Male figure. Etruscan culture, II-III centuries B.C.

Male figure. Etruscan culture, II-III centuries B.C.
Bronze.
Provenance: Georges Savès collection.
Measurements: 10 cm (height).

Bronze statuette, representative example of the late Etruscan votive production. It represents a young male figure, standing and naked, in a pose that evokes serenity and simplicity. The style is characteristic of the Etruscan-Hellenistic period, where the Greek influence is visible but interpreted with a local taste. The body of the young man is slender and the anatomical forms are simplified, with a smoothly indicated musculature. The face is rounded, with almond-shaped eyes and a prominent nose, common features in Etruscan statuary of this period. The hair is treated in a schematic manner, like a skullcap tightly wrapped around the head. The figure is presented in a frontal and static posture. The left leg is slightly forward, breaking the rigidity and providing a subtle dynamism. The right arm is extended forward with the elbow bent, in a gesture that could have been a gesture of offering or supplication. It is likely that in his hand he held some object that is now lost, such as a pot or a fruit. This type of figures, known as "offerers", were very common votive offerings in Etruscan sanctuaries.

This piece comes from the collection of Georges Savès (1908-1985), a French numismatist and collector with a deep vocation for archaeological study. Heir to a family tradition of collecting, he devoted himself fully to historical and numismatic research since the 1950s, especially on Toulouse and Gallic coins. Throughout his life, he assembled an eclectic collection of archaeological, ethnographic and artistic pieces, enriched in 1966 with the acquisition of part of the Roger Bédiat collection. Author of specialized studies, his legacy remains a reference in the academic and patrimonial fields.