Reply To: Women in Art

[Laura Barber]

Unlike Roman and Greek cultures, men and women often dined and socialized together in the Etruscan Period. This is most clearly displayed by the Cerveteri Sarcophagus, which depicts a man and a woman reclining together, as was common at banquets of the time. Another prime example of women’s elevated place in society is evident in the Sarcophagus of Latin Tetnies and Thanchvil Tarnai, where a husband and wife are depicted embracing each other under the cover of a sheet. The fact that both were present on the sarcophagus and depicted as equals (as shown by their equivalent size and placement in the sculpture) is significant in the Etruscan culture’s view of women.