FRANÇOIS TOMB

Multisensory itinerary

Video guide (ISL International Sign Language) - Textual analisys (EN)

VIDEO GUIDE

International Sign Language

IN-DEPT ANALISYS

View of the Vulci Archaeological Park

The François Tomb was discovered in 1857 by the Florentine archaeologist Alessandro François in the Ponte Rotto necropolis at Vulci, in the province of Viterbo. After four weeks of excavation, François uncovered the entrance to a large tomb that had remained undisturbed since antiquity. Entering the chamber, he found the walls covered with extraordinary painted scenes. In a letter to fellow scholars, he described them as “so beautiful that they recalled the age of Botticelli and Perugino”—a comparison that reflects the vivid impression these images made, even after many centuries.

Vel Saties, founder of the François Tomb, and young Arnza

Carved into volcanic tufa, the underground tomb dates to the 4th century BCE and belonged to the aristocratic Saties family.
The plan shown on the left side of the table illustrates the layout of the François Tomb. A long entrance passage leads to a central atrium, from which several funerary chambers extend. Within these chambers are the stone benches where members of the family were laid to rest, together with the tablinum, the principal room of the tomb, which symbolically echoed the bedroom of the deceased. In Etruscan funerary architecture, the tablinum reproduced the most important room of the Etruscan house: the space traditionally associated with the head of the household. Here, the body of the deceased was placed, often on a kline (funerary bed) carved directly into the rock and surrounded by personal objects and funerary offerings.
The walls of the atrium and the tablinum were decorated with frescoes that rank among the finest surviving examples of Etruscan painting. At the upper level, a decorative frieze depicts real and mythical animals. Below, large narrative scenes present episodes and symbolic references connected with the city’s past, its identity, and figures from Greek mythology.
Together, these paintings show how the Etruscan elite used imagery to express memory, identity, religious beliefs, and connections with both local traditions and the wider Mediterranean world.

At the centre of the table are three high-relief scenes selected as some of the most significant images from the François Tomb.

The first bas-relief depicts Vel Saties, owner of the tomb, shown in profile and wearing a toga picta—a red mantle decorated with spiral motifs that symbolised the highest level of social status. Beside him stands the young Arnza, holding a bird in his hand. Some scholars have identified the bird as possibly a woodpecker, an animal considered sacred among several peoples of pre-Roman Italy. As a prophetic animal, the woodpecker was associated with strength and protection.
The scene reflects both the aristocratic status of the Saties family and a ritual act connected with divination. Through the interpretation of sacred signs, Vel Saties appears to seek knowledge of the future. The clothing and posture of Vel Saties emphasise his authority and reveal the close relationship between aristocratic power and religious practice in Etruscan society.

Celio Vibenna

The second relief depicts the liberation of Caelius Vibenna by Mastarna. At the centre of the composition are two figures: Caelius Vibenna (Caile Vipinas), shown bearded and naked, with his wrists still bound and his feet secured in stocks; and Mastarna (Macstrna), who, according to tradition, later became Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome.
Mastarna is shown cutting Caelius Vibenna’s bonds with his sword, freeing him from captivity. The scene recalls the alliance between Etruscan warriors and their conflicts with Rome. It also reflects the important connection between Vulci and early Italian history, preserving the memory of figures whose stories exist between Etruscan tradition and Roman historical accounts.

The third bas-relief, positioned below, represents the most dramatic scene in the tomb: the sacrifice of a Trojan prisoner. At the centre of the composition is Achilles, accompanied by two figures from the world of the dead: Vanth, the winged goddess with outstretched wings, and Charun, the blue guardian of the underworld holding his hammer.

In front of Achilles, seated on the ground, the first Trojan prisoner bends his head backwards and upwards, as if meeting the gaze of his executioner. For the Etruscans, the sacrifice of the Trojan prisoners by Achilles symbolised the connection between victory in war and duty towards the dead, linking the world of the living with the realm of the afterlife.
Vanth and Charun are not simply figures of terror, but representatives of cosmic order. They are present at the moment of death to ensure that events unfold according to the laws governing the universe.

Touch the fragment of tufa on the table beside the QR code to discover more about this remarkable material. Tufa is a volcanic stone with a porous texture. It is relatively easy to carve while also providing excellent insulating properties. Several varieties of this material were used in antiquity. In Etruscan tombs in the ancient region of Latium (modern Lazio), the most commonly used stones were peperino and nenfro. Both are compact and resistant volcanic materials, suitable for creating durable underground chambers and architectural structures.

The demon Charun

The lightbox on the right side of the table reproduces the profile of the most enigmatic figure from the scene of the Trojan prisoner’s sacrifice: Charun (Xaru), the Etruscan guardian of the underworld. Although his name recalls the Greek Charon, Charun represents a different figure.
Unlike Charon, the ferryman who transports souls to the land of the dead, Charun is the guardian of the threshold of the underworld, watching over the boundary between the world of the living and the realm of the dead.Charun is depicted with a grey-blue complexion, a hooked nose, horse-like ears and a long hammer in his hand.

His blue colour should not be understood as an artistic error or merely as a decorative choice. It is the colour traditionally associated by the Etruscans with death and the underworld. Through this distinctive appearance, Charun embodies the connection between human existence and the world beyond death.

The François Tomb is much more than a place of burial. It is a rare and precious testimony to the way the Etruscans understood death, memory, and family identity. Through its frescoes, we can read names, recognise faces, and follow myths shared with the Greek and Roman worlds, reinterpreted through an Etruscan perspective.
The tomb reveals a society that believed in both life and the afterlife, using painting as a powerful means of commemoration. Hidden within the tufa of Vulci, the tomb preserves an extraordinary Etruscan legacy.
Today, these images allow us to approach a civilisation whose remarkable achievements are still not widely known, despite the depth and beauty of its cultural heritage.

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