With his cloak billowing out behind him, a man leans over to fasten his sandal on the intaglio of this Etruscan scarab. His shield is propped behind him. The scarab is mounted on a gold hoop of twisted wire with the ends in the form of lion heads. The style of the carving on this intaglio, with drilled blobs and straight lines used to render figures that show few individual details, is frequently found on Etruscan scarabs in the 300s B.C.
Scarabs were introduced to Etruria in the later 500s B.C., first through Greek imports and then through emigrant Greek artists. In this period many Ionian artists, including gem carvers, fled Persian aggression in their homeland. Some went to Etruria, which was a stable and wealthy region. In Etruria the jewelry aspect of the scarab was emphasized: the beetle sits on a decorated plinth and its anatomy is carved in detail, usually with incised winglets and stippled heads. The scarab form remained in fashion into the late 400s and 300s B.C., long after it had passed out of favor in Greece.
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