DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.786#0482
CHAP. LVII.]
BRONZES.
465
and charioteer being broken away.—Two small fragments ;
one with Hercules shaking hands with some divinity who
bears a four-pronged sceptre—the other a god, one of the
nine great Etruscan deities who wielded the thunder,
grasping a man by the hair, who cries for mercy and tries
to stay the impending vengeance.—A fragment, beautifully
chiselled, representing the beardless Hercules drawing his
bow on two armed warriors.—A winged sphinx, with a
tutulus, like a foolscap.
There are also many little deities
and other figures in bronze ; some of
very archaic, even oriental character.
Such is the goddess shown in the an-
nexed woodcut, with two pair of wings,
a tutulus on her head, and a dove on
her hand. Another has a single pair
of wings springing from her bosom.
A third is a mermaid, with but one
fish-tail, instead of two as usual.
All these relics of Etruscan toreutic
art, besides others now at Munich, and some reliefs in
silver in the British Museum, were found in 1812, on a
spot called Castello di S. Mariano, four miles from Perugia,
but not in a tomb ; which makes it probable that they were
buried for concealment in ancient times.2 They are sup-
posed to be the decorations of sacred or funeral furniture.3
ETRUSCAN FOUR-WINGED
GODDESS.
2 For descriptions and illustrations of
these bronzes, see Vermiglioli's work
thereon, Saggio di Bronzi Etruschi,
Perugia, 1813; Micali, Ant. Pop. Ital.
III. p. 32-41. tav. XXVIII. 6 ; XXIX.
1—5, 9; XXX. 1 — 3, 5; XXXI.
The spot where they were found is cele-
brated in Perugian annals for a victory
obtained, in the fifteenth century, over a
VOL. II.
band of British condattieri.
3 Micali, Ant. Pop. Ital. III. p. 40. tav.
XLV. They have often been supposed
to have formed the adornments of a
votive car, but Micali maintains that
there is nothing in the form, size, or
subjects of these articles to favour that
view. Duplicates of many of them, and
other works in bronze and silver, equally
H H
BRONZES.
465
and charioteer being broken away.—Two small fragments ;
one with Hercules shaking hands with some divinity who
bears a four-pronged sceptre—the other a god, one of the
nine great Etruscan deities who wielded the thunder,
grasping a man by the hair, who cries for mercy and tries
to stay the impending vengeance.—A fragment, beautifully
chiselled, representing the beardless Hercules drawing his
bow on two armed warriors.—A winged sphinx, with a
tutulus, like a foolscap.
There are also many little deities
and other figures in bronze ; some of
very archaic, even oriental character.
Such is the goddess shown in the an-
nexed woodcut, with two pair of wings,
a tutulus on her head, and a dove on
her hand. Another has a single pair
of wings springing from her bosom.
A third is a mermaid, with but one
fish-tail, instead of two as usual.
All these relics of Etruscan toreutic
art, besides others now at Munich, and some reliefs in
silver in the British Museum, were found in 1812, on a
spot called Castello di S. Mariano, four miles from Perugia,
but not in a tomb ; which makes it probable that they were
buried for concealment in ancient times.2 They are sup-
posed to be the decorations of sacred or funeral furniture.3
ETRUSCAN FOUR-WINGED
GODDESS.
2 For descriptions and illustrations of
these bronzes, see Vermiglioli's work
thereon, Saggio di Bronzi Etruschi,
Perugia, 1813; Micali, Ant. Pop. Ital.
III. p. 32-41. tav. XXVIII. 6 ; XXIX.
1—5, 9; XXX. 1 — 3, 5; XXXI.
The spot where they were found is cele-
brated in Perugian annals for a victory
obtained, in the fifteenth century, over a
VOL. II.
band of British condattieri.
3 Micali, Ant. Pop. Ital. III. p. 40. tav.
XLV. They have often been supposed
to have formed the adornments of a
votive car, but Micali maintains that
there is nothing in the form, size, or
subjects of these articles to favour that
view. Duplicates of many of them, and
other works in bronze and silver, equally
H H