Antefix with silen head

Summary

The polychromy on the antefix is rather well-preserved. The colour palette is limited to calcite, red ochre, carbon black and Egyptian blue. Mineral clays constitute an essential part of the entire stratigraphy suggesting that diluted clay has been used as a binder for the pigments.

Description of object

Antefix with large satyr head. It is made of pale brown clay (10YR 6/3) with many inclusions. The antefix is restored from several fragments. It is fairly complete, although parts of the shell frame are missing. The satyr head is surrounded by a large, deeply concave shell frame decorated with three upright, seven-leaf palmettes alternating with lotuses in relief. The satyr wears a wreath of ivy and has a round fleshy face with wrinkled forehead, large eyes, a broad nose, and a wide mouth with thick lips, which are slightly parted leaving the teeth visible. He has a beard of wavy strands and a thick moustache overlapping the beard.

During the investigation, it was noted that the fragments at the lower left side of the antefix have curiously straight surfaces at the joints. This suggests that the fragments did not fit together initially and were tooled to do so during restoration. Thus, the fragments forming the lower left part of the shell frame as well as the left side of the base appear to belong to another antefix with a similar design. This theory is supported by the polychromy.

Archaeological Commentary

There is one more antefix of the same type in the collection belonging to the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (HIN 68). At least five other examples of this type of antefix exist, all of which are also considered to be from Cerveteri: one in the Vatican (Museo Etrusco Gregoriano, inv. no. 14118), two in Philadelphia (Penn Museum, inv. nos. MS 1804 and 1805), and two in New York (Metropolitan Museum of Art, inv. nos. 96.18.159 and 96.18.160). Furthermore, there is a fragment of the same type in Paris.

Choice of methods

Visual examination

• Macroscopic
• Microscopic in situ

Technical imaging

• UV
• VIL
• Raking light

Sampling

• Cross section
• Microscopy
• SEM/EDX
• XRF

Visual examination

The satyr head has dark red skin which merges into the shell frame. An even darker shade of red has been applied to the hair below the ears and, seemingly, on top of the head and inside the ears. The eyes are dark brown with indistinct pupils. The beard, moustache, eye rims and brows are all painted black. The lips are painted red, the teeth white and the ivy a light shade of blue. The palmettes and lotus flowers are painted white and light blue on a bluish black background. There is a geometric pattern on the base executed in black, white and red.

Technical imaging

UV-FL: Due to the fluorescence of the glue, the joints light up in the UV.

VIL: In the VIL image the dark background of the palmettes and the blue ivy light up because of the luminescent property of Egyptian blue.

Other types of investigation

XRF in situ:01: Terracotta: Ca, Fe, K and S. 02: White on volute: Raised levels of Ca and S. 03: Red skin colour: Large amount of Fe, probably red ochre. 04: Black beard: No distinct differences from terracotta reading. 05: Blue ivy: Raised levels of Cu and S. A minute amount of Cl was also detected. Copper-based blue.

A sampling strategy was developed on the basis of the preliminary investigation. Three samples with a surface area of c. 1 mm2 were collected. Sample 1: Skin with overlapping ivy. Sample 2: Beard. Sample 3: Red background colour of palmette on fragment belonging to another, yet very similar, antefix. The samples were prepared as cross-sections and examined with an optical microscope.

SEM-EDS (point analysis): Only sample 1 representing the skin bordering the wrath of ivy has been analysied using SEM-EDS. The preparatory white ground consists of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and silicate compounds rich on aluminum. These compounds might constitute kaolinite (Al2Si2O5(OH)4). Thus, the white layer is based on calcite and may contain kaolin. The red skin colour is based on iron suggesting hematite (α-Fe2O3), i.e. red ocher. The blue layer representing the ivy contains calcium copper silicate such as cuprorivaite (CaCuSi4O10), i.e. Egyptian blue. In addition, mineral clays constitute an essential part of the entire stratigraphy. The chemical composition of these clay minerals indicates the use of kaolin (Al2Si2O5(OH)4). Usually, kaolin is easily recognizable with SEM due to its highly characteristic, hexagonal, plate-like shape. However, when exposed to firing temperatures excessing 500 °C, it loses its crystallographic order as it forms metakaolin.

Bibliography

C. Brøns, S.B. Hedegaard & M.L. Sargent Forthcoming, Painted Faces: Investigations into the polychromy of Etruscan antefixes, in Etruscan Studies.

J. Christiansen & N.A. Winter (2010), Etruria I. Catalogue. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen, 110, cat. no. 50.

C. Brøns, S.B. Hedegaard & K. L. Rasmussen (2018), The real thing? Studies of polychromy and Authenticity of Etruscan Pinakes at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. Studi Etruschi LXXIX – MMXIV, 195-223.

S.B. Hedegaard (2018), Reconstructing Etruscan Architectural Polychromy: Antefixes from the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, in S. Bracci, G. Giachi, P. Liverani, P. Pallecchi & F. Paolucci (eds.) Polychromy in Ancient Sculpture and Architecture. Proceedings of the 7th Round Table, Florence, 4-7 November 2015, Sillabe, Florence, 36-42.