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Couple Seated on a Winged Throne

Figurine found at the Vignaccia Temple, Caere (Modern-day Cerveteri), Central Italy from the Middle Etruscan Period (480–325 BC). 8-2591

This statuette portrays a shift in the depiction of power and authority in Etruscan culture, moving from common depictions of reclining banquets to an enthroned couple. The statuette, dated 400-350 BCE and collected from the Vignaccia Temple, a female votive sanctuary at ancient Caere, is a terracotta press-mold of a couple. They are seated on a wing-backed double throne and partially embrace while facing forward. In this sense the statuette preserves the egalitarian position of man and woman in aristocratic Etruscan society seen throughout banqueting scenes. Yet the throne shifts the two figures into a position of authority and activity, perhaps indicating divine personages.

-Jake

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