Thread by @DocCrom

Ancient Artefact of the Day: The Arezzo Chimaera

A masterpiece of Etruscan bronze-work, this Fifth Century BC piece was discovered on November 15, 1553 by construction workers near the San Lorentino gate in Arezzo. #AAOTD

Image: National Archaeological Museum, Florence

Originally discovered in a fragmentary condition, it was thought to be a lion, until the work of Vasari identified it as being the mythical Chimaera.

It is believed to have originally been part of a statue group, showing the conflict between the Chimaera and the hero Bellerophon.

Image: Lakonian Black Figure Kylix, attributed to the Boread Painter: J. Paul Getty Museum (Malibu 85. AE. 121)

The earliest mention of the Chimaera comes from Hesiod (Theogony 319-324): 'who breathes fire not to be resisted, a dreadful, great thing, swift of foot and powerful. She has three heads. One is that of a fierce lion, another of a goat, and the last of a mighty serpent snake.'

Although the myth seems to centre the Chimaera in Lycia, where Apollodorus (2.3.1-2) helpfully tells us that it 'devastated the land' and destroyed livestock, most early depictions are Greek. This is a fine Proto-Corinthian aryballos ca.650 BC

Image: Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

For more on Vasari's study of the Arezzo Chimaera, see:

Hillard, Caroline. “Vasari and the Etruscan Manner.” The Sixteenth Century Journal, vol. 44, no. 4, 2013, pp. 1021–1040.

jstor.org/stable/24246300

#AAOTD