Published Catalogue Text: Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Bronzes at the Harvard Art Museums
This female orant wears a high, pointed headdress covered by a long cloak or veil that falls in an arrowhead-shape down her back (1). Above her forehead, two bands of the headdress are visible under the cloak. Her facial features are small: the eyes are small points, and the nose is triangular over a semicircular incision indicating a smiling mouth. On both sides of her head are large circular discs, likely representing tymphanum of the type mentioned by Strabo (2). She wears a long, unbelted, and undecorated form-fitting dress with short sleeves. Her breasts are slightly indicated; the body is extremely narrow from the torso downward, particularly around the waist. The hem of the dress is indicated by a raised line around her ankles. She stands frontally, with her arms at her sides and slightly raised. Her palms are held out in a gesture of adoration or prayer. Her legs and heels are pressed together, and her knees are slightly bent. Her feet are separated by a triangular cleft, with the toes articulated and heels pointed. The back is flat and featureless down to the knees, where it becomes more rounded and more details appear on the dress 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 (3). Many of the statuettes depict individuals, some of whom are represented in poses of prayer or offering (4). Some are very abstract and schematically rendered, while others wear identifiable contemporary clothing (5). 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) 233, nos. 735-37 and 288, no. 1407. Compare R. Lantier, Bronzes votifs ibériques (Paris, 1935) no. 208, pl. 15.
2. The first-century BCE geographer Strabo describes the large disc-like decorations as “drums” (tymphanum) that spiral outward, increasing in height and width, covering part of the head down to the ears. (Strabo, 3.4.17). He mentions that some of the women twist their hair around a rod and cover it in a black veil, which seems to correspond to the pointed headdresses seen on this statuette and 1978.507. Compare the large and elaborate wheel-like discs on the side of the head and pointed headdress of the stone bust known as the Lady of Elche (Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid, inv. no. 1971/10/1) with these details on the two Harvard statuettes. See also the Iberian stone heads from the sanctuary at Cerro de los Santos with high pointed headdresses similar to Harvard’s bronzes in the Museo de Albacete, inv. nos. DE07515 and CE04302; and the Museo Arqueológico Nacional, Madrid, inv. nos. 3513 and 7510. For a comparison of bronze votives from Despeñaperros and stone sculptures, see H. Sandars, “Pre-Roman Bronze Votive Offerings from Despeñaperros, in Sierra Morena, Spain,” Archaeologia, or Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity 10 (1906) 69-92.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. See, for example, this piece or 1933.134.
6. 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
