Bronze Statuette Of Cybele

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Bronze statuette of Cybele on a cart drawn by lions is a bronze 12 x 54 ¾ inch was made in the second half of the second century A.D. Today this artifact is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, given as a gift in 1897 by Henry G. Marquand. This cult statue represents the Anatolian mother goddess Cybele, one of the many Roman goddesses as for Roman religion was polytheistic. Cybele was introduced later in Rome, during the second Punic War in the late third century and lingered on still beloved until early christian times. Unlike many deities of this time period who were present but not recognized, Cybele had been given rites as part of the official recognition of state, being a goddess whom was even worshipped in private ministries. She had even been given a temple on the Palatine Hill, one of Rome's most sacred spots. Her followers mainly women and farmers knew her as the goddess of untamed nature, fertility and protection in war. In this particular piece, when examining Cybele closely you can notice she is wearing a chiton, a crown, a veil or cloak of a sort that overlays the crown, and has pierced ears, though no actual earrings as for most of this piece is no longer here. Her crown is square like, in the effort to symbolize fortress walls as she is a protector of the …show more content…

She carries two objects that are well known attributes to her identity, a drum in her left hand and a libation bowl in the right. Her feet sit calm on a footrest and her figure seeming to be comfortable,

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