Frederik Poulsen

Etruscan Tomb Paintings (Facsimile Reprint) Frederik Poulsen

From Ralph Van Deman Magoffin's 1922 review in Art and Archaeology: "The book here under review, although very brief, is of particular importance because it contains forty-seven clear plate figures, and especially because its author is the Keeper of the classical department of the Ny Carlsberg Museum in Copenhagen, where are the facsimiles and drawings of many wall paintings of Etruscan tombs made some thirty years ago. "Poulsen has followed the correct method of chronological comparison of style and matter, giving extraneous influence on technique and decorative detail a proper but subordinate place. He finds in the Tomba Campana at Veii ornamentation like that of seventh century B. C. Greek vases, where no narrative element is present. He then traces the development of style and content through various tombs, identifying scenes from Greek myths with certain variations. "These two types of decoration had their vogue before strictly funeral scenes began to appear in the tomb wall paintings, and in the verve of the work, and in the richness of accessories to banquet, funeral processions and ceremonies, Poulsen sees a corresponding Etruscan military, political, and social greatness. "The translation into English by Ingebord Anderson-for the book was originally published in 1919 in Danish as a Museum guide-is excellent."