Cinerarium
sculptor
Unknown
Dateabout 150 BCE
Place MadeItaly, Ancient & Byzantine World-Europe
MediumTerracotta with traces of white slip on lid
Dimensions31.1 x 30.8 x 15.9 cm (12 1/4 x 12 1/8 x 6 1/4 in.)
ClassificationsFunerary Containers
Credit LineIsabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston
Accession numberS16e11.a-b
eMuseum ID724739
Original NumberS16e11
EmbARK ObjectID11783
TMS Source ID950
Last Updated8/14/24
Status
Not on viewWeb CommentaryThis Etruscan terracotta urn is from the archaeological site at Chiusi in present day Tuscany. The front shows a scene of combat, said to be part of the Athenian-Persian battle on the plain of Marathon in 490 B.C. The central figure, Greek hero Echetlos, fights three soldiers with the cutting blade of a plow. This urn would have originally been painted and inscribed with the name of the person whose remains it held.
BibliographyNotesCatalogue. Fenway Court. (Boston, 1903), p. 10. (as "Cinerary Urn of Terra-Cotta")
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 116. (Etruscan, 3rd century BCE)
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 6, no. 14 (2 Dec. 1962), p. 2. (Etruscan, 3rd century BCE)
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 7, no. 9 (27 Oct. 1963), p. 2. (Text is identical to the earlier "Notes" for 2 Dec. 1962)
Susan West Day. “An Etruscan Cinerary Urn.” Fenway Court (Apr. 1968), pp. 1-8, ills. 4-6. (Etruscan, 2nd half of the 3rd century BCE)
Cornelius C. Vermeule III et al. Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1977), p. 5, no. 7. (Italo-Etruscan, about 150 BCE)
Hilliard Goldfarb et al. Passionate Acts in Greek Art and Myth. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 1994), p. 32, ill. 33. (Italo-Etruscan, about 150 BCE)
Gilbert Wendel Longstreet and Morris Carter. General Catalogue (Boston, 1935), p. 116. (Etruscan, 3rd century BCE)
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 6, no. 14 (2 Dec. 1962), p. 2. (Etruscan, 3rd century BCE)
“Notes, Records, Comments.” Gardner Museum Calendar of Events 7, no. 9 (27 Oct. 1963), p. 2. (Text is identical to the earlier "Notes" for 2 Dec. 1962)
Susan West Day. “An Etruscan Cinerary Urn.” Fenway Court (Apr. 1968), pp. 1-8, ills. 4-6. (Etruscan, 2nd half of the 3rd century BCE)
Cornelius C. Vermeule III et al. Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1977), p. 5, no. 7. (Italo-Etruscan, about 150 BCE)
Hilliard Goldfarb et al. Passionate Acts in Greek Art and Myth. Exh. cat. (Boston: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 1994), p. 32, ill. 33. (Italo-Etruscan, about 150 BCE)
ProvenanceNotesPurchased by Isabella Stewart Gardner's husband, John L. Gardner, Jr. (1837-1898), from the dealer Vincenzo Barone, Naples for 100 lire on 26 October 1897.
