Statuette of a Warrior

Striding forward with its left foot, this warrior likely once held a shield in the left hand and a spear or sword in the right. The statuette was acquired together with a miniature bronze sword with which it was said to have been found; a photograph taken around 1890 shows the warrior with the sword attached—probably wrongly—to the left hand. He wears an unusual helmet with two raised elements on top, and a simple v-neck cuirass or tunic with a lower border of dots and flaps. Many similarly posed bronze figurines have been found across central Italy, but scholars disagree as to whether they represent divine or mortal warriors.