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Cistae were containers used to safeguard precious objects, including mirrors, perfume flasks, and cosmetics. A particular type of cista was made during the 4th to 3rd centuries BCE in Praeneste, a site in Latium (the region around Rome) that was heavily influenced by Etruscan culture. The elaborately engraved scenes are thought to imitate famous, but now lost, Greek wall-paintings. The ancient metalworker often pressed a white substance into the engraved lines in order to accentuate the decoration. The handles commonly take the form of human figures. Many artists in other early Italian cultures similarly incorporated figures of humans in functional objects.The intertwined forms of these wrestling youths create a lively and complex handle for this cista. The disproportionately large heads and oversized facial features are typically Etruscan.
Page data
- Page
- 2
- Source index
- 0
- Type
- photo
- Media ID
- efb9bc4ef353ea76
- Size
- unknown
Document data
- ID
- 27408
- Core
- obj
- Type
- object
DTO data
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"title": "Cista Handle in the Form of Two Wrestlers",
"description": "Cistae were containers used to safeguard precious objects, including mirrors, perfume flasks, and cosmetics. A particular type of cista was made during the 4th to 3rd centuries BCE in Praeneste, a site in Latium (the region around Rome) that was heavily influenced by Etruscan culture. The elaborately engraved scenes are thought to imitate famous, but now lost, Greek wall-paintings. The ancient metalworker often pressed a white substance into the engraved lines in order to accentuate the decoration. The handles commonly take the form of human figures. Many artists in other early Italian cultures similarly incorporated figures of humans in functional objects.The intertwined forms of these wrestling youths create a lively and complex handle for this cista. The disproportionately large heads and oversized facial features are typically Etruscan.",
"provenance": "W. H. Forman Collection Sale, London, 1899, no. 141; Henry Walters, Baltimore, [date of acquisition unknown] by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.",
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}
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Document identity
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Document source metadata
{
"id": "27408",
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"contentType": "object",
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"title": "Cista Handle in the Form of Two Wrestlers",
"description": "Cistae were containers used to safeguard precious objects, including mirrors, perfume flasks, and cosmetics. A particular type of cista was made during the 4th to 3rd centuries BCE in Praeneste, a site in Latium (the region around Rome) that was heavily influenced by Etruscan culture. The elaborately engraved scenes are thought to imitate famous, but now lost, Greek wall-paintings. The ancient metalworker often pressed a white substance into the engraved lines in order to accentuate the decoration. The handles commonly take the form of human figures. Many artists in other early Italian cultures similarly incorporated figures of humans in functional objects.The intertwined forms of these wrestling youths create a lively and complex handle for this cista. The disproportionately large heads and oversized facial features are typically Etruscan.",
"provenance": "W. H. Forman Collection Sale, London, 1899, no. 141; Henry Walters, Baltimore, [date of acquisition unknown] by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.",
"date": "4th-3rd century BCE (Late Classical-Hellenistic)",
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Document source extras
{
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Page context
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