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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1932.56.117.A
Title
Lid of a Late Etruscan Urn
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture
Date
3rd-2nd century BCE
Period
Hellenistic period
Culture
Etruscan
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/292108

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Volcanic stone or alabaster
Dimensions
37.2 cm h x 53.2 cm w x 28 cm d
(14 5/8 in. h x 20 15/16 in. w x 11 in. d)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Dr. Harris Kennedy, Milton, MA (by 1932), gift; to the William Hayes Fogg Art Museum, 1932.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Dr. Harris Kennedy, Class of 1894
Accession Year
1932
Object Number
1932.56.117.A
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Stone Sculptures: The Greek, Roman and Etruscan Collections of the Harvard University Art Museums , written 1990
114

Lid of a Late Etruscan Urn

The stone is volcanic or alabaster, a limestone-like material. The head and body are in two parts. There are traces of paint for the flesh on the head. The surfaces are dirty.

The urn is a rectangular box undecorated except for a sunken rectangle on the front and on each end (H. 0.27m, W. 0.505m). The male figure, nude to the waist and with a rope-like garland around his neck, is reclining. The left arm rests on a cushion, and the right hand holds a phiale. The hair, represented by straight lines, is bound by a fillet, or rolled diadem of the type introduced to the Mediterranean world in the age of Alexander the Great. The left ear is hardly preserved, being mostly gouged away. The right ear is summarily treated, as is the face, with the head evidently carved to be seen from its own right side only.

A complete urn in the Museo Civico at Chiusi has a similar lid and a body with the Gates of Hades in relief on the front (Giglioli, 1935, pl. CCCCV, fig. 4).

Cornelius Vermeule and Amy Brauer

Publication History

  • Cornelius C. Vermeule III and Amy Brauer, Stone Sculptures: The Greek, Roman and Etruscan Collections of the Harvard University Art Museums, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, MA, 1990), p. 126, no. 114

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/28/2023 - 05/07/2023

Related Works

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu