Set of eight votive votive offerings; Umbria, 5th century BC,

Set of eight votive votive offerings; Umbria, 5th century BC,
Lead.
Measurements: 25 x 26 x 4,5 cm (frame).
Set of eight anthropomorphic votive offerings in lead, dated in Umbria in the V century B.C. The pieces, arranged on a modern support, show extremely schematic silhouettes: elongated bodies, heads barely insinuated and limbs reduced to simple extensions, all inscribed in an aesthetic of strong abstraction that responds more to ritual conventions than to naturalistic purposes. The use of lead, a material with a low melting point and easy malleability, favored the serial production of economic figures destined to be deposited in large numbers in rural and urban sanctuaries.
In the cultural framework of archaic Umbria, these figurines were part of a religious practice shared by Umbrian, Sabine and Etruscan communities, where sanctuaries acted as social, ritual and political centers. The abundance of anthropomorphic votive offerings in archaeological contexts, such as the finds from Monte Falterona, the votive area of Campo della Fiera in Orvieto or various deposits in the Tiber valley, is evidence of the importance of the votive offering as a mechanism of communication with the divine and as an instrument of community cohesion. The repetition of standardized models reinforced the idea of collectivity, while each figure represented, at the same time, the specific request of an individual: health, protection, fertility, military success or gratitude for a favor received.
Comparable examples are preserved in various European museum collections. The National Archaeological Museum of Madrid has Italic figurines in lead and bronze of very similar morphology, acquired from historical collections. The Museo Nazionale Etrusco di Villa Giulia in Rome holds numerous shady and faliscan votive offerings, many of which have the same rigid and symmetrical stylization that characterizes this set. The British Museum also houses pieces in lead from central Italy whose schematic profiles establish direct parallels. Likewise, the Musei Archeologici dell'Umbria in Perugia exhibit votive materials from local sanctuaries, such as Monte Subasio or Otricoli, which confirm the recurrence of this anthropomorphic typology in the Umbrian-Archaic area.
Beyond their aesthetic appearance, these objects had complex ritual and social functions. They acted as symbolic substitutes for the offerer, remaining in the sanctuary as material testimony of his presence before the divinity.