<aside> ℹ️ This database was created as part of a Masters thesis by Bronwen MacDonald at Stellenbosch University. All materials unless otherwise noted are copyright to Stellenbosch University. A PDF copy of the thesis can be downloaded at the SunScholar Research Depository.
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<aside> ❓ Table of Contents
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<aside> 📄 Back wings have remained consistently strong throughout the centuries. Head wings only begin to be associated with Vanth from the 3rd century BCE onwards. Early Vanths may be wingless, but this becomes increasingly rare as time goes on.
Nude Vanths appear to be a localized phenomenon originating in Orvieto in the 4th century BCE, disappearing then re-emerging very rarely in 2nd century BCE examples from Volterra. The long tunic is consistent with early Vanths but then declines steadily. Inversely the short tunic emerged in the 4th century BCE and quickly took over as the dominant clothing style for Vanth in the following centuries in the form of the so-called ‘huntress’ costume. In the 3rd century BCE, the short tunic started being portrayed as rolled to the waist, exposing the breasts.
The addition of the crossbands and separated sleeves predates this rolled tunic, but because of the influence of the ‘huntress’ costume, the occurrence of them both rises alongside that of the short tunic and bare breasts.
There was a significant increase in the number of Vanths wearing boots (as part of this typical ‘huntress’ costume) in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE.
Snakes are the earliest attribute that Vanth can be identified with; all others save for the key only appearing from the 4th century BCE onwards. By the 2nd century BCE, however, the snake has disappeared completely. Likewise, the scroll, which is usually (but not always) carried by Vanths in long garments, saw a steady decline as this costume became less popular. As the snake and scroll attributes decline, the torch emerged as the dominant attribute by which to identify Vanth. While the sword does show a slight rise in popularity, it is nevertheless relatively rare. Finally, the thyrsus and key remain anomalies, the former connected with the Vanth Group and the latter with a single occurrence on the Hasti Afunei Sarcophagus. As a matter of completeness, the necklace, bracelet or arm ring and snakes used as jewellery or in Vanths hair was also explored in this study. Unfortunately, they reveal little save that the decoration, in general, declined over time, possibly because of the mass production of funerary paraphernalia and a loss of quality.
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<aside> 📄 The initial suspicion of this thesis was that if the iconography of Vanths were studied by geographical location, particularly along a north to south axis, a pattern would emerge whereby the presence of the Roman Empire's advance and subsequent subsumption of the cities of Etruria would be evident in iconographic changes to Vanth. In other words that older versions of Vanth's iconograph would remain popular for longer in the northern cities, which were the last to fall to Roman occupation. However, this is not at all the case. There are no discernable patterns or trends that would suggest the influence of the expansion of the Roman Republic on Vanth's iconography. What is visible, however, are particular localized preferences or peculiarities:
Volterra continues to produce hand-carved urns almost exclusively from local alabaster. Volterra Vanths appears in a wider variety of mythological scenes and her iconography is generally more varied. There is, however, an unusually high prevalence of swords amongst Vanths in Volterra, equalling the prevalence of torch-bearing Vanths.
Perugia favours cinerary urns, the materials used either travertine stone or alabaster. While a single terracotta urn is present, the relief is hand-sculpted rather than moulded. The torch is the most prevalent carried attribute in this city.
Chiusi is most famous for its copious moulded terracotta cinerary urns from the 2nd century BCE. It is also the city with the longest continuous depiction of Vanth amongst its funerary art. Because of the prevalence of the Eteocles and Polynices schema, the 'huntress' outfit of Vanth is most firmly secured here.
Volsinii includes the Vanth Group of vases with their chthonic thiasos depicting nude Vanths bearing a thyrsus. After the 3rd century BCE, her popularity in Volsinii appears to vanish. In general, the iconography of Volsinii Vanths is much more varied. Her garment can be long, short, or absent entirely in equal measure, and bare feet vastly outnumber the times that she is seen shod. Volsinii. Vanths are also far more likely to appear bearing a scroll. It is also interesting to note that this is the only area that Vanth never appears with bare breasts unless she is completely nude.
Vulci Vanths are mostly depicted on vases, but this is also the home of the famous Francois Tomb. The subset is mainly from the early periods, so it prefers the long tunic Vanth type rather than the 'huntress' type. In general, there is a lack of mythological scenes beyond the Francois Tomb, instead preferring to have Vanth depicted in psychopomp scenes or as decorative elements flanking friezes.
Tarquinia is well known for its spectacular tomb paintings, but it also produced several sarcophagi, preferring to use local nenfro stone instead of marble, alabaster or terracotta. There is a slight tendency towards preferring the 'huntress' type, but the iconography is more varied than in other cities, and if she is shown with a short tunic and bare breasts, it is often without the crossbands or separated sleeves. Snakes are also far more prevalent in Tarquinia than is usual.
Veio presented only a single instance of a Vanth in the corpus a statistical analysis on it was impossible.
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