The Mars of Todi is a near life-sized

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

warrior, dating from the late 5th or early 4th century BC, believed to have been produced in

Etruria Etruria ( ) was a region of Central Italy delimited by the rivers Arno and Tiber, an area that covered what is now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and north-western Umbria. It was inhabited by the Etruscans, an ancient civilization that f ...

for the Umbrian tribe. It was found near Todi (ancient Tuder), on the slope of Montesanto, in the property of the Franciscan Convent of Montesanto.

Description and Interpretation

The bronze warrior was an expensive

votive offering A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...

likely placed at a religious sanctuary, possibly to Laran, the Etruscan god of war. It had been buried in antiquity under travertine stones, perhaps ritually, and left undisturbed until its discovery in 1835. It is an example of the highest-quality "prestige" works from Etruria found in Umbria during this period, and probably came from a workshop in

Orvieto Orvieto () is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy, situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff. The city rises dramatically above the almost-vertical faces of tuff cliffs that are compl ...

(Etruscan Velzna, Roman

Volsinii Volsinii or Vulsinii (Etruscan language, Etruscan: Velzna or Velusna; Ancient Greek, Greek: Ouolsinioi, ; ), is the name of two ancient cities of Etruria, one situated on the shore of Lacus Volsiniensis (modern Lago di Bolsena), and the other on ...

). Velzna was known for its bronze sculptures, more than 2,000 of which were looted by the Romans in 265 BC. The work is a "typical military figure" with "conspicuously Etruscan" facial features. It is an Etruscan realization of Greek formal Classicism, and makes use of the contrapposto posture. The figure probably held a ''

patera In the material culture of classical antiquity, a ''patera'' () or ''phiale'' ( ) is a shallow ceramic or metal libation bowl. It often has a bulbous indentation ('' omphalos'', "belly button") in the center underside to facilitate holding it, ...

'' (libation bowl) in his extended right hand, and a spear in the left. His helmet is missing, but his intricate body armor, depicted with "pedantic accuracy," is one of the best examples showing what lamellar plate armor from the period looked like. While after its discovery in the 19th century, the statue of a warrior was said to represent a god equivalent to the Roman Mars, others see the represented act of libation would not befit a god, thus that the statue depicts a human soldier and devotee. The dedication is inscribed on the skirt of the breastplate. It is written in Umbrian in Etruscan characters and marks the beginning of the epigraphic tradition in this part of Umbria. The man dedicating it, however, has a name that appears to have a Celtic origin, an indication of Tuder's "cosmopolitian" character in the Archaic period. The inscription reads ''Ahal Trutitis dunum dede'', "Ahal Trutitis gave his as agift". The sculpture is currently held by the Museo Etrusco Gregoriano section of the Vatican Museums.

References

{{commons category 5th-century BC sculptures 4th-century BC sculptures 1835 archaeological discoveries Archaeological discoveries in Italy Etruscan sculptures Bronze sculptures Sculptures in the Vatican Museums