Journal - Comune di Monteleone di Spoleto

examination of the tracing allows us to affirm that the
yoke was executed by at least two people helping the master
craftsman. The traced lines were executed by repeatedly
hammering a tracing tool held at an oblique angle (see the
technical observations under cat. 1a). a screwdriver-type
tracer point was used, and the triangular shape of the toolmark
results from the angle at which the tool was held
against the metal surface. it is deeper at the wide end of the
triangle and shallower at the tip: the more acute the angle,
the shorter the triangle. The tool did not leave separate
strokes; they are superimposed and create an imbricated
sequence: the denser the superimposed strokes, the less evident
their triangular shape. The feathers of the birds’ plumage
were rendered not with a single mark produced by a
curved sharp-edged tracer but with a sequence of strokes
produced by a straight-edged tracer.
The master used this technique and this type of tool for
most of the central panel, some areas of the proper right and
iii.13 detail of the toolmarks
on the feathers of
the bird on the right on
the central panel of the
monteleone chariot
iii.14 Toolmarks in the
detail in Figure iii.13.
drawing: dalia lamura
under the direction of
adriana emiliozzi
left panels, the lion heads, and small areas of the boar protome
and the eagle head on the pole (Figures iii.11 – 19). 54
The freshness of the master’s work is evident, though signs
of fatigue are also visible (Figures iii.20 – iii.25). it is not easy
to establish whether the poor quality of the tracing in other
areas of the same panels (Figures iii.26– iii.28) is to be attributed
to the master’s fatigue or to the lesser skill of his collaborator.
The hand of the collaborator can be identified in
the less accomplished tracing work on the proper right
panel (Figure iii.29), and i believe the same craftsman did
the repoussé work. His style can be detected elsewhere, as in
the two side panels, the kouroi (Figures iii.30 –iii. 33), and
possibly most of the eagle head on the pole. it is quite
instructive to compare the execution of curved lines, as in
the palmettes and the imbricated feathers. The master craftsman
started from the center of a curve and worked clockwise
and counterclockwise toward the ends, which always
terminate with the tip of the triangular toolmark (see
iii.11 detail of the toolmarks
on the helmet crest
on the central panel of the
monteleone chariot. The
photographs in Figures iii.11,
iii.13, and iii.15 – iii.40 were
all taken with a microscope
by Kendra roth.
iii.12 Toolmarks in the
detail in Figure iii.11.
drawing: dalia lamura
under the direction of
adriana emiliozzi
The Monteleone Chariot III: Construction and Decoration 51