CHAPTER FIFTY NINE

SCIENCE AS ART: ETRUSCAN

ANATOMICAL VOTIVES

Matthias Recke

F

igural representations of the human form have been known in Etruscan art in greater
numbers since the Archaic period. Whether divine or mortal, in statues in the round
or fi gurines, fi gural representations always concern the portrayal of the whole fi gure
from head to toe. The pictorial dissection of the human body into isolated body parts
is a phenomenon that occurs in the Etruscan-Latin sphere, especially in the Hellenistic
period, in the form of votive models of body parts. Produced and dedicated in large
numbers, the anatomical votives far exceed all other kinds of votive offerings in volume
in the sanctuaries.^1 (As a phenomenon, this custom is related to the votives of isolated
heads that begin around the end of the sixth century bc.)^2 Comparable phenomena of
dedication of model body parts are known in ancient Greece and Cyprus,^3 although the
practice is not nearly so widespread there. In the Gallo-Roman area also appropriate fi nds
extend into the Imperial period.

THE DISSECTION OF THE BODY

Despite the large quantity of votives recovered, the repertoire of the various types is
quite limited. The anatomical body-part dedications, in the narrower sense of the term,
include, besides heads (and half-heads) (Figs. 59.1–2) – numerically certainly the most
widely distributed category – the extremities of the human body (arms, legs) as well as
parts thereof (lower arm with hand, lower leg with foot, knee, neck) and individual hands
and feet. Even single fi ngers and toes were dedicated.
The division of the body into busts (from navel to head)^4 and corresponding counterparts
such as the lower body from hip to feet are also known, as are torsos (and halved torsos)^5
without extremities. Isolated representations of the sense organs appear, namely eyes and
ears (Fig. 59.3, see Fig. 59.11), (usually single organs, but sometimes in pairs), rarely
also nose, tongue and mouth.^6 “Masks” show a cut out section of the face, which as a rule
includes eyes and nose, sometimes also the mouth.^7 The representations of male genitalia
always include the scrotum and the non-erect penis, often the pubic hair is also depicted
(see Fig. 59.10). In the female representations, the vulva and also the female breast are
depicted, usually not in pairs but as single objects (Fig. 59.4).