Classical: Etruscans & Romans (6th Century B.C. TO 5th Century A.D.)--The Etruscans, who became Rome's pre-Republican Tarquin kings, arrived from Asia Minor with their own styles. By the 6th century B.C., however, they were borrowing heavily from the Greeks in their sculpture and importing thousands of Attic vases, which displayed the most popular and widespread painting style of ancient Greece.

Painting in ancient Rome was used primarily for decorative purposes. Bucolic frescoes (the technique of painting on wet plaster) adorned the walls of the wealthy. Rome's sculptures tended to glorify emperors and the perfect human form, copying ad nauseum from famous Greek originals.

Examples of classical art include:

Etruscan. Etruscan artistic remains are confined to the Villa Giulia and Vatican Museums; the best is the Villa Giulia's terra-cotta sarcophagi covers of reclining figures. Some tomb paintings also survive at Tarquinia in northern Lazio.

Roman. Along with an army of also-ran statues and busts gracing most archaeological collections in Italy, you'll find a few standouts: the marble bas-reliefs (sculptures that project slightly from a flat surface) on the Arch of Constantine; the sculptures, mosaics, and remarkable fresco collections at the various branches of the Museo Nazionale Romano; and such sculptures as the gilded equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius and The Dying Gaul at the Capitoline Museum. The reliefs on the Ara Pacis are a great example of 1st-century A.D. art as imperial propaganda.