New insights on the reception of Etruscan antiquity in the modernist period. “L’Étrurie est à la mode”, French archaeologist Salomon Reinach bluntly stated in 1927. Since the beginning of the nineteenth century, Etruria had not only been attracting the attention of archaeologists and specialists of all sorts, but it had also been a fascinating and, in some cases, captivating destination for poets, novelists, painters and sculptors from all over Europe. This volume deals with the impact of the constantly expanding knowledge on the Etruscans and their mysterious civilisation on Italian, French, English, and German literature, arts and culture, with particular regard to the modernist period (1890–1950). The volume brings a distinctive point of view to the subject by approaching it from an interdisciplinary and comparative perspective, and by looking at a quite diverse range of topics and artefacts, which includes, but is not limited to, the study of drawings, art works, travel essays, novels, cooking recipes, schoolbooks, photographs, and movies. By exploring a new paradigm to understand ancient cultures, beyond the traditional ideas and models of “reception of the classics”, and by challenging the alleged fracture between the so-called “two cultures” of humanities and natural sciences, Modern Etruscans will be of interest to scholars from various disciplines. Designed as a learning tool for university courses on the interplay between literature and science in the twentieth century, it is suited as recommended reading for students in the humanities. “L’Étrurie est à la mode”, French archaeologist Salomon Reinach bluntly stated in 1927. Since the beginning of the nineteenth century, Etruria had not only been attracting the attention of archaeologists and specialists of all sorts, but it had also been a fascinating and, in some cases, captivating destination for poets, novelists, painters and sculptors from all over Europe. This volume deals with the impact of the constantly expanding knowledge on the Etruscans and their mysterious civilisation on Italian, French, English, and German literature, arts and culture, with particular regard to the modernist period (1890–1950). The volume brings a distinctive point of view to the subject by approaching it from an interdisciplinary and comparative perspective, and by looking at a quite diverse range of topics and artefacts, which includes, but is not limited to, the study of drawings, art works, travel essays, novels, cooking recipes, schoolbooks, photographs, and movies. By exploring a new paradigm to understand ancient cultures, beyond the traditional ideas and models of “reception of the classics”, and by challenging the alleged fracture between the so-called “two cultures” of humanities and natural sciences, Modern Etruscans will be of interest to scholars from various disciplines. Designed as a learning tool for university courses on the interplay between literature and science in the twentieth century, it is suited as recommended reading for students in the humanities. 9 Introduction Chiara Zampieri, Martina Piperno and Bart Van den Bossche 23 Etruscans, Victorians, and After: The Modern Sense of Beauty Francesca Orestano 43 The ‘Walking Apollo’: From Archaeological Dissemination to Literary Knowledge Chiara Zampieri 63 Cooking by the Book: Travel Writing and Etruscan Food Culture in the Interwar Period Bart Van den Bossche 81 Etruscans in Unexpected Places: Space, Temporality and Visual Agency Lisa C. Pieraccini 97 The Demonisation of the Etruscans: From Alfred Grünwedel to German Schoolbooks Martin Miller 115 Mr Lawrence and Lady Larthia: D. H. Lawrence as an Apprentice Etruscologist Marie-Laurence Haack 127 Etruscan Studies and the Infernal Landscape in Vincenzo Cardarelli’s prose d’arte Gennaro Ambrosino 147 The Problem of Distance: Giorgio Bassani, The Etruscans and the Limits of Compassion Martina Piperno 163 A Compromised Antiquity: The Post-war Italian Rejection of the Etruscan Past Andrea Avalli 181 About the Authors 185 Index