The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of June 6, 2023

Candelabrum Stand of a Dancing Maenad

525–500 BC

Italy, Etruscan, late 6th Century BC

Bronze

Overall: 18.8 cm (7 3/8 in.)

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1953.124

Location

102D Pre-Roman

Fun Fact

A small turtle beneath the figure’s back foot suggests a rustic setting.

Description

Conceived primarily in two dimensions—front and rear silhouette—this small bronze dancer probably once belonged to an elaborate candelabra or incense burner. The exaggeratedly long fingers and pointed shoes characterize the work as Etruscan, as do the stylized folds of the figure’s dress, which add visual interest but not verisimilitude. While her right hand holds above her head a cylindrical support, her left squeezes a small object, perhaps a fruit or clapper.

Provenance
?-1953
(Alessandro Brass, Venice, sold to the Cleveland Museum of Art)
1953-
The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Citations
Lee, Sherman E. "An Etruscan Dancing Maenad." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 42, no. 8 (1955): 186-88. www.jstor.org
Art Quarterly (Winter, 1953). p. 346
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 17 archive.org
Cleveland Museum of Art, and William Mathewson Milliken. The Cleveland Museum of Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1958. p. 12
Carter, Martha L. Classical Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1961. Mentioned and reproduced: p.9-10 archive.org
Teitz, Richard Stuart. Masterpieces of Etruscan Art; [Exhibition at the] Worcester Art Museum, April 21 to June 4, 1967. [Worcester, Mass.]: [Printed by the Davis Press], 1967. 38-39, illus. 134, no. 23
Glubok, Shirley, Alfred H. Tamarin, and Gerard Nook. The Art of the Etruscans. New York: Harper & Row, 1967. p. 34
The Connoisseur, vol. 166, no. 668 (October, 1967). p. 133
Alvarez, Octavio J. The Celestial Brides: A Study in Mythology and Archaeology. Stockbridge, Mass: H. Reichner, 1978. p. 141, pl. 56
Brendel, Otto, and Francesca R. Serra Ridgway. Etruscan Art. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1978. p. 461, no. 16
Kozloff, Arielle P., David Gordon Mitten, and Suzannah Fabing. The Gods Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze. Cleveland, Ohio: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with Indiana University Press, 1988.
Apollo (January 1989). p. 58
Kozloff, A. P. "Bronzenstatuetten der Antike," Kunst and Antiquitaten 89, Heft I (1989). pp. 30-33
Kozloff, Arielle P. Classical Art: A Brief Guide to the Collection, the Cleveland Museum of Art. [Cleveland]: The Museum, 1989. p. 11
Kozloff, A.P. "La Figure Humaine dans les bronzes Antiques," Archeologia 248 (July-August 1989). pp. 54-61
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 8 archive.org
Tortora, Phyllis G., and Keith Eubank. A Survey of Historic Costume: A History of Western Dress. New York: Fairchild Publications, 1994. pp. 10, 23, fig. 2.5
Exhibition history

Masterpieces of Etruscan Art, Worcester Art Museum (April 21 to June 4, 1967).

The Gods Delight: The Human Figure in Classical Bronze, Cleveland Museum of Art, (16 November 1988-8 January 1989); Los Angeles County Museum of Art, (9 February-9 April 1989); Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, (9 May-9 July 1989).

Art: The International Language. The Cleveland Museum of Art (October 2-November 4, 1956).

Juxtapositions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (September 11-October 10, 1965).

Masterpieces of Etruscan Art. Worcester Art Museum, Worcester, MA (organizer) (April 21-June 4, 1967).

Traditions and Revisions: Themes from the History of Sculpture. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 24-November 16, 1975).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1953.124