Etruscan Vase

This hand-colored engraving is from Giovanni Battista Passeri’s Picturae Etruscorum in Vasculis nunc primum in unum collectae, explicationibus, et dissertaionibus inlustrate …. The work was published in Rome by J. Zempel in 1767. The work illustrated vases from important collections across Italy, many from the Galleria Clementina of the Vatican Library. Most of these vases have since been lost, leaving the illustrations as important depictions of lost artifacts.

Passeri was an antiquarian who primarily focused on Etruscan civilisation. This work helped illuminate that the Etruscans were pioneers, artists, and inventors that often were overshadowed by the Romans.