today. In Europe their architectural remains are visible in countless cities and dot the countryside. Rome’s engineering skills were unsurpassed and are still evident in monuments like the Colosseum and the Pantheon. Rome’s leaders knew the power of visual communication and shamelessly employed it for their own ends. In portraits and relief sculpture the viewers read a carefully crafted image that conveyed exactly what the rulers wanted. While great innovators, Roman art borrowed heavily from the Greeks and the Etruscans.