The hunt for the Tomb of the Blue Demons: the end of a tradition

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.