Displaced Gods & Acquisition practices: a terracotta figurine of Apollo and Artumes

Etruscan votive terracotta figurine of the Etruscan deities Apollo and Artumes. Caere, Etruria, circa 300 BCE. 8-2579

This 4th century BCE terracotta figurine depicts Apollo and Artumes, the Etruscan deities of poetry/art and hunting, respectively. The two gods are shown standing and holding a lyre between them. This object, alongside 800 other Etruscan artifacts housed at the Hearst Museum, was acquired by Alfred Emerson from a votive deposit at the Vignaccia Temple site in Caere at the turn of the 20th century. Because Emerson’s acquisition style reflects his interest in context, we can begin to reconstruct this site from the many votives which have survived at the Vignaccia. This votive figurine, along with hundreds of others found at this site, requires that we do more to shed light on context and collecting. It is important to reflect on collection methods, especially when we attempt to recreate the life of an ancient object.

-Anuroop

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