Poulsen discusses and illustrates the style and subject of the wall paintings found in ancient Etruscan tombs. He sees in the political, military, and social details the influence of Etruscan perspectives on life and death.
From Ralph Van Deman Magoffin's 1922 review in Art and Archaeology:
"The book here under review, although very brief, is of particular importance because it contains forty-seven clear plate figures, and especially because its author is the Keeper of the classical department of the Ny Carlsberg Museum in Copenhagen, where are the facsimiles and drawings of many wall paintings of Etruscan tombs made some thirty years ago.
"Poulsen has followed the correct method of chronological comparison of style and matter, giving extraneous influence on technique and decorative detail a proper but subordinate place. He finds in the Tomba Campana at Veii ornamentation like that of seventh century B.C. Greek vases, where no narrative element is present. He then traces the development of style and content through various tombs, identifying scenes from Greek myths with certain variations.
"These two types of decoration had their vogue before strictly funeral scenes began to appear in the tomb wall paintings, and in the verve of the work, and in the richness of accessories to banquet, funeral processions and ceremonies, Poulsen sees a corresponding Etruscan military, political, and social greatness."
