Etruscans

• Examples of Etruscan art have been found primarily in their tombs.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Etruscans lived in city-states connected by a common language and religion, which centered on divination to determine the will of the gods. Because of their plentiful mineral resources and fertile farms, Etruscans traded products throughout the Mediterranean world, importing and being influenced by art pieces from Greece. Their art is known from their elaborate tombs which contained walls painted with outdoor scenes, banquets and funeral events, Greek painted pottery, Etruscan bronze work and amber carvings.
  
  

Etruscans Influence

• The Etruscans inroduced the Romans to wall paintings.Hemera Technologies/AbleStock.com/Getty Images
  
  Rome conquered the Etruscan city-states by the third century B.C. Thereafter, the Etruscans influenced Roman funeral portraits and temple architecture. Under Etruscan influence, Romans learned to cast sculpture in bronze, erected their first temples and learned about wall painting and such key architectural elements as vault and arch construction. Perhaps most importantly, the Etruscans, because of their importation of Greek art objects, initially exposed Rome to Greek art.
  
  

Greeks

• The Greek god Apollo, typical of the sculpture Romans carried out of Greece.Photos.com/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  By the late eighth century B.C., the Greeks colonized areas around the Aegean Sea and the Mediterranean, widely disseminating their art. When they were conquered by the Romans in 200 B.C., Roman generals plundered Greek cities and brought back huge quantities of Greek art to Rome. Greek artists flocked to Rome to sculpt and paint for wealthy Romans. They also trained Roman artists.
  
  

Greek Influence

• Aphrodite, goddess of love, was one of the many Greek gods and goddesses later sculpted by the Romans.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images
  
  Greek artists in Rome designed buildings and sculpted, highly influencing Roman art. Roman artists copied Greek statues of gods and goddesses, sculpting them as an ideal of beauty in natural human forms. In architecture, the Romans took the classic Corinthian form from the Greeks, although they developed their own architecture styles soon after. Roman clay vessels often imitated the Greeks, with mythological themes etched on many of them.