Few towns like Tarquinia can boast such a high concentration of artistic masterpieces in relation to the size of its territory. And when speaking of art, the Etruscans and their great creativity immediately come to mind. You need only consider their tomb paintings, one of the marvels of Italic art; their sculpture, at its height in the powerful reclining figures on marble sarcophagi, which achieved an extraordinary realism for ancient art; and their vase painting, in which the Etruscans were masters. Their art, however, had been handed down to them by the Greeks who, during their sea travels, would land at the port of Gravisca—a first Greek, then Etruscan sanctuary-emporium—where there existed a temple dedicated to Hera, Demeter and Aphrodite, poetically named Turan, 'the Mistress', by the Etruscans.
The mythological scenes on Attic red-figure and black-figure vases continue to amaze visitors to the Etruscan National Museum of Tarquinia. The works of some of the most prestigious names in vase-painting are represented: Oltos, Kleophrades, Epiktetos, Phintias and Charinos, the author of the well-known rhyton, a vase in the form of a woman's head, with an enigmatic and subtly ironic gaze. Their bucchero workmanship enabled the Etruscans to produce extremely light, glossy black pottery fired at high temperature in charcoal kilns, giving full rein to their originality particularly in the finely embossed decorations.
Etruscan Tarquinia fell, as did many other cities, under the blow of Roman rule, but mediaeval Corneto, which came next in history, continued in the local, if moderate, production of pottery. Plates, bowls and jugs decorated with coats of arms, letters, portraits of personages, floral and animal motifs have been found in disposal pits used in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance to dispose of domestic refuse, including earthenware. The dominant colours were green, brown, red, yellow and cobalt blue on a white or ivory background.
Many of these finds are on exhibit at the Pottery Museum in the prestigious Palazzo dei Priori. The Museum is owned by the Società Tarquiniense d'Arte e Storia (Tarquinian Art and History Society), which set up an interesting collection of ceramics in 1993: a hundred pieces from the 'Giuseppe Cultrera' Collection dating from the 13th to the 18th century.
From mediaeval times up to the present, Tarquinia has been enriched by towers, buildings, secret gardens, monasteries, churches and portals; frescoes by Pastura, and paintings by Lippi, Romanelli and the school of Guido Reni. All go towards lending a somewhat artistic flavour to the town, a thing that is immediately sensed.
Over the centuries Tarquinia has retained its love of pottery, and even today local artists continue to create new forms and decorations, producing extremely refined objects. The art of vase making has of late greatly revived in artisan workshops in the town centre. Clay coming from the Necropolis and Acropolis is moulded into shape on a potter's wheel, and with the aid of modern techniques 'pots' as light as the original Etruscan ones are made. Etruscopolis is a suggestive reconstruction of the Etruscan world.
This enormous artistic heritage was rendered even more fascinating by the impassioned descriptions of the many writers who fell in love with it—from Dennis to Stendhal, Lawrence and Cardarelli—and grows in resonance with every cultural event, including the concerts which have now become a tradition. It has recently been enriched by a splendid statue, 'Memory of summer', by Emilio Greco and a few architectural projects by Paolo Portoghesi.
While Tarquinia is undeniably a tourist resort, many scholars and artists have also chosen it as their 'good retreat'. A set of both Italian and foreign painters, sculptors and architects has settled here, among which the greatest living surrealist painter, Sebastian Matta, who makes his home here from time to time, between one wandering and the next. He designed the mosaics of the piazza in front of the Town Hall and has lately, perhaps even playfully, taken up pottery.