tabula ansata
{{Short description|Tablet with dovetail handles}}
File:Heiligtum mainz4.jpg in Mainz]]
File:Tombeau de Charles IV d'anjou, comte du Maine.JPG attributed to Francesco Laurana, in Le Mans Cathedral]]
File:AdamclisiMetope10.jpg on a soldier shield, metope XXIV from Tropaeum Traiani]]
A tabula ansata or tabella ansata (Latin for "tablet with handles", plural tabulae ansatae or tabellae ansatae) is a tablet with dovetail handles.
{{Cite book
|last1 = Giroire
|first1 = Cécile
|last2 = Roger
|first2 = Daniel
|title = Roman art from the Louvre
|publisher = Hudson Hills Press
|year = 2007
|page = 109
|isbn = 978-1-55595-283-9}} It was a favorite form for votive tablets in Imperial Rome.
{{Cite book
|last1 = Meyer
|first1 = Elizabeth A.
|title = Legitimacy and law in the Roman world: tabulae in Roman belief and practice
|url = https://archive.org/details/legitimacylawrom00meye
|url-access = limited
|publisher = Cambridge University Press
|year = 2004
|page = [https://archive.org/details/legitimacylawrom00meye/page/n44 28]
|isbn = 0-521-49701-9
|lccn = 2003051532}}
Overview
Tabulae ansatae identifying soldiers' units have been found on the tegimenta (leather covers) of shields, for example in Vindonissa (Windisch, Switzerland).See [http://www.leg8.com/Musees/Vindonissa/vindonissa_03.jpg picture] ([http://www.leg8.com/Musees/vindonissa.php source page]) Sculptural evidence, for example on the metopes from the Tropaeum Traiani (Adamclisi, Romania), shows that they were also used for the
{{Cite news
|last1 = Tansey
|first1 = Patrick
|title = M. Titius, Menas and the insignia scutorum
|periodical = Klio
|publisher = Akademie Verlag
|publication-place = Berlin
|date = June 2008
|volume = 90
|issue = 1
|doi = 10.1524/klio.2008.0004
|pages = 68–70
}}
Modern era
Tabulae ansatae have been used by modern artists from as early as the 15th century, as shown on the tomb of Charles, Count of Maine, attributed to Francesco Laurana, in Le Mans Cathedral.
{{Cite book
|last1 = Barnard
|first1 = Toby Christopher
|last2 = Clark
|first2 = Jane
|title = Lord Burlington: architecture, art and life
|publisher = Continuum International Publishing Group
|year = 1995
|pages = 118–120
|isbn = 1-85285-094-9}}
The Statue of Liberty by sculptor Auguste Bartholdi is holding one such tablet on which "July IV MDCCLXXVI" is inscribed.
Gallery
File:4545 - Istanbul - Museo archeol. - Rilievo traianeo dalla Romania sec. II d.C. - Foto G. Dall'Orto 28-5-2006.jpg|Tabulae ansatae on soldiers' shields – metope from the Tropaeum Traiani, Archaeological Museum of Istanbul
File:Dativius Victor Bogen.jpg|A tabula ansata on the attic of the arch of Dativius Victor (de) in Mainz
File:Fra-titusbuen.jpg|Tabulae ansatae carried on sticks – Arch of Titus
File:Triumph1-Mantegna-picture-bearers.jpg|A tabula ansata carried on a stick – Triumphs of Caesar by Andrea Mantegna
File:Ostia Mosaic.jpg|Tabula ansata on a mosaic in Ostia Antica
File:EIS PHAOS.JPG|Tabula ansata on George Bancroft's bookplate
Statue of Liberty frontal 2.jpg|The Statue of Liberty (formally Liberty Enlightening the World) holds a tabula ansata inscribed with "July 4 1776" in Roman numerals
Happy 4th! (14572157225).jpg|Detail of the Statue of Liberty's tabula
Footnotes
{{Reflist|2}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- [https://www.flickr.com/photos/14587430@N05/2973554448/ Ancient tabula ansata] made of metal from Italica (Spain).
- [http://alain.guilleux.free.fr/ismailia/IMG_4007.JPG Tabula ansata on the Shaykh Zwaydah (Cheikh Zouède) mosaic] ([http://alain.guilleux.free.fr/ismailia/ismailia.php source page]), 4th century AD, Ismailia museum, Egypt, discovered in 1913 by Jean Clédat
{{Cite book
|editor-last = Haldimann
|editor-first = Marc-André
|last1 = Picirillo
|first1 = Michele
|authorlink = :fr:Michele Piccirillo (archéologue)
|contribution = Les mosaïques de la bande de Gaza
|title = Gaza à la croisée des civilisations: Contexte archéologique et historique
|publisher = Chaman Edition
|year = 2007
|page = picture N°119
|isbn = 978-2-9700435-5-3}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tabula Ansata}}