Monumenti “che non si notano” e architetture che “fanno scena”. Iconografia del potere in Etruria

Architecture is an infrequent subject in Etruscan imagery from its origins to the end of the fourth century BC. Drawing on the observation that individual architectural elements (e.g., doors and columns) appear more often than complex monuments or buildings, this article proposes that such features convey a particular attitude of individuals toward the surrounding space and its political management. In particular, the role of building-related elements in articulating the conceptual reality expressed by iconography suggests that, in the Etruscan world, architecture served primarily as a means to display human dominion over the environment through the institutionalised organisation of space, rather than as a display of strength or a programmatic staging of a man-made, urbanised world. Ultimately, it functioned as an instrument of ritual and bureaucratic order, expressing a system that prioritised norms over visual propaganda.