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Bearded mature male figure, possibly Zeus/Tinia
Italic, Etruscan
Classical Period
about 440 B.C.
Medium/Technique
Bronze
Dimensions
Height: 10.3 cm (4 1/16 in.); max. height including tangs: 12 cm (4 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Seth K. Sweetser Fund
Accession Number65.565
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Greek, Etruscan, & Roman Bronzes (MFA), no. 184; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 121 (additional published references).
DescriptionThe statuette depicts a bearded mature male figure (possibily Tinia, the Etruscan Zeus) standing on his right legs, with the left leg slightly flexed and turned outside. Both of his feet are flat on the ground. Right hand and forearm missing, while he holds an object (thunderbolt?) in left hand. The man wears a himation about his waist and most of his legs. It is wrapped around the left shoulder and left arm, falling down the back behind the former. He also wears a fillet in his hair. A sharply-cut face with almond-shaped eyes, straight nose, and a long upper lip characterize the statuette. Patina is light brown and green, encrusted. Part of original lead base still attached to curved tangs at feet, suggesting that the piece was a votive statuette attached on a stone base through lead tenons.
ProvenanceBy 1961: with Münzen und Medaillen A.G., Malzgasse 25, Basel, Switzerland (Münzen und Medallien auction 22, May 13, 1961, lot 76) ; purchased by MFA from Münzen und Medaillen, A.G., May 12, 1965