Inscribed Statuette Base Dedicated by Laris Rathmsnas

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Inscribed Statuette Base Dedicated by Laris Rathmsnas

Place of OriginItaly, Etruria

DateLate 4th - early 3rd century BCE

DimensionsH: 5 29/32 in. (15 cm); Diam (top); 3 1/2 in. (9.5 cm); Diam (bottom): 4 5/8 in. (11.8 cm)

MediumStone

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineGift of Christo Michailides

Object number

1983.46

Not on View

DescriptionSmall inscribed stone base. The upper surface preserves the indentations for a now-missing statuette.

Label TextThis small stone pedestal served as a base for a now-missing bronze statuette. The pedestal is inscribed with a dedicatory text in Etruscan, consisting of three lines in an incised, leftward-leaning script: “Laris Raθmsnas [or Raθnusnas] turce,” translating to “Laris Rathmsnas [or Rathnusnas] dedicated [me].” This phrase indicates a dedication, although the deity to whom it was dedicated remains unspecified. Although the provenance is unknown, the pedestal’s style and inscription align it with Etruscan votive artifacts from the 4th century BCE or later. The name Raθmsnas is a family name commonly associated with the regions of Clusium and Volsinii in ancient Etruria, suggesting that the pedestal may originate from one of these areas.Published ReferencesFabing, Suzannah, in The Gods Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze, edited by Arielle P. Kozloff and David Gordon Mitten, Cleveland, Ohio, The Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1988, p. 254.

Wallace, Rex E., “Rivista di Epigrafia Etrusca,” Studi Etruschi, vol. 59, 1994, pp. 271-273, no. 27, pl. XLIX.

Bellelli, Vincenzo, “Un bronzetto etrusco, Cerveteri e le ‘Acque di Ercole,’” Mediterranea, vol. III, 2006 (published 2007), pp. 173-225, repr. pp. 174, 180, 181, 184, 196.