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Bronze
Ex collection:
Solid-cast by the lost wax
process with considerable chasing in the cold prior to burnishing.
Condition: smooth dark green
patina with traces of brown earth deposit; a nick to the tip of his nose,
the lower part of the staff and the rim of his circular base, revealing
a reddish metal.
This youth was the prime
decorative element, the finial that adorned the top of a candelabrum.
The candelabrum would have
been composed of a tripod surmounted by a long vertical shaft to which,
near its upper extremity, was affixed a branch-like element with four spikes
[1] crowned by our statuette.
It has been suggested that
this figure could represent Paris or Herakles [2],
since the Etruscans were much influenced by the Greeks and were wont to
represent figures of Greek mythology, though often misinterpreted or misunderstood.
Nevertheless we feel that
he is simply a shepherd boy leaning on his crook which has taken the curious
shape of a crutch.
We have ascribed our bronze
to Vulci though no traces of a workshop have ever been found there [3],
but then again, traces of bronzeworks are rarely discovered. The archaeological
site of Vulci is huge, both badly and incompletely excavated in the old
days with considerable areas remaining to be dug.
A great quantity of very
fine bronzes, adorning utensils of all sorts, have been
ascribed to Vulci and reveal certain common traits.
Our statuette is unique and
though defying precise comparison, conforms in being a candelabrum finial
and illustrates certain characteristics that are found on several bronzes
ascribed by the best scholars to Vulci [4].
Here, these are:
the volutes of his crook,
the large number of the folds of his chlamys with their fluid lines,
his wavy hair tucked up in a bun flowing back in strands indicated by deep
incised parallel lines -
There is not much evidence
of Greek influence on our shepherd with the exception of his hair-style,
which is obviously inspired by those illustrated on imported Greek pots,
and what we perceive as a somewhat Ionian feeling.
However, he further fits
in with characteristics [6] commonly ascribed
to Vulcian output - a sense of ornate decoration, a harmony that enchants
the eye and keeps it glued on the statuette which, in our case though fairly
flat, is three-dimensional and fully satisfying in the round.
Whether the output to which
he belongs is strictly Vulcian, as we think, or is part of a broader Central
Etruscan style encompassing Tarquinia and Orvieto, is still debatable;
but in any case, Vulci would seem to us to be the appropriate heading for
such a regional production.
For a related piece or two,
we may cite:
a youth in a very similar
position though his head faces forward, in Boston [7],
described as Greek provincial and which though strongly influenced by Greek
art is, we feel, definitely Etruscan - made in Campania, Etruria or possibly
in the ambience of our bronze. His function as a candelabrum finial is
more in keeping with Etruscan custom and above all his broad shoulders
are most un-Greek; from a similar workshop to our statue comes another
candelabrum finial, a statuette of Turms (Hermes) in the Louvre [8]
from Vulci.
In any case, he exudes a
purely Etruscan ethos with his perky and delightfully humorous face, as
relaxedly he watches over his flock on the enchanting Tuscan countryside.
Exhibited and Published:
1
Each spike jutting out radially at right angle from the next, composed
of a three-pronged element of which the central point is longer to enable
the candle to be affixed on its end. For an illustration of this, we have
a wall-painting: Golini tomb II in Orvieto (del Chiaro, M.: Re-exhumed
Etruscan bronzes [Santa Barbara, 1981], p. 23 fig. B).
2
Ramage, A.: Master Bronzes, no. 174, p. 173.
3
Ferraguti, U.: I bronzi di Vulci, StEtr. 11, 1937.
4
Neugebauer, K.-A.: Archaische Vulcenter Bronzen, JdI 58, 1943. -
Hus, A.: Vulci étrusque et étrusco-romaine (Paris,
1971), pp. 84-85.
5
Adam, A.-M.: Bronzes étrusques et italiques. Bibliothèque
Nationale (Paris, 1984), no. 52, pp. 52-53.
6
Hus, A.: loc. cit.
7
Museum of Fine Arts, Perkins Collection 96.709: Comstock, M., Vermeule,
C.: Greek, Etruscan & Roman Bronzes in the Museum of Fine Arts,
Boston (Boston, 1971), no. 50, p. 49.
8
MN 347 inv. 181: De Ridder, A.: Les bronzes antiques du Louvre (Paris,
1913), no. 269, p. 45 pl. 24.
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Small 3-D 192K Large 3-D 560K
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