Mid 20th Century “Shadow of the Evening” Etruscan Bronze Sculpture by Museo Etrusco Guernacci Volterra

The name “Ombra della Sera” , “Shadow of the night”, of this amazing sculpture comes from its elongated form resembling the long shadows cast in the evening as night falls. It is not known exactly when this bronze sculpture was discovered, but it is thought to have been found during the first excavations of the Volterran necropolis around 1728. It dates to the 3rd century B.C. during the Hellenistic (i.e. Greek in?uenced) period of Etruscan art (circa 300-89 BC).

The sculpture, showing obvious similarities with modern sculptures, belongs to a codified and figurative tradition: its elongated form needs to be understood within a devotional context. There have been many interpretations of this sculpture representing a young boy.