Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
The front of the body of this small male statuette is flat, and its details are deeply incised, while the head and the back of the statuette are modeled in the round (1). He appears to wear a helmet with no cheek pieces; the neck guard is prominent on the back of the head. His face has large, inset eyes, eyebrows in relief, a prominent nose, and a wide mouth; the chin is narrow and pointed. The neck is round and proportionate. The details of the body are indicated by incision. He wears a long V-neck tunic, perhaps with a mantle over top. The figure crosses his arms in front of his torso, right over left, with his hands placed palm down over his belly; the fingers of each hand are cursorily incised. Just below each shoulder, two incised bands indicate either short decorated sleeves on his tunic or arm bands. The long, straight incision on the figure’s right side probably indicates the edge of his open cloak. The hem of his garment is modeled all the way around (flat on the front, rounded on the back). The feet are in a single block, with an incision on top, bottom, and back to indicate separation; incised lines indicate toes. The rounded back is featureless except for details of the helmet, garment, and feet.
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. This piece is very similar to L. Prados Torreira, Exvotos ibericos de bronce del Museo Arqueologico Nacional (Madrid, 1992) 195, no. 271. Compare also R. Lantier, Bronzes votifs ibériques (Paris, 1935) no. 71, pl. 8.
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
