Chimera of Arezzo
.jpg)
The Arezzo Chimera is one of the most famous examples of Etruscan art . It is a bronze statue that was found in Tuscany on November 15, 1553 during the construction of the Medicean fortresses around the city of Arezzo , which is of Etruscan-Roman origin. The sculpture was once the Grand Duke of Tuscany Cosimo I de 'Medici incorporated his collection, the public in the Palazzo Vecchio , in the hall of Leo X issued. It was later transferred to his studio in Palazzo Pitti , where, as Benvenuto Cellini explains in his autobiography, "the Duke took great pleasure in cleaning it personally with the tools of the goldsmith". In 1718 it ended up in the Uffizi Gallery , and later together with other ancient bronzes in the Palazzo della Crocetta , today's National Archaeological Museum of Florence , where it is still located today.
In Greek mythology , the Chimaira , whose name Χίμαιρα Chímaira literally means " goat " in Greek , was a fire-breathing monster that was represented with a lion's head and body, the tail of a snake and an additional goat's head on its back, and that according to Lycia haunted. The Greek hero Bellerophon is said to have killed the Chimera with the help of the winged horse Pegasus .
The figure is about 80 cm high, it is dated to the last quarter of the 5th or the beginning of the 4th century BC. Dated. The depiction shows the Chimera in agony with its conquerors; she is already wounded; the goat's head leans to one side, dying. Presumably the chimera was part of a group with Bellerophon and Pegasus. The chimera was a depot find of bronze figures that were carefully buried in ancient times for security reasons. A bronze replica is now close to the site.
The bronze figure was initially mistaken for a lion by its discoverers because its tail, which was shaped like a snake, was missing. Only later did Giorgio Vasari identify the statue as a representation of the chimera: Vasari replied in his Ragionamenti sopra le invenzioni da lui dipinte in Firenze nel palazzo di loro Altezze Serenissime to a conversation partner who asks him whether it really is the chimera of Bellerophon:
“Yes, sir, because there is a comparison with the medals from Rome that my lord, the duke, possesses, with the goat's head placed on the neck of this lion, which, as His Excellency can see, also has a snake body, and we have found the broken tail that was found in these bronze fragments, along with numerous metal figurines that His Excellency has all seen, and the wounds she has on her body prove it, and also the pain that is in movement in the head of this animal. "
In fact, according to Giorgio Vasari, part of the tail was discovered among the smaller pieces of bronze and fragments. In 1785, Francesco Carradori reconstructed the tail, the snakehead of which bites the horn of the goat's head at the end of its tail instead of pointing at the attacker, as is the case in documented depictions on ancient coins.
The inscription on the right forefoot of the figure can be read in different ways, but recently it has been widely believed that the inscription reads TINSCVIL (a gift to Tinia). This shows that the figure is a votive offering dedicated to the Etruscan light and sky god Tinia . Tinia was the supreme Etruscan god.
The Staatliche Antikensammlungen in Munich had a cast of the chimera made for a special exhibition in 2015. Since then, this has adorned the outside area of the antique collection on Königsplatz .
See also
- The Capitoline she-wolf , supposedly an Etruscan bronze figure from the 5th century BC. BC, but probably medieval.
- The Arringatore , a bronze statue from the late 2nd or early 1st century BC. Chr.
- The Mars of Todi , a bronze statue of the late 5th or early 4th century BC. Chr.
Web links
- Ugo Bardi: The Chimaera of Arezzo , 1997, 2002 revised (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Giorgio Vasari: Ragionamenti sopra le invenzioni da lui dipinte in Firenze nel palazzo di loro Altezze Serenissime . Florence 1558 and Arezzo 1762, pp. 107-108.
- ↑ https://www.nzz.ch/feuilleton/kunst_architektur/die-thyrrhenische-chimaere-ld.3285