A Re-Evaluation of the Iconography of the Etruscan Bronze Lamp of Cortona

Abstract

This paper addresses unresolved issues in the study of the enigmatic iconography of the Etruscan bronze lamp of Cortona. Drawing upon literary sources and additional iconographic evidence, issues with previous interpretations of the lamp will be discussed. Subsequently, new identities are proposed for the key figures on the lamp, concluding that its iconography is a manifestation of Dionysian thiasus and that the lamp was a cult object associated with the mystery cult of Dionysus. This paper will also contribute to the refutation of the concept of “Dionysism without Dionysus” in Archaic Etruria.