- chapter 57: The tradition of votive bronzes in Etruria –
Figure 57.6a–b Female worshipper (third–second century bc). Castiglion Fiorentino, Museo Civico
Archeologico Inv. 205665A (Archivio fotografi co Istituzione Culturale ed Educativa Castiglionese,
Castiglion Fiorentino, Arezzo). Female worshipper (third–second century bc). Castiglion Fiorentino,
Museo Civico Archeologico Inv. 205665 (Archivio fotografi co Istituzione Culturale ed Educativa
Castiglionese, Castiglion Fiorentino, Arezzo).Ossaia-Terontola,^20 as well as the Late Archaic and Late Classical examples from the
sanctuary at via Capitini at Camucia-Cortona.^21
In 1863, along the east bank of the river Clanis near Castiglion Fiorentino, which
is an Etruscan oppidum with an important acropolis of a sacred nature, the exceptional
discovery was made of Etruscan bronzes (statuettes and luxury vessels) at Brolio, the so-
called Brolio Deposit.^22 For a long time there has been discussion of the interpretation
of the deposit, but the most prevalent theory is that it is a votive deposit. Maggiani
has recently considered the site the result of a ritual of immersion, perhaps dedicated
to Hercle,^23 thus a place of worship where the worshippers threw their votive offerings
directly into the water, similar to what took place at the Lake of the Idols on Monte
Falterona.
The best known fi nds from Brolio are three bronze warriors (Figure 57.7a), and a
female, probably armed (Figure 57.7b), to be interpreted as supports of perirrhanteria,
which are large basins used for ritual cleansing.^24 This use is suggested in particular by
the female fi gure, which is reminiscent of the caryatids of the bucchero chalices from
Cerveteri and Tarquinia, but in particular the Castellani bronze chalice used for a lustratio,
or cleansing ritual in a funerary context.^25
The Brolio complex is in fact one of the most important examples of Etruscan sculpture
in the Archaic period of the sixth century bc. The bronze anathemata (votive offerings)
from Brolio originate in workshops at Chiusi and Arezzo and represent both armed
male fi gures, in the style of the god Laran and chief warriors, and female worshippers in
aristocratic dress, in addition to bronzes of horses, deer (Figure 57.7c), and hares.^26