MARRIAGE

   The clearest visual evidence for the state of marriage is the repeated association of single man and single woman in the context of death. The most famous example is a terracotta sarcophagus depicting a couple from about 530 to 520 BC from the Banditaccia cemetery of Caere, which is now found in the Louvre. Another famous case is a marble sarcophagus lid from the mid–fourth century BC, showing Ramtha Visnai and Arnth Tetnies from Vulci, that is now in Boston. Variations on the theme are shown in many paintings (most notably the Tomb of Hunting and Fishing, the Tomb of the Leopards, and the Tomb of the Shields at Tarquinia) and reached a state of mass production in the cinerary urns of Volterra in the second century BC. This visual evidence is supported by inscriptions that clearly define the descent groups of the man and woman and permit an understanding of the extent of intermarriages between different families. The performance of marriage is more difficult to trace, but some of the terracotta friezes from Murlo have been interpreted as enactments of the ritual of marriage. Mirrors, for metaphorical reasons, appear to have been closely associated with marriage, perhaps given to the bride during the ceremony.

   See also CURUNA; HERA; TARNA.