Votive Statuette

This statuette represents a male torso with an incision from the breast bone to the abdomen that exposes the internal organs. The dedicator perhaps suffered from stomach or intestinal problems. The model is a schematic version of the human anatomy rather than an exact replica, but the relative placement, size, and shape of organs is generally correct. Such medical knowledge of internal anatomy may have been gained from the observation of butchered animals or mortally wounded warriors on the battlefield.

In Etruscan religion, like most ancient religions, the gods acted directly upon human affairs. Therefore, it was necessary to supplicate them with offerings and dedications. Beginning in the late 500s B.C. in Greece and then spreading to Etruria in the 300s, worshippers with physical ailments visited sanctuaries and appeased the gods with small terracotta models of the afflicted body part. Clay images of eyes, breasts, limbs and their extremities, and other body parts were the most frequent offerings, outnumbering other kinds of votives. Most anatomical torsos, which were exclusive to the Etruscan and Italic cultures, are found in Veii, Vulci, Lake Nemi, and Tessenano. These devotional models were presented with a prayer, which was either a request for healing, or a post-cure expression of gratitude.