Alessandro François (1796–1857) was an Italian archaeologist. He was also a scholar, artist, engineer, and war commissioner of the Grand Duke of Tuscany in the mid-19th century.

Biography

Throughout his life, François undertook a number of occupations, including as a mining engineer. After travelling widely in his youth, François decided in 1825 to excavate

Etruscan __NOTOC__ Etruscan may refer to: Ancient civilization *The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy *Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization **Etruscan architecture **Etruscan art **Etruscan cities **Etruscan ...

sites, including Cosa,

Cortona Cortona (, ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Arezzo, in Tuscany, Italy. It is the main cultural and artistic centre of the Val di Chiana after Arezzo. Toponymy Cortona is derived from Latin Cortōna, and from Etruscan 𐌂𐌖𐌓� ...

, Volterra, Fiesole, Vetulonia, Populonia, Chiusi and Vulci. He discovered several black-figure vase fragments in 1844 at Fonte Rotelle near Chiusi. He discovered more fragments in 1845, and the pieces were assembled into a complete vase of the highest quality, subsequently named after him, which was purchased by

Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany Leopold II( it, Leopoldo Giovanni Giuseppe Francesco Ferdinando Carlo, german: Leopold Johann Joseph Franz Ferdinand Karl, English: ''Leopold John Joseph Francis Ferdinand Charles''. (3 October 1797 – 29 January 1870) was Grand Duke of Tusc ...

, in 1846 for the Uffizi Gallery. In 1857, François discovered a spectacular painted Etruscan tomb, which has also been named after him. François created his own excavation society and kept his finds in his home in Florence. Numerous attempts to found a museum to house his finds failed, despite his appealing to potential sponsors in Italy and to the French government. François fell ill and died in 1857. He left no published writing.

Discoveries

The François Vase

François found the large

Attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...

volute krater in 1844 near Chiusi in one of his most famous excavations, and it takes its name from him. This masterpiece of black-figure pottery is the work of Ergotimos (potter) and Kleitias (painter), and is dated to circa 560-550 BCE. It measures in height and in maximum circumference; on it are represented, on horizontal bands,

mythological Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

figures and Homeric episodes.

The François Tomb

Tomba Francois - Liberazione di Celio Vibenna

Another important find by François was the

tomb at Vulci, Lazio which also takes his name. The tomb is decorated with paintings representing battles between Romans and Etruscans, and scenes of execution of Trojan prisoners. One of the figures in the tomb represents Mastarna (a legendary figure whom the Emperor

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Nero Claudius Drusus, Drusu ...

identified with Servius Tullius).

References

Bibliography

* ''Il vaso François'' (The François Vase), Antonio Minto, Firenze, Leo Olschki, 1960 * ''François, Alessandro'', Encyclopedia of the History of Classical Archaeology, Nancy Thomson de Grummond, ed. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1996, vol. 1, pp. 461–62

External links

* * * Italian archaeologists Archaeologists from Florence Linguists of Etruscan 1796 births 1857 deaths {{Italy-archaeologist-stub