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Terracottas in News

Maenad Terracotta Antefix Returned to Italy

Jaimee Uhlenbrock

Abstract

An Etruscan terracotta antefix in the form of a dancing maenad that had been looted from Veii was returned to Italy.

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Full text

1On July 30, 2020, it was reported in the ARCA Blog that a previously looted Etruscan terracotta antefix in the form of a dancing maenad dating to the early fifth century B.C.E. (Fig. 1) had been returned to Italy. Formerly in the collection of Ingrid McAlpine of London and Epsom, the antefix had been put up for auction at Christie’s in December 2019. The resemblance that it had to several Etruscan maenad antefixes in American collections that are believed to have been looted raised suspicion that the McAlpine maenad antefix also had been acquired through clandestine activity. This was confirmed by comparison to an identical polychrome antefix in the Villa Giulia that was excavated from Veii in 1937. It is to be noted that Veii previously had been plagued by illicit digging. In an act of considerable generosity, agents for the Italian luxury brand Bulgari purchased the antefix at auction and returned it to Italy, where it can be seen at the Villa Giulia.

Fig. 1 – Etruscan terracotta antefix at auction at Christie’s

Fig. 1 – Etruscan terracotta antefix at auction at Christie’s

© Christie’s

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List of illustrations

Title Fig. 1 – Etruscan terracotta antefix at auction at Christie’s
Credits © Christie’s
URL http://journals.openedition.org/acost/docannexe/image/2783/img-1.jpg
File image/jpeg, 68k
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References

Electronic reference

Jaimee Uhlenbrock, Maenad Terracotta Antefix Returned to Italy Les Carnets de l’ACoSt [Online], 21 | 2020, Online since 15 December 2020, connection on 17 March 2025. URL: http://journals.openedition.org/acost/2783; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4000/acost.2783

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About the author

Jaimee Uhlenbrock

State University of New York, New Paltz
uhlenbrj@hawkmail.newpaltz.edu

By this author

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Copyright

CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0

The text only may be used under licence CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. All other elements (illustrations, imported files) are “All rights reserved”, unless otherwise stated.

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