Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This orant is perhaps female, given the curved shape of the head (resembling the round headdresses worn by some female statuettes, e.g., 1933.126) and lack of male genitals (1). The top of the head is curved and featureless and is completely flat on the back. The facial features are disproportionate to each other: the molded eyes are very large, the nose is smaller, and the mouth is indicated by only a tiny incision. The heart-shaped face has a very small pointed chin on a comparatively large head. The neck is broad and somewhat flattened; there may be some indications of a necklace or collar on the front. The torso is triangular, with very broad, sloping shoulders leading down to a much narrower waist and lower body. The upper arms are pressed to the sides, although separation is indicated by deep gouges on the back and on either side of the forearms on the front. The arms are bent at the elbow, with the palms pressed flat on the collarbone. Incised lines indicate the separation of the long fingers. The clothing is plain; a long tunic or dress seems to terminate just above the feet, where the limbs separate. Short, shallow lines indicate toes. The back is featureless.
Thousands of small, anthropomorphic copper alloy statuettes and anatomical votives have been recovered from remote sanctuary sites in south-central Spain, particularly Collado de los Jardines and Castellar de Santisteban, but it is not certain to which god or gods they were dedicated (2). Many of the statuettes depict individuals, some of whom are represented in poses of prayer or offering (3). Some are very abstract and schematically rendered, while others wear identifiable contemporary clothing (4). In spite of the similarity of the votives, there is nothing to indicate that the intention behind each offering was the same. This example is most likely from the cave sanctuary of Collado de los Jardines near Santa Elena, Jaén. It was given to Harvard in 1933 by the Republic of Spain in exchange for the cover of the eleventh-century sarcophagus of Alfonso Ansúrez from Sahagún, León, which was then in the collection of the Fogg Art Museum (5).
NOTES:
1. For similar praying figures, see L. Prados Torreira, Exvotos ibericos de bronce del Museo Arqueologico Nacional (Madrid, 1992) 219-20, nos. 573 and 577. Prados Torreira includes these in her group of female figures wearing a low headdress. Compare also ibid. 182, no. 122, a very similar male statuette. This piece is also comparable to the body of R. Lantier, Bronzes votifs ibériques (Paris, 1935) no. 224, pl. 18.
2. See F. Álvarez-Ossorio, Bronces ibéricos o hispánicos del Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid, 1935) 20-27; id., Catálogo de los exvotos de bronce ibéricos (Madrid, 1941); L. Prados Torreira, “Los exvotos anatomicos del santuario iberico de Collado de los Jardines (Sta. Elena, Jaén),” Trabajos de prehistoria 48 (1991): 313-32; ead. 1992; ead., “Los santuarios ibéricos: Apuntes para el desarrollo de una arqueología del culto,” Trabajos de prehistoria 51.1 (1994): 127-40; and G. Nicolini et al., El santuario ibérico de Castellar, Jaén: Intervenciones arqueológicas 1966-1991 (Seville, 2004) 160-64.
3. For discussions of the statuettes’ poses and gestures, see G. Nicolini, “Gestes et attitudes cultuels des figurines de bronze ibériques,” Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez 4 (1968): 27-50; and C. Rueda Galán, “La mujer sacralizada: La presencia de las mujeres en los santuarios (lectura desde los exvotos de bronce iberos),” Complutum 18 (2007): 227-35.
4. See, for example, 1933.134.
5. See “Collections and Critiques,” The Harvard Crimson, Dec. 12, 1935; and Á. Franco, “Arte medieval leonés fuera de España,” in La dispersión de objetos de arte fuera de España en los siglos XIX y XX, eds. F. Pérez Mulet and I. Socias Batet (Barcelona, 2011) 93-132, esp. 113-16.
Lisa M. Anderson
