Bronze casket (cista) with an incised scene of
Bellerophon and Pegasus
Praenestine, about 325-275 BC
Found at Palestrina (ancient Praeneste) in Latium (Lazio,
Italy)
A casket for a lady's toilet articles
This bronze casket (cista) was used primarily to hold a
lady's toilet articles. It comes from Praeneste, a Latin city
approximately thirty-five kilometres south-east of Rome. The
objects manufactured in this city were heavily influenced by both
the Etruscans and the Greek colonies in Southern Italy.
The production of cistae began in the fourth century BC
and reached a peak around 300 BC. This example was produced in this
period. It is decorated with a scene of Bellerophon holding the
winged horse Pegasus by the reins. Bellerophon was a hero from
Corinth who performed many deeds with the help of Pegasus,
including the killing of the Chimaera. The handle of the
cista is cast in the form of a girl holding a perfume
bottle, and a young man with oil-flask and scraper (strigil). The
feet of the cista are in the form of lion paws surmounted
by sphinxes.
O. Brendel, Etruscan art, Pelican History of Art (Yale University Press, 1995)
E. Macnamara, The Etruscans-1 (London, The British Museum Press, 1990)