Tomb of the Augurs

The Tomb of the Augurs (Italian: Tomba degli Àuguri) is an Etruscan burial chamber so called because of a misinterpretation of one of the fresco figures on the right wall thought to be a Roman priest known as an augur. The tomb is located within the Necropolis of Monterozzi near Tarquinia, Lazio, Italy, and dates to around 530-520 BC. This tomb is one of the first in Tarquinia to have figural decoration on all four walls of its main or only chamber, as well as a painted ceiling. The wall decoration was frescoed between 530-520 BC by an Ionian Greek painter, perhaps from Phocaea, whose style was associated with that of the Northern Ionic workers active in Elmali. This tomb is also the apparent first time we see the depictions of funerary ritual take precedent over mythology. Many of the figures depicted in the frieze, specifically those on the left and front walls, have been lost as the frescos have deteriorated over time from exposure. The entrance wall has figures placed on it, yet because of deterioration, no one can say for certain who or what these figures are and the actions that they are depicting.

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