The cities and cemeteries of Etruria . 211. 4 For an account of these tombs in the :i Similar figures are to he seen in a Villa Inghirami, see Lull. Inst. 1862, pp. painted tomb at Chiusi. See Chapter 64, 207-213. chap, xliii.] BUOHE DEI SAEAOINI. L59 curly date. Another tradition ascribes their formation to theSaracens, once, the scourges, and at the same time the bugbears of the Italian const. Though these infidel pirates were wont tomake descents on these shores during the middle ages, carryingoff plunder and women, they were often creatures of romancerather than of reality; every trace of
The cities and cemeteries of Etruria . 211. 4 For an account of these tombs in the :i Similar figures are to he seen in a Villa Inghirami, see Lull. Inst. 1862, pp. painted tomb at Chiusi. See Chapter 64, 207-213. chap, xliii.] BUOHE DEI SAEAOINI. L59 curly date. Another tradition ascribes their formation to theSaracens, once, the scourges, and at the same time the bugbears of the Italian const. Though these infidel pirates were wont tomake descents on these shores during the middle ages, carryingoff plunder and women, they were often creatures of romancerather than of reality; every trace of wanton barbarity and de-struction is attributed to them, as to Cromwells dragoons inEngland ; and as they have also the fame of having been greatmagicians, many a marvel of Nature and of Art is ascribed totheir agency. In this case, tradition represents them as havingmade these passages to store their plunder, and keep theircaptives. Twenty miles from the sea, forsooth! Hence thevulgar title of Buche de Saracini, or the Saracens ETRUSCAN MARINE DEITY. CHAPTER XLIV. VOLTERRA.—VOL A TERRM. The Museum. Qual di pennel fu maestro o di stile Clie ritraesse lombre e gli atti che iviMirar farieno uno ngegno sottile ?—Dante. Miratur, facilesque oculos fert omnia circum iEneas, capiturque locis ; et singula loetus Exquiritque auditque virum monimenta priorum.—Virgil. Some consolation for the loss of the tombs which have beenopened and reclosed at Volterra is to be derived from theMuseum, to which their contents for the most part have beenremoved. Here is treasured up the accumulated sepulchral spoilof a century and a half. The collection was in great part formedby Monsignor Guaraacci, a prelate of Volterra, and has sincereceived large additions, so that it may now claim to be one ofthe most valuable collections of Etruscan antiquities in Valuable, not in a marketable sense, for a dozen of the 1 The excavations at Volterra were com-menced about 1728, in consequence
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