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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1920.44.45
Title
Sacrificing Man
Other Titles
Former Title: Votive Statuette of Priest or Priestess
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
statuette, sculpture
Date
3rd-2nd century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Etruria
Period
Hellenistic period
Culture
Etruscan
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/303597

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
8.2 x 5 cm (3 1/4 x 1 15/16 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 69.76; Sn, 8.65; Pb, 21.1; Zn, 0.01; Fe, 0.04; Ni, 0.04; Ag, 0.05; Sb, 0.07; As, 0.23; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.04; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is a black surface with pitted areas of light green and tannish-brown burial dirt in low areas. The feet and portions of the legs are missing. The figure is a solid cast with a slightly concave reverse side; the details are crude.


Carol Snow and Nina Vinogradskaya (submitted 2002)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Miss Elizabeth Gaskell Norton, Boston, MA and Miss Margaret Norton, Cambridge, MA (by 1920), gift; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1920.

Note: The Misses Norton were daughters of Charles Elliot Norton (1827-1908).

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of the Misses Norton
Accession Year
1920
Object Number
1920.44.45
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
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Descriptions

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
The thin, flat male figure stands frontally. He wears a stylized foliate wreath rendered with three knobs, one at the top and one on either side of the head (1). Simple incised lines around the brow indicate locks of hair. The figure’s right shoulder appears to be bare. He wears a mantle over his left shoulder, dipping under his right arm; the folds of the drapery are indicated with incisions rather than modeled. He holds out a patera, with a raised central boss, in his right hand; his left hand and arm are held quite close to the body and may have held some small container, as is seen on other figurines.

NOTES:

1. Compare M. Bentz, Etruskische Votivbronzen des Hellenismus (Florence, 1992) 122-29, type 33, pls. 43-45; A. Naso, I bronzi etruschi e italici del Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Kataloge vor- und frühgeschichtlicher Altertümer 33 (Mainz, 2003) 31-32, 31-33, pl. 17; and A. Caravale, Museo Claudio Faina di Orvieto: Vasellame (Milan, 2006) 106-14, nos. 115-30.

Lisa M. Anderson

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 2540 Renaissance, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 07/18/2018 - 11/15/2018

Subjects and Contexts

  • Ancient Bronzes

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