Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This simple, almost schematic, statuette of a female offerant is mostly flat and featureless, except for details of the face, arms, hem of the garment, and feet (1). The woman may wear a low, curved, and uncovered headdress that is otherwise featureless, although the back of the head of the statuette is convex. Her eyes are raised circular discs, the nose is small and triangular, and upper and lower lips are clearly molded. Minute vertical lines above the eyes may indicate eyebrows. Her small, pointed chin is held slightly upward. Her neck is thick and flat, leading to sloping shoulders and a flat, triangular torso. She wears a long, form-fitting, and featureless dress with the end of the hem clearly indicated around the ankles. Her arms are held pressed against her sides, with narrow grooves on either side indicating the separation of her torso and arms. Her left arm is completely fused to her side, with the palm pressed against her left hip; shallow incisions indicate fingers. The right arm is slightly bent near the wrist, holding the palm upward; part of the hand is missing, although it was likely once holding out an offering; two small incisions indicate fingers. Below the narrow waist, the statuette becomes blocky and herm-like, particularly on the front, where the dress takes on a straight, rectangular appearance. On the back, it is slightly rounder, especially around the buttocks. The feet are a solid block with a groove on the top and between the heels to indicate their separation.
Thousands of small, anthropomorphic copper alloy statuettes and anatomical votives have been recovered from remote sanctuary sites in south-central Spain, particularly Collado de los Jardines and Castellar de Santisteban, but it is not certain to which god or gods they were dedicated (2). Many of the statuettes depict individuals, some of whom are represented in poses of prayer or offering (3). Some are very abstract and schematically rendered, while others wear identifiable contemporary clothing (4). In spite of the similarity of the votives, there is nothing to indicate that the intention behind each offering was the same. This example is most likely from the cave sanctuary of Collado de los Jardines near Santa Elena, Jaén. It was given to Harvard in 1933 by the Republic of Spain in exchange for the cover of the eleventh-century sarcophagus of Alfonso Ansúrez from Sahagún, León, which was then in the collection of the Fogg Art Museum (5).
NOTES:
1. Compare L. Prados Torreira, Exvotos ibericos de bronce del Museo Arqueologico Nacional (Madrid, 1992) 190, no. 218, which is similar although it is described as a male figure.
2. See F. Álvarez-Ossorio, Bronces ibéricos o hispánicos del Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid, 1935) 20-27; id., Catálogo de los exvotos de bronce ibéricos (Madrid, 1941); L. Prados Torreira, “Los exvotos anatomicos del santuario iberico de Collado de los Jardines (Sta. Elena, Jaén),” Trabajos de prehistoria 48 (1991): 313-32; ead. 1992 (supra 1); ead., “Los santuarios ibéricos: Apuntes para el desarrollo de una arqueología del culto,” Trabajos de prehistoria 51.1 (1994): 127-40; and G. Nicolini et al., El santuario ibérico de Castellar, Jaén: Intervenciones arqueológicas 1966-1991 (Seville, 2004) 160-64.
3. For discussions of the statuettes’ poses and gestures, see G. Nicolini, “Gestes et attitudes cultuels des figurines de bronze ibériques,” Mélanges de la Casa de Velázquez 4 (1968): 27-50; and C. Rueda Galán, “La mujer sacralizada: La presencia de las mujeres en los santuarios (lectura desde los exvotos de bronce iberos),” Complutum 18 (2007): 227-35.
4. See, for example, 1933.134.
5. See “Collections and Critiques,” The Harvard Crimson, Dec. 12, 1935; and Á. Franco, “Arte medieval leonés fuera de España,” in La dispersión de objetos de arte fuera de España en los siglos XIX y XX, eds. F. Pérez Mulet and I. Socias Batet (Barcelona, 2011) 93-132, esp. 113-16.
Lisa M. Anderson
