Etruscan Terracotta Figurines

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1 This article was downloaded by: On: 17 Jan 2019 Access details: subscription number Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: Registered office: 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG, UK The Etruscan World Jean MacIntosh Turfa Etruscan Terracotta Figurines Publication details Helen Nagy Published online on: 17 Jun 2013 How to cite :- Helen Nagy. 17 Jun 2013, Etruscan Terracotta Figurines from: The Etruscan World Routledge Accessed on: 17 Jan PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR DOCUMENT Full terms and conditions of use: This Document PDF may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproductions, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The publisher shall not be liable for an loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material.

2 CHAPTER FIFTY FOUR ETRUSCAN TERRACOTTA FIGURINES Helen Nagy Ancient religious practice throughout the Near East and the Mediterranean relied heavily on the offering of gifts to the gods. 1 In Etruria thousands of dedicatory objects of various sizes, materials and types fi ll the storerooms of museums and excavations. Terracotta fi gurines comprise the largest votive category with a long chronological span and a great variety of subjects from simple animal forms to elaborately detailed representations. Many types, especially the Tanagras, display strong Greek infl uence (Fig. 54.1), others refl ect Cypriot and Near Eastern styles. 2 Since clay is easily manipulated and reproduced, this medium lends itself to mass production 3 alterations. Etruscan terracotta fi gurines exhibit a particular tendency to customize or alter existing molds by changing attributes, duplicating fi gures and creating new groupings. A closer look at a selection of categories of fi gurines from Cerveteri and Veii reveals the rich variety that could result in this medium with very little effort. HISTORY AND TECHNIQUE Pliny the Elder tells us (HN 35, etc.) that the art of modeling in clay was brought to Italy around the middle of the seventh century bc by Demaratus of Corinth who fl ed to Italy and settled in Tarquinia. According to sources (Pliny, HN ; Livy 1.33) he was accompanied by artists who helped spread the technique of clay working (pottery and sculpture). By the early sixth century bc, this art had already been brought to perfection by Italy and especially by Etruria says Pliny (HN 35.45,157) referring to Varro s account of the contract received by Vulca of Veii for the statue of Jupiter Capitolinus. A short time elapsed between learning and perfecting the technique. One has only to look at the statues of the Portonaccio Temple in Veii (Fig. 54.2; see also Chapter 30) to appreciate the validity of Varro s assessment. 4 These impressive and powerful large statues attest to a superb mastery of the terracotta technique on a large scale. The preferred technique for producing terracotta fi gurines involves the use of a matrix (or mold) taken from a hand modeled prototype or an existing fi gurine. 5 Usually a matrix is used only for the front, and the back of the fi gurine is a slab with a vent-hole to ensure successful fi ring (Fig. 54.3a b). Some fi gurines will have both front and back molded 993

3 Helen Nagy Figure 54.1 Striding female fi gure, Tanagra type. Inv. No Photo: author. Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. Figure 54.2 Apollo from Veii. Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia. Photograph courtesy of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell Etruria Meridionale. in a matrix; these tend to be of high quality (Fig. 54.4a b). Heads are often produced separately and attached after fi ring (Fig. 54.5). 6 Larger fi gurines with outstretched arms will have these limbs separately molded. They may be fi red together with the body, or attached after fi ring. 7 It is common to have matrices made from an existing fi gurine with a resulting reduction of 20 per cent in size. Fig features two heads one generation apart. The head ornament on the smaller head has been altered and the earrings omitted to produce variety. The earrings on the larger head may have been taken from a mold made for casting gold earrings. 8 Some fi gurines from Veii exist in as many as four generations

4 CHAPTER 54: Etruscan terracotta figurines Figure 54.4a b a Figure 54.3a b Standing woman, rear and front views. Inv. No Photo: author. Collection of the American Academy in Rome. a Figure of woman by pilaster. Front and rear views. Inv. No. 82. Photo: B. Bini. Collection of the American Academy in Rome. Figure 54.5 Female head. Inv. No Photo: D. Wright. Collection of the American Academy in Rome. b 995 b

5 Helen Nagy E T R U S C A N A P P R O A C H E S TO T E R R A C O T T A F IG U R IN E P R O D U C T IO N The variety and number of Etruscan figurine types is enormous.10 Many derive directly from imported prototypes, and each local workshop seems to have developed its own prototypes. This brief section focuses on a selection of types and their derivatives to demonstrate some of the resulting varieties. The kourotroph: variations on a type The maternal type has a primary place among Etruscan votive figurines. Fertility and the safety and care of infants were of primary concern at all sanctuaries, regardless of the identity of the presiding divinity.11 A few examples from Veii and Cerveteri suffice to demonstrate some of the varieties of this type. Fig represents five figurines depicting enthroned women, three with infants, from the Campetti sanctuary of Veii.12 Figure 54.6 Female heads, one generation apart with adjustments as to adornments. Inv. Nos (L.) and (R). Photo: author. Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. a b c d e Figure 54*7a-e Five seated figures from the Campetti Sanctuary at Veii. After Vagnetti , Nos. G 2 1, G2oa, G28a, G2ob, G2ya. Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia. Courtesy of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell Etruria Meridionale. 996

6 c h a p t e r 54: Etruscan terracotta figurines These provide only a small sample of the many varieties of this type: enthroned women with or without child. Vagnetti s category G 2 1 (See Fig. 54.7a) is typologically related to G 2oa (Fig. 54.7b), an enthroned figure without child, and to G 2ob (Fig. 54.yd), an enthroned woman holding both hands of a child on her lap, facing front. Throne type, garments, especially the parallel diagonal folds over the legs, and features such as the large head with emphasized bulging eyes, point to a common prototype. G 28a (Fig. 54.7c) harks back to a different prototype, more closely related to Greek, Ionian types. Her proportions are more slender, the head is smaller, features less exaggerated. G 27a (Fig. 54.7e) is related to G 28a in proportions, but her mantle covers most of her chest including a small child whose tiny head projects above the mothers lap. A type close to G 27a is also found in the Vignaccia deposit at Cerveteri (Fig. 54.8a).13 Again, the ultimate prototype may have been a common type of Ionian Greek votive, reworked at the least possible effort into a mother. The variations from Cerveteri illustrated in Fig represent two main iconographic types: the nursing, or cradling mother (Fig. 54.8, a, c, d and f) and the mother displaying the infant (Fig. 54.8b and e), in the manner of the Byzantine Theotokos ( God bearing ) V irgin.14 The distinction between the two must have been significant for the Etruscans, as it was for the Byzantine Christians. a b c d e f Figure 54.8 Six seated figures from the Vignaccia Sanctuary at Cerveteri. Inv. Nos. a) ; b) ; c) ; d) ; e) ; f) Photo: author. Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. 997

7 Helen Nagy The Warrior and Athena /Menerva: variations from site to site Two iconographic types, the warrior and Athena/Menerva, illustrate typological differences between sites. Both occur at Cerveteri as well as Veii in some variations, but the typologies are different. In one type at Veii, a young warrior, nude except for a helmet, holds a round shield by his left thigh, right arm close to his body (Fig. 54.9a). The body proportions and stance, left leg slightly out and bent, recall Classical Greek works. Another type (Fig. 54.9b), related in stance and proportions to the nude warrior, wears armour over his upper body, a Greek type of helmet, and holds his round shield out to the side on his left lower arm. A third type of warrior is seen in a conventional profile pose, head and lower body in full profile, upper body almost full front. He is striding toward his left, shield on left arm with a short sword held upright in the same hand. His right hand is on his hip, arm akimbo. He wears an enormous crested helmet and a short tunic (Fig ). All three types occur both at the Campetti and at the Portonaccio sanctuaries at Veii.15 The warrior type at Cerveteri differs significantly from its a b Figure 54-9a-b Two male warriors from the Campetti Sanctuary at Veii. Photograph courtesy of the Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia, Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell Etruria Meridionale. Figure Striding warrior figure from the Campetti Sanctuary at Veii. Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia. Photograph courtesy of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell Etruria Meridionale. 998

8 chapter 54: Etruscan terracotta figurines Veii counterparts (Fig ). The frontal figure wears a modeled cuirass over a short-sleeved tunic and a double crested helmet. He leans to his left on a large oval shield. In all examples, a flange surrounds the head and the shoulders of the figure creating a relief-like effect. On the back the crest of the helmet is rendered in a cursory fashion, an illogical detail given the flange that surrounds the head. The awkward stance, heavily outlined, exaggerated features and the odd treatment of the helmet suggest that this type is a local creation, 16 perhaps to serve as a companion to the stylistically similar Menerva types 17 (Fig ). Several examples show her enthroned, with a Gorgon head decorating her aegis and a couple of owls perched on the back of the throne to either side of the rather startled face of the goddess (Fig ). An unusual version shows Menerva seated on a kline. (Fig ). 18 Figure Two male warrior fi gures from the Vignaccia Sanctuary at Cerveteri. Photo: author. Inv. Nos and Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. Figure Figurine of Athena/Menerva from the Vignaccia Sanctuary at Cerveteri. Inv. No Photo: author. Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. 999

9 Helen Nagy Figure Seated fi gure of Athena/Menerva from the Vignaccia Sanctuary at Cerveteri. Inv. No Photo: author. Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. Figure Athena/Menerva seated on a kline. From the Vignaccia Sanctuary at Cerveteri. Inv. No Photo: author. Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. The variations on this type at Cerveteri suggest that Menerva had a special role here, accompanied by the warrior and a third type, a woman of similar aspect to the Menerva and warrior who holds a small pig in her right hand, associating her with the chthonic realm 19 (Fig ). Athena/Menerva also occurs at Veii, but in a more conventional, classical style. She holds a fi gure-8 shield by her left leg and her right arm is raised probably to hold a spear. 20 The local stylistic and typological distinctions of the warrior and Menerva fi gures indicate that while many types (such as the Tanagras) were favored at most sites, some were created specifi cally for the patrons of a particular sanctuary, or city. Musicians; paired and duplicated figures Music was an important part of ancient cult (see Chapter 46). The lyre and double fl utes accompanied religious ceremonies and served as the voice of the divine. 21 In a number of examples from Veii, a nude male fi gure in a Classical pose, left leg bent, carries a lyre in his left hand (Fig )

10 chapter 54: Etruscan terracotta figurines The musicians from the Vignaccia at Cerveteri vary in type from a Classically inspired fi gure, 23 to one closer in style to the Warrior Minerva fi gures, recalling Near Eastern/ Cypriot prototypes 24 (Fig ). Occasionally these types are paired (Fig ) with each other, or the lyre-bearing fi gure may be paired with a woman (Fig ) in which case, the group could be interpreted as Apollo and Artemis (Aplu and Artumes). 25 In some instances, the two musicians fl ank a group enclosed in an architectural frame, or naiskos, similar to the arrangement of the goddess fl anked by fl ute and lyre player at Boğazköy in Phrygia. 26 An example of such a group is the plaque from Cerveteri representing a scene of sacrifi ce (perhaps performed by Artemis) where a single fl ute player assists at the altar (Fig ). 27 In another instance, a duplicated seated female type is enclosed in an architectural frame fl anked by the musicians (Fig ). A sacrifi cing Artemis/Artumes type, depicted seated on an altar (?) occurs both in a single and a duplicated version (Figs and 54.23). Do we understand the latter as two separate identities or as an actual duplication of the same divinity, perhaps to underscore two of her aspects? 28 In all three examples, the same mold seems to have been employed to create new combinations. Figure Standing woman holding pig in right hand. From the Vignaccia Sanctuary at Cerveteri. Inv. No Photo: author. Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. Figure Lyre bearing musician from the Campetti Sanctuary at Veii. Museo Nazionale di Villa Giulia. Courtesy of the Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell Etruria Meridionale. 1001

11 Helen Nagy Figure Male fi gure holding lyre to left shoulder. Inv. No Photo: author. Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. Figure Flute player and lyre bearer. Inv. No. 86. Photo: B. Bini. Collection of the American Academy in Rome. Figure Male and female pair holding lyre and bird perched between their heads. From the Vignaccia Sanctuary at Cerveteri. Inv. No Photo: author. Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. 1002

12 chapter 54: Etruscan terracotta figurines Figure Terracotta relief from the Vignaccia Sanctuary at Cerveteri with Artumes sacrifi cing. Boston Museum of Fine Arts, Everett Fund, Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Figure Two women in naiskos fl anked by musicians. Probably from the Vignaccia Sanctuary, Cerveteri. Inv. No Siena Museo Archeologico. Courtesy of the Soprintendenza alle Antichità d Etruria, Florence. Figure Enthroned female holding patera (?Artumes). From the Vignaccia Sanctuary at Cerveteri. Inv. No Photo: author. Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. 1003

13 Helen Nagy Figure Double enthroned females holding patera. From the Vignaccia Sanctuary at Cerveteri. Inv. No Photo: author. Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley. CONCLUSION The aim of this brief chapter has been to highlight some practices of Etruscan terracotta production in order to demonstrate the possibilities of creating variety within existing types. To do this, I have selected two sites out of the many and a few types out of the hundreds or more at each site. The number of terracotta fi gures from Etruria is staggering, as are the problems faced by the scholar attempting to organize and interpret them. NOTES 1 The group of statuettes from Tell Asmar in the collection of the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago is many students fi rst encounter with this phenomenon. ( Janson 2007: 26, fi g. 2.6.). A good source on votive religion in the Mediterranean is Van Straten Nagy 1994: , , notes 22, Cabinet 32 of the Veii Storeroom at the Villa Giulia in Rome displays series of fi gurines from the Campetti sanctuary. Numerous examples are from a single mold. For instance: male warriors and musicians, Vagnetti 1971: types J2, J3, J5, J7, J8. 4 Haynes 2000: , fi g Muller 2010: , on technique, specifi cally of Tanagras, but applies to most terracotta production. Vagnetti 1971: Hand modeled fi gurines are far less frequent and usually not reproduced. 6 Often the head is on a stem as in Fig. 54.6, but some have only a stub. The join between the body and the neck was usually masked by a thin layer of clay. Nagy 1988: 7. 7 The arm was removed from Fig. 54.5a for conservation. The join was masked by the drapery and a thin layer of clay. 8 For example, Fig. 54.7a, Hearst Museum Andrén : ; Briguet 1974: Veii: the standing musician type Vagnetti 1971: Iiv series. My notes from 1985 indicate at least 70 examples of this type in cabinet 32 of the Orologio storeroom at the Villa Giulia Museum in Rome. 1004

14 chapter 54: Etruscan terracotta figurines 10 Vagnetti 1971: 18. At least 3,000 terracotta pieces of at least 150 distinct types from the excavations at the Campetti sanctuary. Vignaccia, Cerveteri: Rosati 1890: , refers to ca. 6,000 terracottas. At least 800 of these are now in the Hearst Museum. 11 For the type in general, see: Price Etruscan and Italic mother types: Bonfante 1984: 1 17, and Bonfante 1986: Vagnetti 1971: Types (from left to right): G21, G20a, G28a, G 20b and G27a. All of these types exist in numerous examples and in more than one generation. My notes from 1986 indicate that on shelf 1, Cabinet 31 of the Orologio Storeroom at the Villa Giulia Museum, there were 27 examples of the type representing three generations with slight modifi cations. Shelves 2, 3 and 4 held another 99 examples of the type. 13 Nagy 1988: Inventory no : 206, IID2. 14 Theotokos: for example, the famous sixth century encaustic icon of the Virgin and Child with Saints from the monastery of St. Catherine at Sinai: Rodley 1994: 43, Fig. 78. Both iconographic types occur in signifi cant numbers at Veii as well as at Cerveteri and numerous other sites, and in more variations than those shown here. Satricum, a Latin site with strong Etruscan connections, has produced a tremendous variety of mother fi gures in great numbers. I have consulted the material stored in the Satricum Deposito of the Villa Giulia Museum and found 24 variations on the Kourotroph type. These can be divided into two major iconographic categories: nursing/cradling and frontal display of the child. For updates and further bibliography consult the journal: Satricum: Reports and Studies of the Satricum Project. Leiden: Campetti: Vagnetti 1971: 180. Frontal nude type: J7, J8 numerous examples; with armor: J 2, J3; profi le, striding: J5. Comella and Stefani 1990: type nos. E1 through E4, include types not discussed here. Portonaccio: Colonna 2002: No. 674, pl. 56, no. 681, pl Maule and Smith 1959: 1 59 provide an exceedingly involved discussion of the warrior type, (Gaul or Maris) at the Vignaccia : warrior type as Maris. Nagy 1988: 41 42, brief discussion of the type, suggesting that the type represents Laran, the Etruscan Mars. 17 Nagy 1988: 28 29, discussion of the type. Note that the crest of the helmet continues in the back as with the warrior type. 18 Nagy 1988: , Type IIIB16c. For the Kline: Breitenstein 1941: pl. 87, No. 784, but with a seated veiled woman. 19 Nagy 1988: 34 35, discussion of the type and parallels. 20 For example, at the Portonaccio: Colonna 1987: , fi g Strabo 5.220; Bittel 1963: 20; Nagy 1994: Vagnetti 1971: 180, identifi es the type as representing Aplu. At least 400 examples of I 4 at the Villa Giulia. 23 Nagy 1988: on musicians in general; , nos. IIE2 and IIE3, Figs Karageorghis 2000: , nos ; Bittel 1963: fi g. 5; Blinkenberg 1931: part 1, cols , part 2, pls 69 70, nos Nagy 1988: 31, 41, 245, No. IIG21, Fig Bittel 1963: Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, Everett Fund, Nagy 1994: ; Nagy 2011: Maule and Smith 1959: 95, n. 104 identify the fi gure as a kourotrophic Artemis. Nagy 1994: ; Nagy 2011: 121. For double fi gures see: Hadzisteliou-Price 1971: especially BIBLIOGRAPHY Andrén, A. ( ) Una matrice fi ttile etrusca, Studi Etruschi 24: Bittel, K. (1963) Phrygisches Kultbild aus Boğazköy, Antike Plastik, 2:7 21,

15 Helen Nagy Blinkenberg, C. (1931) Lindos II Les petits objets, Berlin: W. De Gruyter. Bonfante, L. (1984) Dedicated Mothers, in Visible Religion III Popular Cults, Leiden: Brill, (1986) Votive terracotta fi gures of mothers and children in J. Swaddling (ed.), Iron Age Artefacts in the British Museum. Papers of the Sixth British Museum Classical Colloquium, London: British Museum Publications, Breitenstein, N. and Calvert, W. E. (1941) Danish National Museum. Catalogue of Terracottas, Copenhagen: E. Munksgaard. Briguet, M.-F. (1974) Petite tête feminine étrusque, Revue du Louvre, Colonna, G. (1987) Note preliminare sui culti del santuario di Portonaccio a Veio, Scienze dell Antichità 1: (2002) Il santuario di Portonaccio a Veio 1. Gli scavi di Massimo Pallottino nella zona dell altare ( ). Monumenti Antichi, Serie miscellanea VI.3, Rome: Giorgio Bretschneider. Comella, A., Stefani, G. (1990) Materiali votive del santuario di Campetti a Veio: scavi 1947 e 1969, Rome: Giorgio Bretschneider. Hadzisteliou-Price, T. (1971) Double and multiple representations in Greek art and religious thought, Journal of Hellenic Studies 91: Haynes, S. (2000) Etruscan Civilization. A Cultural History, Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum. Janson, H. W. and Davies, P. J. E. et al. (2007) Janson s History of Art: the Western Tradition, 7th Edition, Upper Saddle River, N. J.: Pearson Prentice Hall. Karageorghis, V. (2000) Ancient Art from Cyprus. The Cesnola Collection in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Linders, T. and Nordquist, G. (eds) (1987) Gifts to the Gods. Proceedings of the Uppsala Symposium. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis 15, Uppsala: Academia Ubsaliensis. Maule, Q. and Smith, H. R. W. (1959) Votive Religion at Caere: Prolegomena, Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press. Muller, A. (2010) The technique of Tanagra coroplasts. From local craft to global industry in V. Jeammet (ed.), Tanagras. Figurines for Life and Eternity, Valencia: Fundación Bancaja. Nagy, H. (1988) Votive Terracottas from the Vignaccia, Cerveteri, in the Lowie Museum of Anthropology. Archaeologica 75, Rome: Giorgio Bretschneider. (1994) Divinities in the context of sacrifi ce and cult on Caeretan votive terracottas in R. D. De Puma and J. P. Small (eds), Murlo and the Etruscans. Art and Society in Ancient Etruria, Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, (2011) Etruscan votive terracottas and their archaeological contexts in N. T. de Grummond and I. Edlund-Berry (eds), The Archaeology of Sanctuaries and Ritual in Etruria. Journal of Roman Archaeology. Supplementary series 81: Price, T. H. (1987) Kourotrophos. Cults and Representations of the Greek Nursing Deities. Studies of the Dutch Archaeological and Historical Society, vol. 8, Leiden: E. J. Brill. Rodley, L. (1994) Byzantine Art and Architecture. An Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rosati, F. (1890) Cere e suoi monumenti, Foligno: F. Salvati. Vagnetti, L. (1971) Il deposito votivo di Campetti a Veio. (Materiali degli scavi ), Florence: Sansoni. Van Straten, F. F. (1981) Gifts for the Gods in H. S. Versnel (ed.), Faith Hope and Worship. Aspects of religious Mentality in the Ancient World, Leiden: E. J. Brill,