Men's and women's hairstyles in Etruscan painting: some reflections

Abstract

In the various papers devoted to fashion and costume in
the Etruscan world sometimes we finds sporadic information about the hairstyles in vogue in the various periods, especially in relation to the female world. Larissa
Bonfante in her 1975 volume Etruscan Dress devoted a
chapter of a few pages to this topic, making interesting
observations on the evolution of hairstyles in relation to
the Greek world as well. However, since his contributions
are addressed to clothing in general, there are obviously
not many references, while the subject deserves an even
more systematic analysis of the evidence. This paper will
examine the Tarquinian wall paintings, which not only
offer a broad overview of the subject, but above all allow
the issue to be analysed in relation to contexts of a somewhat ‘narrative’ nature, which allow an evaluation of the use of different hairstyles in relation to the role and rank of the subjects represented and the context of reference. Interesting reflections emerge, not only on the evolution of fashion, but above all on the use of dyes, wigs, false beards and hairstyles in relation to particular religious aspects.