1978.508: Male Votive Statuette

Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This standing male figure wears a long mantle and a helmet with a prominent neck guard (1). His facial features, aside from the prominent nose, are only slightly indicated. It is unclear if raised ovals on each side of the head indicate ears or if these are an element of the helmet’s cheek pieces. The figure has a pointed chin and an angular jaw; his face is tilted slightly upward. His short neck is broad and rather flat. The torso of the figure is unnaturally broad, probably to accommodate the wide fold of the tunic edge. The left shoulder is short, and his upper left arm is pressed closely to the body and bent at the elbow; only a faint incised line on the back indicates the separation of the arm from the body. His hand, which is not articulated, rests on his chest. His right arm, slightly curved but with no indication of an elbow, is held against his side; the hand is also not modeled. His long mantle ends above the ankles. The upper portion of the mantle is bordered by a sash or wide band, probably indicating folded cloth, running over his right shoulder down to under his left elbow. A raised vertical strip down the back of the right shoulder may indicate the corner of the garment. His lower legs are fused from the ankle downward; only a small triangular notch indicates the separation of the feet, and the toes are not indicated.

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.

NOTES:

1. Compare L. Prados Torreira, Exvotos ibericos de bronce del Museo Arqueologico Nacional (Madrid, 1992) 195, no. 281; and F. Álvarez-Ossorio, Catalogo de los exvotos de bronce, ibericos, Museo Arqueologico Nacional (Madrid, 1941) nos. 387-89, pl. 57.

2. See F. Álvarez-Ossorio, Bronces ibéricos o hispánicos del Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid, 1935) 20-27; id. 1941 (supra 1); 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.

Lisa M. Anderson