The Etruscan World (Routledge Worlds)

• Helen Nagy –

Figure 54.13 Seated fi gure of Athena/Menerva from the Vignaccia Sanctuary at Cerveteri.

Inv. No. 82431. Photo: author. Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology,

University of California, Berkeley.

Figure 54.14 Athena/Menerva seated on a kline. From the Vignaccia Sanctuary at Cerveteri.

Inv. No. 8–2561. Photo: author. Courtesy of the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology,

University of California, Berkeley.

The variations on this type at Cerveteri suggest that Menerva had a special role here,
accompanied by the warrior and a third type, a woman of similar aspect to the Menerva
and warrior who holds a small pig in her right hand, associating her with the chthonic
realm^19 (Fig. 54.15). Athena/Menerva also occurs at Veii, but in a more conventional,
classical style. She holds a fi gure-8 shield by her left leg and her right arm is raised
probably to hold a spear.^20 The local stylistic and typological distinctions of the warrior
and Menerva fi gures indicate that while many types (such as the Tanagras) were favored at
most sites, some were created specifi cally for the patrons of a particular sanctuary, or city.

Musicians; paired and duplicated fi gures

Music was an important part of ancient cult (see Chapter 46). The lyre and double fl utes
accompanied religious ceremonies and served as the “voice” of the divine.^21 In a number
of examples from Veii, a nude male fi gure in a Classical pose, left leg bent, carries a lyre
in his left hand (Fig. 54.16).^22