CIRCA 450 B.C.

Details

AN ETRUSCAN BRONZE WARRIOR
CIRCA 450 B.C.
9 ¼ in. (23.5 cm.) high

Provenance

with Elie Borowski (1913-2003), Basel, acquired circa 1977.
with Galerie Nina Borowski Archeologie, Paris.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, acquired from the above, 1991 (Art of the Ancient World: 50th Anniversary Edition, 1992, no. 93a; Art of the Ancient World, vol. XI, 2000, no. 42; Gods and Mortals, vol. II, 2004, no. 18; Ancient Arms, Armour, and Images of Warfare, 2004, no. 67).
Acquired by the current owner from the above, 2010.

Literature

M. Junkelmann, "Roman Militaria," in M. Merrony, ed., Mougins Museum of Classical Art, Mougins, 2011, p. 237, fig. 4.

Exhibited

Musée d'Art Classique de Mougins, 2011-2023 (Inv. no. MMoCA624).

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Hannah Fox Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

hsolomon@christies.com +1 212 636 2256

Lot Essay

The elongated figure is solid cast, depicted striding forward with his left leg advanced. In his fisted raised right hand he once held a spear, and in his lower left, once a shield. He wears a high-crested helmet with raised cheek-pieces and a pair of greaves. To protect his torso, he wears a cuirass with long shoulder flaps and a raised ridge along its lower edge, with a row of pteryges and his tunic extending below. The panoply of protective armour was embellished with cold-worked incised and stippled details.

Similar elongated youthful warriors have been found in votive deposits at various sites in Umbria, including Todi, Foligno, Calvi and Ancarano. It is unclear if they represent the war god Laran or mortal warriors. For a related example from Ancarano, now in the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, see no. 24 in D.G. Mitten, Classical Bronzes.

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