The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 18, 2025

Statuette of Tinia (Zeus)

c. 500 BCE, perhaps with modern patina

Etruscan

bronze
Overall: 13.3 x 8.6 x 3.2 cm (5 1/4 x 3 3/8 x 1 1/4 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1928.196
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

A break to the right wrist has been repaired with a dowel.

Description

Tinia, the most powerful god in the Etruscan pantheon, often appears with a thunderbolt, the same attribute associated with Zeus and Jupiter in Greek and Roman religion and myth. The outstretched left hand may once have held a scepter. Although the figure finds numerous parallels among other Etruscan bronzes of the late 500s and early 400s BC, its surface is oddly rough and mottled with spots, perhaps the result of early modern treatment or coating meant to protect or improve its appearance. A 2001 analysis of the bronze composition showed results consistent with other ancient Etruscan alloys.
  • Purchased through Harold Parsons from Dr. Ludwig Pollak, Rome
  • Richardson, Emeline Hill. “The Etruscan Origins of Early Roman Sculpture.” Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome 21 (1953): 75–124. Pp. 85-86, fig. 2. doi.org
    Richardson, Emeline. Etruscan Votive Bronzes: Geometric, Orientalizing, Archaic. Mainz am Rhein: Verlag P. von Zabern, 1983. P. 358, Type VI B, no. 4 (Jupiter Optimus Maximus Hurling the Thunderbolt)..
    M. Tiverios, "Zeus Keraunios," Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae (LIMC), vol. 8. Zürich: Artemis, 1981-2009. Pp. 319-320, no. 32.
  • Stories from Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).
  • {{cite web|title=Statuette of Tinia (Zeus)|url=false|author=|year=c. 500 BCE, perhaps with modern patina|access-date=18 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1928.196