Bronze handle with dogs flanking a reclining youth

Unknown

4th century BCE · Bronze · Greek and Roman Art

This magnificent handle may well represent the sleeping Endymion, the beloved hunter of Artemis, who was granted immortality and eternal youth but also perpetual sleep. The subject is especially appropriate, since such handles are often associated with large bronze vessels that served as cremation urns. Closely parallel to this handle is a pair--one now in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the other in the Antikenmuseum, Berlin--that comes from Città della Pieve, north of Orvieto (ancient Volsinii).

Artist

Unknown

Date

4th century BCE

Medium

Bronze

Culture

Etruscan

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Fletcher Fund, 1928