Siena, San Galgano, and Florentine Masters

Posted on October 26, 2012 by admin

This week our BC group two mornings of guided tours into Florence. In Florence we visited Santa Trinita, the Dominican convent of San Marco, the Brancacci Chapel with its life of St. Peter by Masaccio, and the perfectly proportioned Santo Spirito church, designed by Brunelleschi with a crucifix by the 17-year old Michelangelo, It was so great to have an art historian guide, as otherwise I would have ended up walking right by alot of the more interesting pieces we saw.

On Friday we also took a nice day trip to Siena and San Galgano, the latter a former glorious monastery and major medieval pilgrimage site. It’s now a museum featuring a church with no roof and another beautiful little round church that seems like a honeycomb on the inside.

It is now officially Fall break for BC students in Italy, and everybody is off to the four winds. We Ramages are heading for France. I’ll post our story when we get back after break.

: Masaccio’s work on display in Florence’s Brancacci Chapel; here Christ points Peter and Peter points to Adam and Eve or mankind (far left) whom he has been commissioned to save

: Fra Angelico’s painting of St. Dominic adoring Christ on the cross, located in the courtyard cloister of San Marco

: Illuminated liturgical manuscript in huge font — the kind I need to read!

: Exhibit of colors used in making the many illuminated manuscripts on display in San Marco (lapis lazuli, the blue color above the book and to the right was the most expensive)

: San Lorenzo Church and Medici Chapels in Florence

: Joseph having a taste of Benedictine beer brewed by monks in St. Ben’s home town of Norcia

: Masaccio pushing the envelope by paining a bare baby bottom inside a church, located inside Florence’s Brancacci Chapel

: Inside the room where Cosimo de’ Medici retired at the end of his life of politics, located in Florence’s convent of San Marco. Note the three kings honoring Christ. Cosimo wanted to connect himself with this tradition of rich and powerful who were also friends with Christ.

: Fra Angelico’s Annunciation in the famous former Dominican convent of San Marco in Florence

: Fra Angelico’s Last Judgment, in the famous former Dominican convent of San Marco in Florence

: Cell of the excommunicated Dominican friar Savonarola, hung and burned by the people of Florence for his infamous doomsday preaching among other things

: Christ’s harrowing of Hell, painted by Fra Angelico as one of dozens of works he did inside the former cells of his brother friars

: Facade of Siena’s Gothic duomo

: Nave of Siena’s gorgeous duomo

: There is a room full of illuminated manuscripts like this on display in Siena’s duomo

: A wall-to-be of Siena’s cathedral. The Sienese had planned on expanding their church and making it the grandest in Italy. They had to abandon the project but left this wall up.

: Baptistery of Siena’s duomo, located below the church (a sliver of which you can see on the left)

: Saint Dominic church in Siena where one finds relics of St. Catherine’s head and the “discipline” she used to flagellate herself in reparation for the sins of the world

: San Galgano church, with no roof and windows any more

: What remains of the glorious Gothic church of San Galgano, here facing the altar and apse

: Julia on a grate in Galgano’s old monastery church, now in the open-air

: Inside of the honeycomb-looking chapel at San Galgano

: Galgano’s sword, which the local tradition holds to be the legendary Excalibur

: Chapel housing the sword plunged into a rock by Saint Galgano as he renounced war and worldly goods to become a hermit

: Ramages in Siena town square where the famous palio horse race is held

Etruscans, wine, old friends, and new saints

Posted on October 22, 2012 by admin

Though I was planning on a relatively laid back weekend for my family this, we ended up with on a rather action-packed journey that included the following highlights:

A day of wine, cheese, and sausage tasting along the streets of the Tuscan hill town of Montepulciano, located midway between Florence and Rome. For me the significance of the town lies in the fact that its cantinas are situated upon ancient Etruscan tombs and other layers of history which you can go down and see after tasting some wine (and perhaps before tasting another on your way out of the building!)
An beautiful cathedral and extensive Etruscan museum in the Tuscan town of Chiusi. The most striking part of this museum was its collection of funerary artifacts from 7th-9th centuries B.C. that still retained their color. When you see ancient ruins in color, it helps you imagine what alot of the marble and stone around the Mediterranean once looked like.
Roman connections: because of our Catholic faith, the big city of Rome sometimes seems much smaller. For example, at lunch on Sunday I found myself eating lunch with a classmate from grad school in Florida (now a prof in Rome), a classmate from undergraduate studies in Illinois (now a priest), and a girl I met while doing campus ministry in Kansas (now my wife). When in Rome, my experience has been that things like this almost inevitably happen.
Visiting a few Roman sites I don’t recall having ever entered before: Santa Maria degli Angeli church (formerly the baths of Diocletian), the Church of the Twelve Apostles (where St. Phillip and St. James the Less are buried), and the Casa Santa Maria (where wonderful nuns greet you to distribute canonization tickets, seminarians give tours around the grounds of the American church complex, and American priests are available for confession in English!) An added bonus at this last stop was entering the chapel to pray and having a priest saying a Novus Ordo mass in Latin facing ad orientem on a side altar. Beautiful.
Papal mass of canonization for seven saints, including two Americans (perhaps most notably the Native American Kateri Tekakwitha). At this mass Pope Benedict XVI also revived a couple old liturgical customs. Read this piece by Fr. John Zuhlsdorf for an interesting take on the significance of Benedict’s moves.

Us taking a photo of the Gesu ceiling from the mirror they provide for you to look at it above by looking, more easily, downwards

Heretics falling from the celing in the Gesu church of Rome–a great Jesuit Counter-Reformation statement

Santa Maria degli Angeli in Rome, formerly the baths of Diocletian

Banners of the newly canonized in front of St. Peter’s

Ramages at the canonization mass on Oct 21, 2012

Relic of St. Faustina’s heart in Santo Spirito church near the Vatican

Pope Benedict donning the fanon at the canonization mass of Kateri Tekakwitha and 6 other new saints

This sign says, “Etruscan percorino (cheese), aged under ashes’). The people of Montepulciano still use the Etruscan technique of aging all kinds of food under ash to preserve it

Looking down into cheese and meat aging rooms underneath a cantina and next to an Etruscan tomb

Beautiful cheeses in in Montepulciano

Tour of underground winery in in Montepulciano

Looking down into an Etruscan tomb underneath a cantina in Montepulciano

This cantina says “underground city” and it was not lying–you can walk a veritable city of Etruscan, Roman, and medieval ruins underneath after you taste your wine in Montepulciano

Etruscan and Roman carvings at the base of a palazzo in Montepulciano

One of many Etruscan carvings outside a palazzo in Montepulciano–this one of Medusa

Nice panorama of the vineyards below Montepulciano

City hall in Montepulciano — looks like that of Florence for a reason

The perpetually unfinished facade of Montepulciano’s cathedral

Cool 7th-century Etruscan urn

Etruscan funerary sphinx–these were not just for Egyptians

Etruscan terra cotta urn with mythological griffins (half-lion, half-bird). Incidentally, this theme was later taken up to depict the hypostatic union of God and man in Jesus

6th-century carved Etruscan friezes of Ulysess, Scylla, etc.

Etruscan tomb artifacts arranged as they would have been in the original tomb

Etruscan urn depicting the gates of the underworld–a favorite theme of mine to trace across cultures

Etruscan urn depicting Eteocles and Polynices, sons of Oedipus, engaged in mortal combat

Etruscan urn depicting the gates of the underworld–a favorite theme of mine to trace across cultures

Etruscan mice-breeding pot–they must have been a delicacy!

Crypt of the Twelve Apostles Church where Phillip and James the Less are buried

Exquisite Byzantine-style apse in Chiusi’s cathedral, showing scenes from the life of Mary (in particular the dormition at top center)

The best of two worlds: Montepulciano wine and cheese on the ground floor, and a “tomba Etrusca” underneath

Dante & Galileo

Posted on October 18, 2012 by admin

This Tuesday and Thursday the Ramages got to continue being students, this time at the school of Galileo and, once again, Dante. The first museum we visited was the Casa di Dante, which was not his actual house but near it. It documents the poet’s life before and after his exile and features some cool replicas of art inspired by the Comedy among other interesting artifacts germane to Dante and the Florence of his day.

The second museum, Florence’s Museo di Galileo, traces some of the most important scientific inventions of the past 500 years and contains numerous artifacts. It documents the invention of the telescope, microscope, thermometer, and modern globes–and then it also delves more deeply into Galileo’s unique contributions to the history of science. You can see the scientist’s very own telescopes, the first editions of his controversial and revolutionary books, and his fingers. Yes, his fingers. (His body, if you’re wondering, is across town in Santa Croce church)

: Facade of Santo Spirito church

: Dante meeting his beloved Beatrice in front of the church dedicated to his name

: The church nearby Dante’s house where he worshiped

: The first Catholic Jubilee, called in 1300, the year in which the Divine Comedy is set–very interesting background

: Interesting info on the Empire and the Papacy

: Info on Pope Boniface VIII, whom Dante lambasts at various points in the Comedy; Dante blamed his exile on Boniface’s political maneuvering

: Quote from the Inferno in which Dante manages to get Pope Boniface VIII–though still alive–in Hell with other corrupt popes

: Copy of the decree of Dante’s exile

: Background on the split within Dante’s own political party that got him from being ambassador to the pope to an exile from his own land

: Good info on the life of Dante from his exile until his death

: Illuminated manuscript of the Divine Comedy–they were already making these within forty years of Dante’s death, if not before

: Divine Comedy volumes with famous illustrations by Gustave Dore

: Charon, ferryman of the dead in Dante’s Inferno

: Dante and Virgil at the gate of Purgatory

: An armillary sphere–model of the Ptolemaic universe before it was overthrown by Galileo et al.

: Some of dozens of awesome globes on display in the Museo Galileo

: Bust of Galileo

: Galileo’s microscopes and lens

: Galileo’s fingers–relics of the “martyr for science”

: Galileo’s Geometric and Military Compass, with dedication to the great Medici duke Cosimo

: Inclined plane used to discover the constant nature of acceleration

: Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, a work which made a buffoon of the pope and his Ptolemaic worldview and a work that got him in big trouble

: Galileo’s drawings of the surface of the moon, a finding which scandalized believers and challenged the Aristotelian-Ptolemaic view that the “heavenly spheres” were perfect

: Colorful back side of Florence’s Ponte Vecchio, located right near the Galileo Science Museum

: Santo Spirito church in Florence–inside is a crucifix by Michelangelo which he donated in thanksgiving for the right to dissect cadavers from the site

: Excellent map of Hell in the Casa di Dante in Florence

: Rodin’s Gate of Hell, based off of scenes from Dante’s Inferno–we saw a replica of this in the Casa di Dante in Florence

I have a renewed interest in Galileo because I am a Pope Benedict scholar, and it various points he has brought up the scientific revolution instigated by Galileo with the revolution in biblical studies in the modern period. Below I post a couple quotes that illustrate the pope’s thinking and the connection he sees here.

Regarding the biblical account of creation, Benedict admits that for a long time we Catholics did in fact think of Genesis as a scientific account of the world’s creation in 6 days: â€œ[W]hen we are told that we have to distinguish between the images themselves and what those images mean, then we can ask in turn: Why wasn’t that said earlier? Evidently it must have been taught differently at one time or else Galileo would never have been put on trialâ€ (In the Beginning).

How are we to explain the apparent about-face in the Churchâ€™s view of Genesis 1-2 and its attitude toward the modern historical-critical method that revamped the old model? In an essay entitled â€œExegesis and the Magisterium of the Church,” then-Cardinal Ratzinger once wrote, “The process of intellectual struggle over these issues had become a necessary task can in a certain sense be compared with the similar process triggered by the Galileo affair. Until Galileo, it had seemed that the geocentric world picture was inextricably bound up with the revealed message of the Bible, and that champions of the heliocentric world picture were destroying the core of Revelation. It became necessary fully to reconceive the relationship between the outward form of presentation and the real message of the whole, and it required a gradual process before the criteria could be elaboratedâ€¦Something analogous can be said with respect to history. At first it seemed as if the ascription of the Pentateuch to Moses or of the Gospels to the four individuals whom tradition names as their authors were indispensable conditions of the trustworthiness of Scripture and, therefore, of the faith founded upon it. Here, too, it was necessary for the territories to be re-surveyed, as it were; the basic relationship between faith and history needed to be re-thought. This sort of clarification could not be achieved overnight.”

Hopefully these two quotes are as thought-provoking for you as they are for me. I have an entire talk dedicated to the problem of how to reconcile the church’s former and present attitudes towards modern biblical criticism–the problem raised here by Benedict and which was brought to light precisely through the efforts of such geniuses a Galileo.

History & Beauty in the Five Lands, Lucca, & Fiesole

Posted on October 16, 2012 by admin

This post is eclectic, much like our travels over the past week. In the past several days, we took day trips from to the beautiful walled city of Lucca as well as to the ancient Etruscan and Roman city of Fiesole, just north of Florence. Over the weekend we Ramages celebrated our 5th-anniversary in Italy’s lovely Cinque Terre (“Five Lands”). These are five picturesque port towns on Italy’s west coast, once hidden gems but now widely known for great hiking and beautiful panoramas. While the first two towns I mentioned unveiled alot of history to us, the Cinque Terre are unabashedly all about the beauty of the small Italian sea towns.

Highlights of the week:

Fiesole’s surprisingly well-preserved Roman and Etruscan ruins, some dating back to the 8th century B.C. From a fairly short bus ride from our villa, you can go here to see a Roman amphitheater, Roman baths, a Roman/Etruscan temple, and a great museum with Etruscan urns, votive offerings, and more. I am currently fascinated by the Etruscan civilization, as its origin remains somewhat a mystery to scholars
Great anniversary dinner in Fiesole with kids at the babysitter
Lucca’s San Giovanni church with magnificent excavations underneath. You can literally walk through about 6 layers of history in this place–from the Roman to later Roman to early Christian to early medieval Christian to later medieval Christian to somewhat modern Christian
Lucca’s beautiful streets and churches, with a wonderful walk one can take atop the medieval walls still intact around the entire city
Walking the beautiful towns and coastline of the Cinque Terre and nearby Porto Venere. We saw 5 small towns in two days, all of which are connected by a combination of boats, paths, and trains.
A wonderful 5th anniversary dinner in the Cinque Terre in which we feasted on wine and fresh seafood with a toddler who behaved the best I’ve ever seen her at a meal and an infant who slept through it–thanks be to God!

Then there were two “dark” sides to the trip from which we thankfully emerged victorious. First was a typical, unannounced Italian train strike that almost left us stranded for an extra day in the Cinque Terre. By the grace of God, we managed to get out of our town of Riomaggiore and landed at Porto Venere on the only boat leaving that day. We subsequently catch a couple trains connecting us from Porto Venere to La Spezia to Pisa and finally to Florence (these were some of the few trains that happened to not be on the strike that day, and again we caught them by the grace of God). We arrived in Florence’s Santa Maria Station, caught a mass at the church of the same name outside the station, and then two buses back to our villa for Sunday dinner. Alot of work at the end of our weekend trip, but a bigger blunder avoided. Typical Italian travel story.

The second “dark” side to our week? Finishing our lovely pre-anniverary dinner in Fiesole on Thursday, we came down to the town center at about 9 pm to catch our bus, only to find the piazza closed. Closed. Why were there a bunch of EMTs and police offers out there? There happened to be an unpublicized pro bike race that night, and it literally blocked the only street that leads from Florence to Fiesole. Thus the bus we needed to return home to relieve our babysitter–as well as all potential taxis–were blocked from town until the race was over. Long story short, after asking a bunch of people what to do and ending up empty-handed, we started walking in the rainy black night down the road to Florence with bikers and their chase cars on whizzing by us in the opposite direction. After a while, we passed by the last bike, and we hailed a taxi which by the grace of God passed us. We ended up back to the babysitter about 1.5 hours late and 20 euros poorer, but at least we made it–and the kids were asleep.

So to conclude: traveling in Italy is great, but it is also work that builds virtue or at least can. Until next time, continue to enjoy the history and beauty in the photos below.

: Kilns behind the 5th-century church now under San Giovanni in Lucca; they had to mix the materials to build the church somewhere close–and in this case we happen to see precisely where it was done (right out back)

: Looking from the back of the 5th-century church underneath San Giovanni in Lucca. (floor visible on right) towards its apse and altar (rear)

: Beautiful sample of a 1st-century Roman mosaic at the bottom level of San Giovanni in Lucca. Other levels above this include a 2nd-century Roman bath and gym, a 5th century paleo-Christian church, and a medieval church built in several phases

: Several layers of baptistery sitting under the current baptistery in San Giovanni in Lucca

: The current church of San Giovanni in Lucca

: Julia trying to climb the bell tower of San Giovanni in Lucca

: Another simple but cool church facade in Lucca

: Cool Pisan-Romanesque church of S. Michele in Lucca. The coolest thing about this for me was the presence of many unmatching pillars across the facade

: Piazza where Lucca’s amphitheater used to lie–you can still see its outline in the buildings’ curvature

: Famous Luccan tower with little park on top

: Cool Pisan-Romanesque church facade in Lucca

: Franciscan convent atop Fiesole

: Entrance to the baths in Fiesole

: Plan of the Roman baths in Fiesole

: Marvelously preserved “small” 3,000-person amphitheater in Fiesole

: Side view of the temples in Fiesole

: Plan of the temples in Fiesole

: Remains of the Etruscan and Roman temple in Fiesole. In the very front, a Roman altar; behind it, the older etruscan one; in the rear, steps which led up to the temple

: Plan of the amphitheater in Fiesole

: Famous votive offering to the owl–symbolizing the goddness of wisdom, Minerva. The owl was used b/c it was believed to possess all-encompassing vision (it could turn its head 360 degrees, has huge eyes, and can see at night)

: This votive offering is famous–can’t remember why

: Remains of Fiesole’s temple facade, now safely stored in its museum

: Skeleton of a Lombard man (invader of the Roman empire from the North) found in Fiesole and featured along with its Etruscan and Roman artifacts.

: Candle holder featuring the god Helios (sun god)

: Votive offerings of legs found in the temple at Fiesole; the people apparently had alot of maladies affecting the legs

: Votive offering with an arm cut off. This was not by accident; rather, people would place these offerings in temples and pray that an illness (or a missing arm, in this case) would be healed.

: Greek vases numbering among the many great artifcats in Fiesole’s museum

: One of countless mini votive offerings unearthed at the Etruscan temple site in Fiesole. This one is characteristic with the man holding a pomegranate (left hand) and having his other hand facing down toward the underworld. The goddess Persephone, linked in mythology with this fruit, was worshiped here alongside many other deities–first by Etruscans and later by Romans

: Unique Etruscan writing on an urn in Fiesole’s museum

: I love it when the wine menu (left) is much bigger than the dinner menu (right). Gotta love Italy.

: The duomo of Florence at night from our restaurant overlooking town

: Dinner at Reggio degli Etruschi, overlooking Florence from Fiesole

: Dinner at Reggio degli Etruschi, overlooking Florence from Fiesole

: Beautiful presentation of our pre-anniversary dinner for which he had a babysitter for the first time in I don’t know when

: Pre-anniversary dinner in Fiesole, doing the traditional dip of biscotti in vinsanto (“holy wine”)

: Card showing the 6 layers of history excavated under the current church of San Giovanni in Lucca

: Altar of the 5th-century church of S. Reparata below the current church of San Giovanni in Lucca

: Vernazza harbor

: Looking back at Riomaggiore on our way to catch a boat that transfers people from town to town in the 5 Terre

: Little church right outside our hotel lobby’s entrance

: View outside our hotel room

: Cool galleria running from Riomaggiore’s train station to our hotel area on the marina

: Looking down on the city of Vernazza after climbing up to its tower (right) with 2 babies and a stroller. We were rightly called both brave and crazy by passers-by.

: Marina of Vernazza

: Intimate marina of Riomaggiore at dusk

: 5th Anniversary Dinner next to our hotel looking out on the marina of Riomaggiore

: Walking along the sea in Monterosso

: Facade of St. John the Baptist Church in Monterosso

: St. John the Baptist Church in Monterosso

: Facade of Monterosso’s Oratory of the Confraternity of Death and Prayer

: Monterosso Oratory of the “Confraternity of Death and Prayer,” a lay movement begun after the Reformation dedicated to burial and prayer for the dead

: Rustic bridge in Manarola

: Looking down on the train and coastline from a scenic viewpoint in Manarola

: Looking straight down from a typical staircase in the 5 Terre

: Thought this would be a nice picture with the Cross overlooking the sea–but the kids didn’t think so!

: Manarola viewed from a path winding along and above the sea

: St. Peter in Porto Venere with national park entrance to the right

: Approaching St. Peter in Porto Venere

: Inside of St. John the Baptist Church in Riomaggiore

: St. John the Baptist Church in Riomaggiore

: Landscape of Riomaggiore with St. John the Baptist Church (left)

: Looking back on the city of Riomaggiore from our boat

: View of the Church of St. Peter as we approached the harbor in Porto Venere

: Nice church near the train station in La Spezia, featuring the region’s characteristic dark-white striped church pattern

: Church of St. Peter overlooking the harbor in Porto Venere–the earth-toned brick ceiling with the dark/light walls makes a delightful scene

: Ramages walking the shops of the medieval port Porto Venere

In the Footsteps of Francis and Benedict

Posted on October 8, 2012 by admin

Yesterday our BC group returned from a splendid trip to the region of Umbria where we walked in the steps of Francis of Assisi and Benedict of Norcia. In addition to visiting these two places of pilgrimage, we were able to browse the towns and country around them, including a visit to the mountain region of Castelluccio and the historic city of Perugia.

Among the highlights from the trip for me:

Praying in the places where these great saints–so crucial to the Church and Western civilization–lived and ministered.
Walking the peaceful small towns and tasting of their culinary delights–in particular local salami, sausage, and cheese
An encounter with ruins of the ancient Etruscan civilization in Perugia–I hadn’t expected this and learned a great deal from our guide, Franceso.
Climbing our way (in the bus) up the Umbrian mountains and getting out to take in the vast panoramas they provide. Our group thus got to enjoy some natural beauty straight from the hand of God in addition to taking in the man-made beauty of the local towns.
A visit to the Benedictine Church of San Miniato al Monte, located atop a huge hill overlooking Florence. This was not part of our group trip; rather, the Ramages made this trek the day before leaving. It is a splendid medieval church that is intricately appointed without being overdone. It also has a sacristy that treats the entire life of St. Benedict in art.

It was great for my family to travel to these places with our local guide, as some of these sites are not on the standard tourist/pilgrim itinerary yet remain well worthy of a stop.

: Close-up of Benedict casting out a demon–from the sacristy of San Miniato in Florence

: Another beautiful sunset with Duomo (left) from outside our residence

: Joseph with Olio Santo–this “holy oil” is what the Italians call the glorious product that ensues when olive oil is marinated with crushed red pepper.

: Panoramic view of Florence from the famous Piazzale Michelangelo with Duomo (between us) and Santa Croce (right)

: Facade of San Miniato in Florence

: Crypt of San Miniato, with various types of columns recycled from Roman buildings

: Unfinished fresco in San Miniato, revealing an earlier step in the process by which artists created their masterpieces

: Unique baldacchino of the Benedictine Church of San Miniato in Florence

: The Benedictine Church of San Miniato in Florence–view from above the altar

: Well-preserved Roman temple that surprises you as you walk down the quaint streets of Assisi

: Facade of the church of St. Claire

: Assisi view from the church of St. Claire

: Church of St. Clare with the famous San Damiano crucifix in the rear

: Jen in front of the olive groves on the path down from the old town of Assisi to S. Maria degli Angeli below

: San Damiano, site where St. Claire lived, fended off Muslim invaders with the Eucharist, and died

: Franceso teaching our group about Francis’ poetry. He was one of the very first Italians to write poetry in the vernacular rather than in Latin

: Santa Maria degli Angeli

: Stone ground where St. Francis used to sleep

: Facade of Santa Maria degli Angeli where Francis died. Located within the church is another small church, the famous Portiuncola

: Beautiful path down to the church of St. Felix in the countryside

: Entrance to Benedict’s church in Norcia indicating that the saint is the head patron of all of Europe

: Crypt in Norcian church in the site where the boy Benedict once lived

: Crypt of St. Felix church with the local saint’s relics

: Former stable, present dining room of a hotel that was once the monastery of St. Felix

: Julia selling us drinks in a park in Visso

: Cool unfinished facade of Perugia’s Dominican church

: Second-largest stained-glass window in Italy, located in Perugia’s Dominican church

: Tomb of Pope Benedict XI, whom many think was poisoned here in Perugia. When he died, French leaders happened to be in town, and then the pope (Clement V) immediately elected in the ensuing conclave happened to be French, and then he happened to move the papacy to Avignon, France

: Etruscan tombs discovered one day in Perugia when a guy gardening fell dozens of feet into the ground and landed among them

: Close-up of the inscription on the Etruscan tomb–it reads right to left (like Semitic languages), but it has Latin/Greek-style letters. The origins of the Etruscans remain a mystery to historians.