Etruscan Wall Panel with an Athletic Trainer in the Getty Villa, July 2008

Wall Panel with an Athletic Trainer
Unknown
Etruscan, 520 - 510 B.C.
Terracotta
34 5/8 x 20 11/16 x 1 3/4 in.
96.AD.140

A youth holding a staff looks back over his shoulder on this Etruscan terracotta panel. The distinctive form of the staff--crooked with a forked top--distinguishes it as the emblem of a special office. It is similar to the staffs held by athletic trainers and officials frequently depicted on Greek vases. The fact that the youth turns to look behind him indicates that this panel was part of a larger scene, as does the truncated design of the palmette and ivy leaf chain border. This panel was probably one in a series depicting an athletic competition, a fitting decoration for an Etruscan tomb since funeral games honoring the dead were an integral part of Etruscan funerary ritual.

Etruscan public buildings and tombs were frequently elaborated with wall painting. In some instances, however, rather than being placed directly on the wall of a building, the painted decoration was applied to terracotta panels, which were then hung on the building. Such panels were frequently used at the city of Caere.

Text from: www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=35566