MAGNA GRAECIA, CLASSICAL PERIOD TO HELLENISTIC PERIOD, CIRCA 4TH CENTURY B.C.

This cuirass is an example of the Italic “anatomical type,” which emerged during the 4th century B.C. Like its Greek predecessor known as the “muscle cuirass,” the Italic type aimed to mimic an idealized male physique. Unlike the Greek type however, the back and breast plates of the Italic examples were much smaller and shallower, and never meant to be joined directly. Additionally, theY often had perforations along the edges for a lining, a feature not found on their Greek counterparts (see M. Merrony ed., The Mougins Museum of Classical Art, p. 229). This example exhibits a distinctive wave pattern along its side. P. Connelly ascribes a cuirass with a similar motif found in Bari in modern Puglia to be Samnite in origin (Greece and Rome at War, no. 7, p. 112).