• Media type: E-Article
  • Title: The Muscle Cuirass in Etruria and Southern Italy: Votive Bronzes
  • Contributor: Richardson, Emeline Hill
  • Published: Archaeological Institute of America, 1996
  • Published in: American Journal of Archaeology, 100 (1996) 1, Seite 91-120
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 0002-9114; 1939-828X
  • Origination:
  • Footnote:
  • Description: About 40 votive bronze figures wearing the muscle cuirass have been found in, or attributed to, different parts of Italy. Not all are from Etruria; Latium, Campania, and Magna Graecia seem to have provided a number of the known examples. Some are Classical in style, others Hellenistic. They nevertheless make a group by themselves, and one not enough appreciated. Though many of the figures have been published as individual works of art, only Hagemann, in 1919, thought to include one of them in his discussion of the "Muskelpanzer." Taking them as a group, we learn not only what was worn with these corselets, but that the figures, however different in style, almost always take one of three specific poses: brandishing a weapon, pouring a libation, or leaning on a spear. All three are shown many times on Greek painted vases. The first pose represents the warrior in battle, the second, the warrior's leave-taking from his home, and the third, the triumphant warrior at rest, hero, prince, or divinity.