Apollo of Veii
{{Short description|Late 6th century BC painted terracotta Etruscan statue of Apollo}}
{{Infobox sculpture
| image_file = Decorazione fittile del santuario di portonaccio, 510-500 ac ca, acroteri, apollo 02.jpg
| image_size = 200px
| caption =
| artist = Vulca
| year = {{circa|510-500}} BC
| type = Terracotta
| height_metric =180
| width_metric =
| length_metric =
| height_imperial =
| width_imperial =
| length_imperial =
| metric_unit = cm
| imperial_unit = in
| city = Rome
| museum = National Etruscan Museum
| italic title = no
}}
The Apollo of Veii is a life-size painted terracotta Etruscan statue of Aplu (Apollo), designed to be placed at the highest part of a temple. The statue was discovered in the Portonaccio sanctuary of ancient Veii, Latium, in what is now central Italy, and dates from {{circa|510-500}} BC. It was created in the so-called "international" Ionic or late-archaic Etruscan style.{{cite book|author1=Horst Woldemar Janson|author2=Anthony F. Janson|title=History of Art: The Western Tradition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MMYHuvhWBH4C&pg=PT172|year=2003|publisher=Prentice Hall Professional|isbn=978-0-13-182895-7|pages=172–}}
It was discovered in 1916, and is now on display in the National Etruscan Museum in Rome.
Creator
The statue was probably made by Vulca, an Etruscan artist who was also responsible for the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, according to Pliny.{{Cite book|title=Natural History|last=Pliny the Elder|pages=35.157}} He is the only Etruscan artist known by name.{{cite book|author=Barbara E. Borg|title=A Companion to Roman Art|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DS-PCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA97|date=9 September 2015|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-1-118-88609-0|pages=97–}}
Mythological depiction
This terracotta statue was part of a scene of Apollo and Heracles contending over the Ceryneian Hind, placed 12 metres above the ground on beams on the acroterion of the Portonaccio Sanctuary of Minerva.{{cite book|author1=Giuliano Bonfante|author1-link=Giuliano Bonfante |author2=Larissa Bonfante|author2-link=Larissa Bonfante |title=The Etruscan Language: An Introduction, Revised Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VWGN6e5Rzf8C&pg=PA17|year=2002|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-5540-9|pages=17–}}
The statue is dressed in a tunic and short cloak, advancing towards the left with the right arm outstretched and bent (the statue's left arm is towards the ground and may have held a bow).
Together with other statues, it decorated the roof beams of the Portonaccio temple, a sanctuary dedicated to Minerva. Placed on high plinths, this series of statues were acroterial. They stood some twelve metres above the ground level and even though they were created separately, they narrated events from Greek mythology that were at least in part tied to the god Apollo.{{cn|date=November 2022}}
This statue, together with the statue of Heracles, formed a group representing one of the labours of the hero before his apotheosis made him one of the divinities of Olympus.{{cn|date=November 2022}} The myth narrates the contention between the god and the hero for the possession of the doe with the golden horns. There was probably also a statue of Mercury united to this group, of which only the head and a part of the body remain. Apollo, dressed in a tunic and short cloak, advances towards his left with his right arm outstretched and bent (his left arm is towards the ground, perhaps holding a bow); Heracles, with the doe tied around is outstretched towards the right, leaning forwards to attack with his bludgeon and with his torso in a violent curve.{{cn|date=November 2022}}
Analysis
The group was conceived for a lateral vision and the solid volume of the figures united with the dissymmetry both in Apollo (the torso and face) and in the Heracles torso suggest that the artist understood optical deformations.{{cn|date=November 2022}} The style of the statues is in the ambit of the “international” Ionic style that characterizes the Etruscan artistic culture of the late 6th century BC. The sculpture reaches a very high level of expression.
A striking aspect of the statue is its elaborate hairstyle, characterized by long, flowing tresses styled in an intricate arrangement of spiraling curls and secured by a ribbon.{{Cite book |last=Lulof |first=Patricia S. |url= |title=The Ridge-pole Statues from the Late Archaic Temple at Satricum |date=1996 |publisher=Thesis |isbn=978-90-5170-355-9 |page=47 |language=en}} This hairstyle exemplifies the Etruscan fashion of the time, which favored lengthy, voluminous hair for both men and women, a trend that remained popular throughout Etruria in the late sixth century BC.{{Cite book |last=Bonfante |first=Larissa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CILWtN-fSG8C&pg=PA73 |title=Etruscan Dress |date=2003-10-31 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-0-8018-7413-0 |page=73 |language=en}}
File:Museo-di-villa-giulia---lapollo-di-veio 32529060456 o.jpg
File:Apollo di Veio - Museo di Villa Giulia 2.jpg
File:Terracotta statues.jpg
File:Decorazione fittile del santuario di portonaccio, 510-500 ac ca, acroteri, 03.jpg
File:Decorazione fittile del santuario di portonaccio, 510-500 ac ca, acroteri, apollo 04.jpg
See also
Sources
- {{cite book|title=Etruscan Art|first=Nigel|last=Spivey|author-link=Nigel Spivey|year=1997 |publisher=Thames and Hudson|location=London}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.apollodiveio.it/en/default.asp Statue website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151103180307/http://www.apollodiveio.it/en/default.asp |date=2015-11-03 }}
{{Etruscans}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apollo Of Veii}}
Category:6th-century BC sculptures
Category:Collection of the Villa Giulia
Category:Terracotta sculptures
Category:Etruscan architecture