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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1929.240
Title
Warrior
Classification
Sculpture
Work Type
sculpture, statuette
Date
4th-2nd century BCE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe, Etruria
Period
Archaic period to Hellenistic
Culture
Etruscan
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/304142

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Leaded bronze
Technique
Cast, lost-wax process
Dimensions
7.2 x 5 x 2.3 cm (2 13/16 x 1 15/16 x 7/8 in.)
Technical Details

Chemical Composition: ICP-MS/AAA data from sample, Leaded Bronze:
Cu, 76; Sn, 6.24; Pb, 17.25; Zn, 0.006; Fe, 0.03; Ni, 0.05; Ag, 0.06; Sb, 0.11; As, 0.24; Bi, less than 0.025; Co, 0.017; Au, less than 0.01; Cd, less than 0.001

J. Riederer

Technical Observations: The patina is rough with dull grayish-green corrosion and patches of red on the chest and face. Brown accretions are present in low areas. The figure is missing the attributes that he would have been held in his hands. The base has been restored and filled with plaster. The top of the base and part of the feet have modern overpaint.

The warrior was cast solid by the lost-wax process with surface designs done in the wax model prior to casting.


Carol Snow and Nina Vinogradskaya (submitted 2002)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Prof. Albert Bushnell Hart, Class of 1880, gift; to the Fogg Art Museum, 1929.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Professor Albert Bushnell Hart, Class of 1880
Accession Year
1929
Object Number
1929.240
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
This statuette of a warrior stands with his feet spread, toes pointed outward, and his left arm held out while his right arm is raised in an attacking position. His right hand forms a circular loop that would have held an object, perhaps a spear that is now lost, that was probably cast separately and inserted into the loop (1). He may also have held another object in his curved left hand. There is a double band around his brow, with wavy lines on the back of his head indicating hair. He wears a muscled cuirass with the navel indicated on the front by a small circular depression, and a fringed apron around the waist; there are small circular depressions clustered on the back and sides, possibly meant to indicate a spotted cape. The musculature is naturalistic; the figure has a large round head and face with arched eyebrows and large round eyes, a short nose, and thick half-opened lips. The base is a modern addition.

NOTES:

1. E. H. Richardson places this piece in her group of cuirassed warriors leaning on a spear; see ead., “The Muscle Cuirass in Etruria and Southern Italy: Votive Bronzes,” American Journal of Archaeology 100.1 (1996): 91-120, esp. 108-19. The style of the Harvard figure, as well as his lack of helmet, differs from the others in this group.


Lisa M. Anderson

Publication History

  • Emeline H. Richardson, "The Muscle Cuirass in Etruria and Southern Italy: Votive Bronzes", American Journal of Archaeology (1996), Vol. 100, No. 1, 91-120., p. 119, no. 23, fig. 37.

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