Institute of Classical Studies
Rome-London Lecture
Grotte Scalina: a new monumental Etruscan tomb near Viterbo
Vincent Jolivet
Rediscovered at the end of the XXth century, and systematically excavated since 2011, the Etruscan tomb of Grotte Scalina offers and outstanding example of hellenistic rock-cut architecture on the grand scale. The façade - with its two porticated storeys, connected by two staircases, and crowned by a pediment - seems to have been inspired by the propylea of palatial architecture known from Pella and Vergina in Macedonia. The early date of its construction, and the fact that there are no similar monuments in South Italy, suggest direct relationships between Etruria and the Macedonia of Philip II or Alexander the Great. But the great banqueting hall of Grotte Scalina, equipped with six beds, derives, in an unique monumental form, from traditional Etruscan funerary architecture.
In association with the British School at Rome
