Etruscan, life size, mounted, terracotta goddess head, 600-500 BC. Height with stand: 10 inches = 25.4 cm. Width: 5.25 inches = 13.33 cm. Life-size terracotta female head depicted with a curly updo, naturalistic facial features, deeply set eyes and high cheek bones. Some remaining traces of a red-brown surface pigment. Missing the upper left side of her head; and ancient loss to the tip of her nose. Mounted on an old homemade display base. Provenance: Brooklyn collection. Acquired from Emmanuel Tiliakos, MA. Purportedly from an early 20th century collection. Reference: Etruscan sculpture was one of the most important artistic expressions of the Etruscan people, who inhabited the regions of Northern Italy and Central Italy between about the 9th century BC and the 1st century BC. Etruscan art was largely a derivation of Greek art, although developed with many characteristics of its own.[1] Given the almost total lack of Etruscan written documents, a problem compounded by the paucity of information on their language—still largely undeciphered—it is in their art that the keys to the reconstruction of their history are to be found, although Greek and Roman chronicles are also of great help. Like its culture in general, Etruscan sculpture has many obscure aspects for scholars, being the subject of controversy and forcing them to propose their interpretations always tentatively, but the consensus is that it was part of the most important and original legacy of Italian art and even contributed significantly to the initial formation of the artistic traditions of ancient Rome.[2][3] The view of Etruscan sculpture as a homogeneous whole is erroneous, there being important variations, both regional and temporal.[4] The Etruscans were very accomplished sculptors, with many surviving examples in terracotta, both small-scale and monumental, bronze, and alabaster. However, there is very little in stone, in contrast to the Greeks and Romans. Terracotta sculptures from temples have nearly all had to be reconstructed from a mass of fragments, but sculptures from tombs, including the distinctive form of sarcophagus tops with near life-size reclining figures, have usually survived in good condition, although the painting on them has usually suffered.