Arringatore Etruscan statue: a deliberate black patina, new study finds

A statue discovered in the 16th century

The statue, known as the Arringatore or "The Orator", was unearthed in 1567. Hollow-cast, it depicts a figure wearing a toga and senatorial calcei, its right arm raised in an oratorical gesture. An inscription in the Etruscan language, placed on the toga, identifies the donor of this votive sculpture: Aule Metli.

The figure is presented as a senator of the Roman Republic, living at the end of the 2nd century or the beginning of the 1st century BCE. His identity and office make him a valuable witness to Etruscan elites integrated into Rome, at a time when Etruscan civilisation, long autonomous, was gradually absorbed by Roman power.

A patina obtained by heating

To understand the colour of the bronze, researchers analysed the composition of the metal, the layered mineral and organic deposits, and tiny fragments taken from the work. They used X-ray diffraction and polarised light microscopy to study its manufacture and assembly.

The tests revealed a dark layer of tenorite, black copper oxide, lying above a red layer of cuprite, another copper oxide. This arrangement, repeated across several preserved areas rather than appearing as a single isolated stain, indicates heating. Copper alloys generally form the reddish layer first, while the dark mineral develops under more strongly oxidising conditions. The authors describe an "intentional blackish patina" and consider it unlikely that simple burial could have produced this double layering.

A construction in eight elements

Radiographs show that the bronze was assembled from eight sections cast separately. Most of the hollow walls are only a few millimetres thick, which attests to remarkable technical mastery for a figure of this size. Casting a large statue in several pieces and then joining them required great precision in preparing the moulds.

This information enriches knowledge of Etruscan foundry workshops, whose processes remain poorly documented. Each discovery on an object of this importance allows researchers to test hypotheses formulated from a limited number of surviving pieces and to refine understanding of the lost-wax casting techniques used in antiquity.

A still-debated reading of the inscription

A commentator on The History Blog offers a reading of the inscription on the toga. According to this proposal, the statue is an offering made to Sans, perhaps a deity associated with oaths, and the approval of a council is mentioned. This translation remains a personal hypothesis, not validated by the published study, and should be treated with caution.

Deciphering Etruscan, a language whose vocabulary is only partly known, remains difficult. Each new reading must be checked against archaeological data and comparisons with other inscriptions, in order to distinguish what is hypothetical from what is established.

Seeing the Arringatore and Etruscan sites

The Arringatore is displayed at the National Archaeological Museum in Florence, where it can be viewed up close. To explore Etruscan civilisation further, it is useful to consult the museum's Etruscan collections as well as the funerary and urban sites of Etruria, in Tuscany and Latium, which illuminate the context in which these bronzes were produced.

The black patina, rare on ancient bronzes, invites a fresh look at the original appearance of many statues today perceived only through their green or brown colouring, the result of long burial or exposure.