Vanth: An Iconograpical Study of an Etruscan Psychopomp
| dc.contributor.advisor | Masters, Samantha | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.author | MacDonald, Bronwen Elizabeth | en_ZA |
| dc.contributor.other | Stellenbosch Unviersity. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Ancient Studies. | en_ZA |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-02-18T07:53:35Z | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2022-04-29T09:19:11Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-02-18T07:53:35Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2022-04-29T09:19:11Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2022-03 | |
| dc.description | Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2022. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Death and what happens to the soul when our bodies fail has enthralled humanity across the ages. No less so for the Etruscans. Vanth, a female daimon who acts as a psychopomp, is one of the most commonly represented chthonic figures in Etruscan funerary art. However, despite this proliferation, she is only named by inscription seven times. Complicating things further is the wide variety of her iconography amongst these seven examples. A close iconographic analysis of the seven epigraphic Vanths proved little cohesion in Vanth's iconography if only this small sample is considered. It also revealed that relying solely on the epigraphic Vanths for frequency analysis leads to unusual attributes such a nude Vanths being weighed far more heavily than they should when compared to a larger sample. In this study, a corpus of 100 Vanth samples drawn from open access online collections were compiled into a database and examined using exploratory data analysis. The results showed distinct trends in Vanth's iconography over the 5th to 2nd centuries BCE. They also showed a lack of trends along a north-south axis of the geographical locations of the seven Etruscan cities studied, implying that the expansion of the Roman Republic during the same period had little effect on changes in Vanth's iconography. There are, however, localized phenomena that occur and have been documented in this study. Examining the trends by object type revealed minor variations in her iconography and peculiarities specific to certain object types. A secondary result of this thesis was the discovery of an element of Hellenic bias, with Vanth sometimes being misidentified in online museum collections as figures such as Lasa or the Greek Erinyes. She might also be given insipid descriptive labels or simply referred to as a 'winged demon'. This incorrect or obscure attribution creates a vicious circle whereby scholars searching for Vanth cannot find her because she is inaccurately labelled in the extant metadata of these collections. The Vanth database created to facilitate this study is open access and will serve as a resource by which scholars and museum curators can secure a more reliable identification of Vanth in the future. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die dood en wat van die siel word wanneer ons liggame vergaan, fassineer die mensdom al deur die eeue. Die Etruskers is geen uitsondering nie. Vanth, 'n vroulike daimon wat as 'n dodedraer optree, is ʼn chtoniese figuur wat dikwels in Etruskiese begrafnisbeelde voorkom. Nietemin, ten spyte van die verteenwoordiging wat sy geniet, word sy slegs sewe keer op die naam in inskripsie genoem. In hierdie sewe voorbeelde is daar ʼn verskeidenheid ikonografiese elemente teenwoordig, wat die studie van Vanth verder kompliseer. 'n Noukeurige ikonografiese ontleding van hierdie sewe epigrafiese Vanths bewys dat – as slegs hierdie klein steekproef oorweeg word – daar weinig ooreenstemming teenwoordig is. Verder word dit ook duidelik dat wanneer slegs hierdie voorbeelde oorweeg word, klem geplaas word op uitsonderlike eienskappe, soos byvoorbeeld die naakte uitbeelding van Vanth wat oorbeklemtoon word in vergelyking met die (meer akkurate) wyer uitbeelding van haar. In hierdie studie is daar gesteun op 100 Vanth voorbeelde, wat deur middel van ope-toegang versamelings op die internet verkry is. Hierdie voorbeelde is in ʼn databasis ontskep en gevolglik ontleed deur verkennende data analise. Die uitslae beklemtoon kenmerkende neigings in Vanth se ikonografie vanaf die 5de tot 2de eeu v.C. Verder word daar ʼn afwesigheid aan spesifieke neigings gevind volgens die noord-suid ...as van die ligging van die sewe Etruskiese stede wat in hierdie studie bestudeer word. Dit maak dit duidelik dat die uitbreiding van die Romeinse Republiek gedurende hierdie tydperk min invloed op die verandering in Vanth se ikonografie gehad het. Daar is wel gelokaliseerde verskynsels wat voorkom, wat in hierdie studie uitgelig word. Deur die analise van neigings volgens voorwerptipe, is daar klein variasies in Vanth se ikonografie en eienaardighede eie aan die voorwerp tipe gevind. Sekonder is daar ʼn element van Hellenistiese voorkeur gevind, waar Vanth somtyds in aanlyn museumversamelings verkeerd as karakters soos Lasa of die Griekse Erinyes geïdentifiseer word. Daar word ook soms vae beskrywende etikette aan haar gekoppel, of sy word eenvoudig net as ʼn “gevlerkte demoon” beskryf. ʼn Bose kringloop ontstaan, waar navorsers haar nie kan vind nie weens die feit dat sy in die bestaande metadata van versamelings foutief bestempel is of vaag beskryf word. Daar is vrye toegang tot die Vanth databasis wat vir hierdie studie geskep is. Deur middel van meer akkurate etikettering van Vanth kan beide navorsers en museumkurators in die hede sowel as die toekoms, ʼn hulpbron in hierdie basis vind, wat gevolglik toekomstige navorsing oor Vanth sal vergemaklik. | af_ZA |
| dc.description.version | Masters | en_ZA |
| dc.format.extent | xiii, 137 pages : illustrations | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/124549 | |
| dc.language.iso | en_ZA | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University | en_ZA |
| dc.rights.holder | Stellenbosch University | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Vanth (Etruscan deity) | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Apparitions | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Art | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Art, Etruscan | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | UCTD | |
| dc.title | Vanth: An Iconograpical Study of an Etruscan Psychopomp | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_ZA |
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