- chapter 57: The tradition of votive bronzes in Etruria –
In fact, the statuette of the child is a votive offering by Velia Fanacnei to the goddess on
behalf of her son. The child is portrayed nude with a duck in his arms, and is characterized
by his curly hair, a bulla, which is a sign that he had the status of liber (free), and by a
bracelet with pendants. The statuette can be dated to the middle of the second century bc
because of its baroque Hellenistic features and the style of the letters in the inscription.
As for Arezzo, one should mention fi rst of all the votive deposit at Fonte Veneziana,^30
discovered in 1869 near a gate, still referred to during the Middle Ages as “Augurata”
(inaugurated), an area which today is within the modern city, but which in ancient
times corresponded with the north-east edge of the hill of S. Donato, where the Etruscan
settlement of Arezzo was located.
The bronzes found in Arezzo, some 180 objects, consist in particular of fi gures of korai
and kouroi (Figs. 57.9a, 57.9b), dated to between 530 and 480 bc, and are the products
of Arretine workshops in which the infl uence of the Ionic sculptural style is dominant.
Among the fi gures are domestic animals and anatomical body parts such as heads, eyes,
arms, and legs, which are connected with a healing cult as indicated by the presence of a
fountain fed by the sp ring of the Alpi di Poti. It is interesting to notice the presence of
bones of pigs, cows, and sheep, which may suggest the ritual practice of suovetaurilia at
the closing of the votive deposit. Together with the bronze statuettes were found fi bulae,
rings, and Etruscan and Attic pottery, as also found in the deposit at Brolio, and at S.
Bartolomeo, where the fi nds unfortunately were already dispersed at their discovery.^31
From S. Giusto-Le Gagliarde, where there perhaps existed a small extra-urban
sanctuary, and near the area of the deposit at Fonte Veneziana, derives the group of the
Aratore (ploughman) found in the seventeenth century together with other bronzes,
(Figure 57.10).^32 The ploughman with the animal skin tied in a knot at the neck, and a
large petasos (hat) is shown intent on ploughing with the help of two oxen. In the Museum
Etruscum by Francesco Gori, he is shown accompanied by a statuette of Menerva as Athena
Ergane, and the group thus assumes a symbolic value, which may be connected with the
rites of the foundation of the city.^33 The statuette was made in a north Etruscan workshop
and can be dated to 430–400 bc.
Other votive statuettes illustrate the bronze production of Arretine workshops, such
as two male fi gures, a nude kouros from Lignano (Figure 57.11), and an athlete from
Quarata (Figure 57.12). The fi ndspots of these votive statuettes are important for our
understanding of Arezzo and its territory. The kouros with a pronounced chest and well-
articulated legs suggests characteristic stylistic developments in relation to the kouroi of
Fonte Veneziana. It is dated to 500–480 bc and comes from the peak of Monte Lignano,
a stopping point with a spring and serving as passage between Valdichiana and the basin
of Arezzo.^34
The bronze statuette at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris, which depicts an athlete
ready to jump with his halteres (counter weights), was found at Quarata near Arezzo at
the confl uence of the rivers Clanis and Arno.^35 On his right leg is an Etruscan inscription,
mi klaninśl^36 which identifi es him as the property of a man whose name was derived from
the river name Clanis, or better, from a deity, in this case a river god (Klanins) to whom
in all likelihood the statuette was given as a votive offering. Produced in 460–440 bc it
belongs to a group of late Archaic athletic fi gures produced in Chiusi and Arezzo.^37
To the north of Arezzo, in the Casentino area, on Monte Falterona at the source of the
river Arno, we fi nd the small lake known as Lake Ciliegeta or the Lake of the Idols.^38 The
location ought to indicate a kind of station along a traveling route between northern