Working together to promote awareness and valorization of Tarquinia’s archeological heritage

Abstract

The contribution analyzes the figurative program of the Tomb of the Blue Demons. It illustrates the culture of an oligarch on the verge of the end of a regime inaugurated three generations before, particularly aiming to explain the role attributed to the dual hunting scene on the entrance wall. This hunting scene represents the final installment in a series found in a relatively small number of graves from the 6th and 5th centuries BC, typically not occupying prominent positions. In Etruria, hunting has historically served as an accessory component of the dominant culture, essentially rare, and, unlike in the Tomb of the Blue Demons, mostly confined to secondary representations. It is not coincidental that until the advanced imperial age, hunting was not considered a demonstrative activity of the core of the patrician ideology, which was instead occupied by military and warrior virtue. From this perspective, the patron of the frescoes in the Demoni Azzurri grave can aptly be described as a “man in the middle of the ford”. Consequently, he can be linked to the past and its rituals (triumphus, convivium, and hunting experiences) while simultaneously being open to Greek eschatological perspectives.