Etruscan Bronze Cista from Praeneste in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, February 2008

Large cista, mid-4th century B.C.
Italic
Bronze; Total H. 23 in. (58.3 cm), Diam. 13 3/8 in. (34 cm)
Gift of Courtland Field Bishop, 1920 (22.84.1)

This Praenestine cista, the largest in the Museum's collection, has an incised body and lid, three cast feet, and a handle, separately manufactured and attached. The handle consists of two winged male figures supporting the deceased body of a young nude male. Their detailed coiffures indicate the quality of these cast statuettes.

The body of the cista is divided into three decorative zones. The central scene portrays thirteen male characters conferring with each other. One, wearing a pleated cuirass, helmet, and shield, drives a chariot with four horses. Two other young men are dressed in a cuirass. The rest are naked, with a mantle draped around their arms and a helmet or short sword in their hands. Shields lean against some of their legs. The figures are rendered in various poses, and distinguished by different coiffures. Only one figure is seated, a bearded man with sandals and a mantle draped over his left shoulder. The scene represents a moment from the end of the Trojan War, preceding the sacrifice of the Trojan prisoners. The upper and lower bands of decorations, usually filled by vegetal and linear designs on Praenestine cistae, instead portray battle scenes. These figurative bands are very dynamic in comparison to the static atmosphere of the central representation, but the overall result is quite confusing. On the lower section, a horse is attacked by two griffins, a fantastic creature that appears frequently in Praenestine art.

A Praenestine cista in the Louvre, the so-called Cista Napoleon, probably came from the same workshop as this cista. Both have a thin band in relief enclosing the top and bottom sections of incised decorations, figurative scenes substituting the decorative bands, and similar iconography. The primary scene represented on the Cista Napoleon depicts the actual sacrifice of the Trojan prisoners.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/prae/ho_22.84.1.htm

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Praenestine Cistae

During the fourth century BC, bronze workshops in Praeneste (modern Palestrina, about twenty miles east of Rome) produced luxury toiletries boxes called cistae. Some have been found still containing items such as mirrors, combs, and cosmetics. The cista evolved from wooden prototypes, sometimes covered with thin sheets of perforated bronze or silver, into the bronze versions seen in the Museum's collection. Only about ninety examples exist today, and most of these are cylindrical, although a few ovoid and rectangular pieces survive.

Cistae typically consist of a container made from sheet bronze that is often elaborately engraved and frequently has small bronze chains suspended from rings that partly obscure the engraved scenes. The container is supported by three solid-cast bronze feet and is topped by an engraved sheet-bronze lid with a solid-cast handle. Because the solid-cast elements are made from molds, there are numerous duplications. The sturdy handles and feet often survive, even when their thin lids and containers have disintegrated. Many are exquisite small-scale sculptures in their own right. Combined with their elegantly engraved containers, they made perfect wedding gifts for Etruscan brides.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.