Etruscan: Chimaera of Arezzo

The Topic:

The Chimaera of Arezzo is believed by most scholars to be an Etruscan work of art, produced during the time when Rome was establishing its dominion over the Italian continent. It represents the chimaera monster squatting down as if to pounce and bearing its fangs at the (now lost) hero Bellerophon. Arguably, it is an exquisite piece of the highly developed Etruscan metalworking tradition, produced for an Etruscan or Roman patron, and representing a theme of interest to both. Debate of all aspects of the sculpture - from dating, to artistic style, to whether it is actually an antiquity at all - has raged back and forth, and the sculpture is still heatedly being discussed today. Begin your reading with Warden, P.G. 2011 and Cohen, B. 2010 below, and see if you're taken too. (Articles are linked and accessible for free.)

Bibliography compiled from Warden and Cohen

Citations are in American Journal of Archaeology format. See the latest issue of the journal for a key to journal abbreviations used.

Key to the American Journal of Archaeology’s bibliographic format:

Journal Articles: Author. Date. “Title.” Journal title Vol.: Pages. [or] Vol. (no. ): Pages

Books: Author. Date. Title. City: Publisher.

Chapters in books: Author. Date. “Chapter title.” In Book title, edited by Authors, pages. City: Publisher.

Bibliography

Bartoloni, G., ed. 2010. La Lupa Capitolina: Nuove prospettive di studio. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider.

Bonfante, L. 2006. “Etruscan Inscriptions and Etruscan Religion.” In The Religion of the Etruscans, edited by N.T. De Grummond and E. Simon, 9–26. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Bottini, A., and E. Satari, eds. 2007. Il sarcofago delle Amazzoni. Milan: Electa.

Brecoulaki, H. 2001. L’esperienza del colore nella pittura funeraria dell’Italia preromana (V–III secolo a.C.). Naples: Electa.

Briquel, D. 2000. “The Origins of the Etruscans: A Controversy Handed Down from Antiquity.” In The Etruscans, edited by M. Torelli, 43–51. [Milan]: Bompiani. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Brown, W.L. 1960. The Etruscan Lion. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Camporeale, G. 1977. “Bellerofonte o un cacciatore?” Prospettiva 9:55–8.

Carruba, A.M. 2006. La Lupa capitolina: Un bronzo medievale. Rome: De Luca.

**Cohen, B. 2010. “New Light on a Master Bronze from Etruria.” Online Museum Review. AJA 114(3): 1–10. http://www.ajaonline.org/sites/default/files/AJA1143_Cohen.pdf

Colonna, G., ed. 1985. Santuari d’Etruria: Arezzo, Sottochiesa di San Francesco, Museo archeologico C. Cilnio Mecenate, 19 maggio–20 ottobre 1985. Milan: Electa and Region Toscana.

Cristofani, M. 1979. “Per una storia del collezionismo archeologico nella Toscana granducale. I. I grandi bronzi.” Prospettiva 17:4–15. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

———. 1985. I bronzi degli Etruschi. Novara: Istituto Geografico De Agostini.

———. 1991. “Chimereide.” Prospettiva 61:2–5. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Del Vita, A. 1910. “Dove fu trovata la Chimera di Arezzo.” RM 25: 293–97. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Gáldy, A.M. 2006. “The Chimera from Arezzo and Renaissance Etruscology.” In Common Ground: Archaeology, Art, Science, and Humanities. Proceedings of the XVIth International Congress of Classical Archaeology, Boston, August 23–26, 2003, edited by C.C. Mattusch, A.A. Donahue, and A. Brauer, 111–13. Oxford: Oxbow. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

———. 2009. Cosimo I de’Medici as Collector: Antiquities and Archaeology in Sixteenth-Century Florence. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Goldscheider, L. 1941. Etruscan Sculpture. New York: Phaidon. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Guidi, G.F., and F. Pierdominici. 1992. “Le indagini microstrutturali.” In La Chimera d’Arezzo, edited by F. Nicosia and M. Diana, 119–21. Florence: Il Torchio. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Maggiani, A. 2009. “The Chimaera of Arezzo.” In The Chimaera of Arezzo, edited by M. Iozzo, 29–37. Florence: Edizioni Polistampa.

———. 1990. “Chimera.” In La Chimera e il suo mito: Arezzo, Museo Archeologico Nazionale “Gaio Cilnio Mecenate,” 19 maggio–19 luglio 1990, 53–61. Florence: Il Torchio.

(Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Maras, D.F. 2009. Il dono votivo: Gli dei e il sacro nelle iscrizioni etrusche di culto. Biblioteca di Studi Etruschi 46. Pisa and Rome: F. Serra. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Orlandini, P. 1983. “Le arti figurative.” In Megale Hellas: Storia e civiltá della Magna Grecia, edited by G. Pugliese Carratelli, 329–554. Milan: Libri Schweiller.

Pallottino, M. 1977. “Vasari e la Chimera.” Prospettiva 8:4–6.

Pecchioli, R. 1992. “Indagini radiografiche.” In La Chimera d’Arezzo, edited by F. Nicosia and M. Diana, 89–93. Florence: Il Torchio.

Small, J.P. 1991–1992. “The Etruscan View of Greek Art.” Boreas 14–15:51–65. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

———. 2008. “Looking at Etruscan Art in the Meadows Museum.” In From the Temple and the Tomb: Etruscan Treasures from Tuscany, edited by P.G. Warden, 41–65. Dallas: Meadows Museum. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Sprenger, M., and G. Bartoloni. 1983. The Etruscans: Their History, Art, and Architecture. New York: Harry N. Abrams. (Should provide a suitable chapter)

Stibbe, C.M. 1991. “Bellerophon and the Chimaira on a Lakonian Cup by the Boreads Painter.” In Greek Vases in the J. Paul Getty Museum. Vol. 5, edited by M. True, 5–12. Occasional Papers on Antiquities 7. Malibu: The J. Paul Getty Museum. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Steingräber, S. 2006. Abundance of Life: Etruscan Wall Painting. Translated by R. Stockman. Los Angeles: The J. Paul Getty Museum. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Torelli, M., and A.M. Moretti Sgubini, eds. 2008. Etruschi: Le antiche metropoli del Lazio. Verona: Electa. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

Turfa, J.M. 2006. “Votive Offerings in Etruscan Religion.” In The Religion of the Etruscans, edited by N.T. De Grummond and E. Simon, 90–115. Austin: University of Texas Press.

Vilucchi, S., and P. Zamarchi Grassi, eds. 2001. Etruschi nel tempo: I ritrovamenti di Arezzo dal ‘500 ad oggi. Arezzo: Provincia di Arezzo.

Warden, P.G. 2004. “Men, Beasts, and Monsters: Pattern and Narrative in Etruscan Art.” In Greek Vase Painting: Form, Figure, and Narrative. Treasures of the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid, edited by P.G. Warden, 51–6. Dallas, Tex.: Southern Methodist university Press. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

———. 2009. “The Blood of Animals: Predation and Transformation in Etruscan Funerary Representation.” In New Perspectives on Etruria and Rome: Papers in Honor of Richard D. De Puma, edited by S. Bell and H. Nagy, 198–219. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)

**Warden, G. 2011. “The Chimaera of Arezzo: Made in Etruria?” Online Note. AJA 115 (1): 1-5. http://www.ajaonline.org/sites/default/files/AJA1151_Warden.pdf

Yalouris, N. 1977. Pegasus: The Art of the Legend. Rev. ed. [Westerham]: Westerham Press. (Unsuitable for Review of Scholarship)