Lot Essay
Votive offerings gained increasing popularity throughout Etruria, southern Latium and later northern Campania from the 7th Century onwards. Most gods were thought to possess the power to heal, and the sick flocked to their sanctuaries for a cure or to pray for future health. Predominantly these dedications depicted the parts of the human anatomy that needed healing.
In particular in the area of Vulci many graves have been discovered containing pairs of hands cut from a sheet of bronze, rolled up at the base to form the wrist. For a pair decorated with gold bosses in the Museo Gregoriano Etrusco, Rome, inv. no. 11930-11931, cf. F. Buranelli, The Etruscans, Memphis, 1992, pp. 190-191, nos. 170-171.
In particular in the area of Vulci many graves have been discovered containing pairs of hands cut from a sheet of bronze, rolled up at the base to form the wrist. For a pair decorated with gold bosses in the Museo Gregoriano Etrusco, Rome, inv. no. 11930-11931, cf. F. Buranelli, The Etruscans, Memphis, 1992, pp. 190-191, nos. 170-171.