Journal - Comune di Monteleone di Spoleto

they are superimposed, creating an imbricated sequence:
the more strokes are superimposed, the less evident their triangular
shape (Figures iii.14, iii.13). The scales of the birds’
plumage were rendered not by a single hammer stroke on
a curved point, but by serried strokes of a straight-pointed
tracer. The length of the triangles can be measured at the
end of the lines (and in accidental strokes): they are generally
.6 mm long, but .4 mm long in the eyelashes and eyebrows
of the human and animal faces, and in the warrior’s
moustache. in rare cases the tracing creates a row of single
marks rather than a line, as in the plumage on the legs of the
birds of prey (observed by microscopic examination of the
left bird’s feather; see Figure iii.33).exceptionally, the tool’s
point produced small lines that barely assumed the triangular
shape and increased in length to 3 mm. round-ended
tools made punched dots of various sizes: .8 mm dots in the
lower border of the woman’s chiton; .5 mm dots (observed
by microscopic examination of the rows of dots in the woman’s
sleeve, but used as a rule in the rows of the same type of
dots, as shown by Figures iii.22, iii.27); .5 – .3 mm dots (the
dot rosettes, executed using a number of different tools, and
all the fields of dots, produced by repeatedly hammering a
single tool with different amounts of force).
it is not easy to judge if the inconsistency among the
hundreds of lines produced by thousands of strokes are a
result of a single engraver’s fatigue or of the different degrees
of skill among assistants. The same goes for understandable
moments of distraction, such as the lack of dots in the hourglasses
along the border of the warrior’s right sleeve, on
which, as previously mentioned, the hourglasses are all
horizontal, unlike those decorating the left sleeve.
Inlay. one of the ivory fragments that came to the metropolitan
museum with the bronze panels of the chariot
seems to belong to the gorgoneion’s teeth (cat. 22). The gorgoneion’s
tongue is in the museo archeologico, Florence,
as is the panther’s right eye, which no longer contains the
material formerly inserted into the iris and pupil (see Figures
i.13, i.14). according to reports made at the time of the
clandestine excavation, there seem to have been ivory
inlays along the edge of the panel; two of the fragments that
arrived in new York fit the flat bronze surface at the sides of
the shield (cats. 21a, 21b). The absence of rivet holes indicates
that the inserts were slotted in and glued, though no
traces of the adhesive have survived.
Shape. The curvature of the panel echoes that of the upper
half of the shield that Thetis is holding. The curvature of the
panel at its base is of the same width and depth as the curvature
at the top. 2
Composition of the figures. The figures are placed perfectly
symmetrically: the two human figures mirror each other on
either side of a vertical axis marked by the shield with the
helmet at the top and the three-dimensional boar head at V.10 edging of the central panel
the bottom. The birds of prey and the deer are positioned,
respectively, above and below two horizontal lines that
intersect the vertical axis. The monotony that could have
resulted from such a rigid schema was avoided by making
the tails and wings of the birds of prey, the woman’s back
and chiton, and the warrior’s shoulder, curls, buttock, and
leg overlap the border. Careful examination reveals details
that were applied to create symmetry and harmony: the artist
cropped the length of the single segments of the locks
framing the Gorgon’s head to prevent the woman’s hand,
which is placed a little higher on the shield than the man’s,
from partially covering the monster’s hair.
1b. Edging of central panel (Figure V.10)
Perimeter 48 1⁄2 in. (123 cm), W. 5⁄8 in. (1.6 cm)
Description. The inverted-u-shaped band that runs around
the curved part of the panel forms an obtuse angle in section.
The holes at regular intervals on top of the edging were
for nails that secured the panel to the lost wooden railings.
a notch made by the bronzeworker to mark the midpoint,
perhaps before bending the band, is visible at the top of the
curve.
Condition. almost all the edging is made from fragments
pieced together, with a section missing near the top of the
curve. none of the ten original nails survive; the current
ones were inserted during the 1903 restoration. The edging
is primarily covered with brown tarnish and areas of metallic
surface with scattered areas of heavy green corrosion.
The Monteleone Chariot V: Catalogue 71