Etruscan Bronze Statue of a Kouros

Italy, Etruria, Etruscan people, ca. 6th to early 5th century BCE. A cast bronze example of a form that originated in Archaic Greece, a kouros. This figure depicts a young man with his left foot forward and one hand raised. The figure is an homage to male youth, the highest ideal of beauty in the Classical world, and appears to be nude aside from a tight cap on the head; he has wide, staring eyes, small nose and mouth, and wears a small skirt that just barely hides his manhood. The figure probably once held an attribute in his raised hand, which is closed, suggesting that it was cylindrical in shape. The figure is cast to have a long spike that juts from the bottom of his feet so that he could be placed into a niche. The statuette was probably dedicated in a sanctuary, made to be a votive offering to the gods. Comes with custom stand. Size: 1.65" W x 4.5" H (4.2 cm x 11.4 cm); height on stand: 4.6" (11.7 cm)

The Etruscans were renowned in early antiquity for their bronzes, and votive figures like this one were traded far and wide according to Pliny the Elder. Titus Livius records that when the consul Marcus Fluvius Flaccus conquered the Etruscan city of Volsinii, they took a line of wagons, including two thousand bronze statues, to Rome, where they were melted down to make coinage to finance the war against Carthage.

See a similar example sold at Christie's New York in 2001 for $4700: http://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/an-etruscan-bronze-kouros-circa-late-6th-2063329-details.aspx

Provenance: ex-private F. H. collection, Switzerland, before 2000

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#124137
Condition Report: Intact with nice remaining detail. Attribute is missing. Wonderful surface patina.