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Source 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.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
5608
label
Cista Depicting a Dionysian Revel and Perseus with Medusa's Head
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
8
Source metadata
id
5608
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Cista Depicting a Dionysian Revel and Perseus with Medusa's Head
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.
provenance
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome [date and mode of acquisition unknown]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
4th-3rd century BCE (Late Classical-Hellenistic)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Metal
cistae (toiletry containers)
vessels
imageCount
8
pageCount
8
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
51.5
height
26.5
dimensionsRaw
H: 20 1/4 x Diam: 10 7/16 in. (51.5 x 26.5 cm)
Source extras
cul
Praenestine
med
bronze; incised
creator_ids
6291
collection_ids
ROM
exhibition_ids
none
Page inventory
seq
1
type
photo
mediaId
b71c4cd5bd1e7580
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
2
type
photo
mediaId
75261bd84dafe3e8
hasOcr
no
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no
seq
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type
photo
mediaId
303acac4a33af89c
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no
hasDescription
no
seq
4
type
photo
mediaId
b80e4cec665fb14d
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
5
type
photo
mediaId
b10e8d263a92ef65
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
6
type
photo
mediaId
3c1c9c6dc920388d
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
7
type
photo
mediaId
f27b8055a13c5061
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no
seq
8
type
photo
mediaId
2a85ee6fb6b1b215
hasOcr
no
hasDescription
no