IZVORNA STRAN
SITULA
OF VAČE
TEXT BY JOŽE KASTELIC
Director of the National Museum, Ljubljana
PUBLISHED BY
THE MAGAZINE »JUGOSLAVIJA«, BELGRADE
KNEZ MIHAJLOVA 21
1956
SLOVENSKI TEKST
LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS
Three routes run in a southeasterly direction from the Alps to the Aegean
Sea: the Danubian route, a swift, comfortable
waterway through the fertile but monotonous Pannonian
Plain; the Adriatic route, a long, pleasant sea cruise from Trieste down to the
Ionean Islands and the Peloponnesus; and the third, a
route neither comfortable nor swift, over the towering mountain heights and
through hidden canyons, from Ljubljana through Lika
and Bosnia down to Montenegro, Serbia and Macedonia: from the amber road at the
gateway to Italy down to the Via Egnatia at the
gateway to Greece. This is a territory which was settled by the Illyrians,
perhaps upon an old substratum of Thracians, about the year 1000 B. C. Having
come from the north and originally setting up tribal forms of society and,
later, states, they dominated the old roads in the Balkans, became extremely
expert in casting bronze and iron — till then almost unknown — built fortresses
at points suitable for defence, near the grazing
grounds of their flocks and at places where they bartered their products with
the outside world. The Illyrians were the first inhabitants of the territory of
present-day Yugoslavia
— later settled by the Slavs — and on it they left traces of their
thousand-year stay and their culture. The Celts, who advanced towards the
southeast from Italy and the
Alps four hundred years later, settled mostly
in the northern lowlands. But the traces of their way of life were not as
evident as those of their mightier and more conservative Illyrian predecessors.
Illyricum apparently came to be easy prey for the
Romans after Caesar had destroyed the Celtic power in Gaul, and Augustus
suppressed the rebelling lilyrians and Celts in Pannonia and Noricum. In spite
of centuries of Roman rule, however, Illyricum did
not lose its individuality: moreover, it is from Illyricum that two of the mightiest Roman
rulers came during the crisis of the latter-day Empire: Diocletian and
Constantine; while Justinian appeared still later. The world of the Illyrians,
which survived in some forms also in the fifth and sixth centuries, resisted
the short-lived Germanic onslaught, and tolerated the coming of the Slavs. What
the indigenous population felt towards the Slavs it is impossible to say, but
there is no doubt that there were firm connections between the Illyrians and
the South Slavic cultures, and the former, therefore, occupy a unique place in
the study of prehistoric times and of the archaeology in these regions.
The life of the Illyrians underwent
radical changes during the "classical period". Small secluded
Illyrian culture groups evolved into major social formations. The mighty forts
of the princes gradually came to dominate the small settlements. A symbol of the privileges enjoyed by the princes are their
graves. It was out of keeping with their dignity to be buried in modest graves
with urns: colossal barrows represented the superiority of the rulers even in
death. The extravagance of the graves often transcended the splendour
of the metropolises.
It is interesting to note that the
striving for impressiveness and hieratic demonstration was not confined
exclusively to certain areas and cultures. It was a widespread custom, which
had extended from Central Asia to Spain in the fifth century B. C.
Like a belt of gold girding the sober fifth century of classical Greece — from
the Battle of Marathon to Alexander the Great — sub-classical or
pseudo-classical royal graves lay all over Asia and Europe: the kurgani of Pazyryk on Mount
Altai, bound in the eternal ice and snow of the mountains of Central Asia, with
the oldest carpet in the world and leather goods of perfect workmanship and
ornamentation; the kurgani of the Scythians, the prodigiousness of which almost transcends the fantastic
descriptions in the fourth volume of Herodotus' Persian Wars; the archaic-Greek
handiwork in precious metals in Duvanli, Bulgaria;
the Trebeniste necropolis near Ohrid
with its four "Achaean" gold masks and extraordinary Corinthian toreutic products. Corinthian helmets have been found at Glasinac, Central Bosnia, which dominated the environments
for centuries; armour and a mask have been found at Klein-Klein, Austria;
a diadem of gold has been found at Stična,
Slovenia: a situla has been found at Vače, Slovenia. In the heart of Europe,
above the Danube, rises Heuneburg with its Massilian vases and, on the Seine, Vix
near Chatillon, with the largest and most beautiful
crater made in Greece.
The barbarians attired themselves in the splendour of
classical civilization as Greece
occupied the peak of a height unattainable to others. Life in the
Mediterranean area and in the adjacent areas was in full bloom.
The Illyrian royal graves in these
regions contained both native products and imports from the Mediterranean
areas. The most important objects are of bronze. Cast and bossy toreutic items were widespread in Illyria. The forms originated in Illyria, or were adopted from
the surrounding cultures. Traces of "Scythian" influence are evident.
During the elder phase — in the eastern regions of Illyria — Greek and imported influences
prevailed, the representative objects being the Corinthian helmets of Glasinac and the craters of Trebenište.
In the west, in Italy,
on the other hand, the Etruscan and Venetic cultures
exercised the strongest influence on the younger-western-Illyrian groups. This
influence reached its farthest range in the western part of Illyria with the art of making situlae.
The Etruscans, a people of unknown
origin and strange destiny, were in a way a bridge between the Greeks and the
northwestern prehistoric barbarians of Europe.
It is notable that Etruscan culture contained still older elements, in addition
to the Greek and autochthonous Italic ones, which were more akin to the cradle
of the human race in southwestern Asia. The
style and inner proportions of these anti-classical eastern elements blended
closely with the anti-classical autochthonous European prehistoric elements,
Like Bologna (Bononia) north of the Appenines, Ruma (Roma) was an
Etruscan settlement upon an Indo-European substratum of Villanova. This was the
environment of the cultures of Este and Certosa, which proceeded side by side with the Villanovan
culture. It was from there that the famed situlae
derived: one from Certosa (Museo
Civico, Bologna), the
second from Este (Museo Atestino, Este), the third from Bologna (Museum
of Art, Providence). The art of the topmost Etruscan
stratum alloyed with the subordinate neighbouring culture
produced forms which were bizarre and not exactly harmonious.
Numerous situlae
of the Alpine and sub-Alpine environment were added to the Italic situlae, the most outstanding of them being the situla of Vače (National Museum,
Ljubljana). The
situla of Vače, the situla of Welzelach in the Tyrol
and the situla of Magdalenska Gora,
Slovenia, are
each divided into three friezes in relief. The situlae and cistae of Stična, Slovenia, and of Hallstatt. Austria, have only adorned lids.
The situlae of later date (Kuffern, Austria;
Valična Vas,
Slovenia) —
from the Celtic period — had only one frieze adorned with relief. In time their
form also changed: as the situla became elongated,
its walls sank inwards.
Whether the situlae
were an Italic import or an autochthonous Illyrian product is an open question.
With no intention of taking any final stand, we offer a number of elements
pertaining to the situla of Vače
which support both theories. Judging from where it was found, the situla in the Museum
of Art, Providence, along whose edge runs an
inscription in Etruscan, is definitely Bolognese. A common
feature on the situlae of Providence and of Vače
are the wrestlers, which also distinguished the situlae
of Kuffern and Welzelach.
The big bird with widespread wings over the animal may be seen on the situlae of Vače and Certosa (twice on the latter), and on the situla of Matrei as well. The
dignitary playing the Panpipe may be seen on the situlae
of Vače and Providence
(twice, symmetrically). Except for the ornamentation on the body, the vessel
with the three-jointed leg and tripod is identical on the situlae
of Vače and Providence,
The offering of a sacrifice by pouring grain froni a
bowl into a vessel is reminiscent of similar Mediterranean scenes, such as the
one on the Cretan sarcophagus of Hagia Triada. The incomprehensible ornaments,
slit and turned upwards, which are suspended from the upper edge of the top frieze of the Vače situla may also be seen on
the situlae of Este, Certosa and Providence.
Perhaps its source is the palmette on a capital,
similar to the ornament of the archaic Bolognese stele. Both situlae have two women each serving two men. The ladles in
the hands of the women are identical on the two situlae.
They are shaped like a latter-day Roman simpulum
unfamiliar in the Illyrian Hallstatt. The situla of Vače twice depicts two
men with axes whose handles are decorated, but they differ entirely from the Hallstatt axes. They are bent towards the axe head and
resemble some Etruscan forms. The two situlae also
have characteristic indentations in the form of the letter S, struck with a
short chisel. Any further enumeration of similar details must always lead back
to the starting point: that the situlae of Providence and Vače are the two which are most similar. With their strict
division and three friezes and rather limited subject-matter, they are also the
most perfect. The situla of Certosa is rather epic and perhaps of later date; the situla of Este is the earliest as
a type, and isolated from the Bologna-Providence-Vače
group. The Welzelach and Matrei
situlae have their source in those of Providence and Vače. The Kuffern and Valična Vas situla type
constitutes the final phase of development. In workmanship the situla of Vače is the most perfect
and its details are better worked than those on the situla
at Providence.
The details of the clothing, horses' trappings and bodies of the animals have
been re-done in many parts with a short chisel, since the figures are seen to
have been embossed from within. In this -way two techniques have been combined:
the structurally strict and clearly outlined relief design strives for detail,
while the design remains subordinate to the monumental whole. There is now a
close resemblance to the realism of the prehistoric phase of Europe.
From that point development could only have gone on to the bizarre baroque
ornamentation of the late Hallstatt, with the incised
La Tène workmanship and the polychrome
combination of amber and bronze, or iron and bronze in the Illyrian areas.
Accordingly, it was a moment when realism began to surrender to illusionism.
With due reservation, it may be concluded that the situla
of Vače is a piece of Italic work belonging to the Veneti cultural group of the mid-fifth century B. C. The
close kinship with the Bologna-Providence situla is
obvious. On the basis of this import and similar ones, it was possible for the
local production of situlae to develop to
considerable proportions.
The scenes on the situla of Vače are divided into three friezes. The topmost shows a
solemn procession of riders and drivers. They are headed by a horse which is
being checked by a man pulling at a halter. The halter, which is twisted into a
vertical noose, is an ancient symbol of posthumous life familiar to the
Egyptians. Above the first horse, and suspended from the top of the frieze is a
bird with its head turned towards the man. Behind him a second man is leading
his horse. His axe, with its decorated handle, is slung over his shoulder.
Above this horse a bird with a long bill, probably an eagle,
spreads its wings. Then follow two horsemen with short bridles. Palmettes hang downwards above their horses. Then follow
two teams, each consisting of one horse and two men, one of whom is the driver
and the other his companion. The vehicles, the first of which is a chariot and
the second a long elaborately decorated carriage, have each two wheels. Unlike
the other figures on this frieze, the driver's companion wears a Phrygian cap.
The end of the procession is brought up by a rider.
The second frieze depicts a series of rites. The first
scene shows two persons offering a sacrifice. A big crater-urn stands between
them on an elegantly profiled leg which ends in a tripod. One of the two
persons is pouring grain from a bowl into the crater while the second has
brought his hand up to his nose, as though in a gesture of enjoying the
fragrance. Then come three groups of revellers: in
the first group a woman with a veil suspended from the back of her head offers
a bowl of food to a man on a throne. Behind him, also seated on a throne is a
man with a sceptre tipped with two bird heads. The
second group of revellers comprises one man seated
on a throne and playing a Panpipe, with a bareheaded servant offering him drink
from a situla. Behind his throne there is another
man. The third group of revellers comprises a man
seated on a throne while a woman with a veil suspended from the back of her
head offers him food from a bowl. Then follow two naked warriors draped with
loincloths and with bracelets on their wrists. They are fighting over a trophy
— a hatlike helmet with a rib running along the
middle and a long plume — which rests on an elegant stand between them. Their endeavours are watched by four spectators, one of whom has
an axe with a decorated handle over his shoulder. This man and the two who are
offering the sacrifice in the first scene of the frieze have hats on their
heads, while the others have Phrygian caps. The frieze ends in a ram with a
bird perched on its back. The bird has a large leaf in its bill and is looking
backwards. The bottom frieze displays animals. The scenes on the upper two
friezes run from right to left, while the scenes on the third run in the
opposite direction. Horns fill the space over the beginning of the sequence.
Then comes a lion devouring a doe's leg, and then seven does or hinds, three of
which have both ears, and four one ear and one horn each. Three of the animals
hold long, curved, spotted leaves in their months. Birds looking backwards are
perched on the backs of two of the animals.
The subject-matter of the situla
is concentrated in the two upper friezes: in the procession of horses and
carriages, the sacrifice, the feast, and the tournament. These are ancient
Mediterranean symbols from the cult of the dead, familiar in the Trojan cycle:
the race round Petrocles' barrow, the solemn sacrifice
and the feast in the Iliad, the fight for Ajax's
armour. The situla of Vače depicts motifs from an ancient Mediterranean saga
recounted in literature by Homer and in the cycles of archaic Greece, which
go still further back, to Achaean sources. On the other hand, the presence of
the Orient is also evident: the revellers sit in
aristocratic detachment, like Gilgamesh in the Babylonian epics: the form of the chariots in the top frieze are similar to the
chariots on the reliefs of Ashurbanipal
at Nineveh.
Birds, the ancient symbols of the soul and popular totem signs in primitive
cultures and among the Etruscans, are important creatures in sorcery and in some
other rites. We have already mentioned the sacrifice and the birds on the
sarcophagus of Hagia Triada
at Crete. Later we find countless cases of the
metamorphosis of gods into birds among the Greeks. The double-headed sceptre in the second frieze recalls the labrys of Crete. The
riders and drivers indicate the two methods of employing horses: for draft
work, which is earlier in the Mediterranean
and came from the Orient, and for riding, which is later, and came to the
Indo-Europeans from the north and from the eastern Scythian steppes.
The situla of Vače, however, would never take its unique place in the
Italic and Illyrian culture of the fifth century B. C. solely on the merits of
the archaic scenes it contains. First of all, the situla
is outstanding for its artistic value. The style in which its figural
ornamentation is rendered lends perfection to it and elevates it far above the
mediocrity of other items resembling it in subject-matter and workmanship. The situla of Vače contains all the
elements of prehistoric European art, which drew its style characteristics from
the Greeks by way of the Etruscans. The figures are arranged symmetrically. The
striving for symmetry goes to the extent of placing a bracelet on the left
wrist of one of the two wrestlers and on the right wrist of the other. A horror
of empty space may be said to be still profound in the scenes and constitutes
one of the rudiments of pre-archaic style. The space in the scenes of the third
frieze is filled with birds, palmettes, rosettes and
motifs of horns. The figures are consistently isocephalic;
the run of the horizontal and vertical lines is nowhere disturbed; the animals
and the human beings move upon a plane without depth or perspective; they tread
flat-soled, like the village scribe in Egypt or the archaic kouroi and korai. All the animals
lift their forefeet in the same manner, in a stylized gait. Unlike the
countenances in the anti-classical cultures of the primitive world, the visages
of the figures are not grotesque, nor do they, on the other hand, breath the individualized life of the enlightened realism
kindred to classical Greece:
the expressions on their faces are attentive and full of life. The flatness of
the scenes results in flatness of detail: thus the depth is also- shown in the
foreground. The Panpipe player holds his instrument vertically to his lips,
although it is actually in a horizontal position in relation to his face. The
problems of depth are particularly obvious at the beginning of the first and
the third frieze (the bird hanging from the upper edge of the frieze, and the
horns hanging in space). These attempts to represent figures in the background
by placing them at a higher level are reminiscent of similar strivings on the
fresco, "The Saffron Picker", at Knossos,
Crete, and in the river scene on the cauldron from Gundestrup
in Denmark.
It is impossible to say which is the
principal scene on the situla. The epic
workmanship of the scenic sequences, which follow upon each other's heels, depict the substance, but only the aggregate unravels the
epic story.
The situla of Vače is one of the most perfect items of prehistoric
European art. The joys of living — the races, feasts, tournaments — are
combined in the chthonean cult and reflect from a
distance the old Mediterranean myth of the Trojan saga. This small, apparently
solitary artistic item, is an answer to the
fundamental questions of human life and death, expressed in a language anyone
can understand.
Opposite page: THE FRONT OF THE SITULA, detail
NOTE
Vače lies on a plateau
north of the river Sava, twenty kilometers east of Ljubljana. It was the site
of an Illyrian settlement with a large necropolis, which was founded about 800
B. C. and lasted till the coming of the Romans. The situla
was dug up by a peasant in 1883. It is now in the National
Museum, Ljubljana (inventory No. P
581). It is 23.8
centimeters high, its greatest width being 23.3 centimeters. The situla
was preserved during the last century. First publication: C. Deschmann, Ein
Kunstwerk altetruskischer Metallteehnik, Mitteilungen der Zentral Kommission,
Wien, 1883, 19. First part-publication in colour,
with photographs of details: " Jugoslavia"
(No. 3), 1950, cover, pages 1 and 80—81.
Principal works on the Vače
settlement: F. Stare, Prazgodovinske Vače (A Dissertation at the Archaeological Seminar of the University of Ljubljana),
Ljubljana, 1954; F. Stare, Vače
(Catalogi Archaeologici Sloveniae, published by the National
Museum, Ljubljana,
I), Ljubljana 1955. In this catalogue
the situla is scientifically recorded under No. 434
with tables LVI, 1; CI—CIV and annex.
Principal study on the situla:
V. Mole, Umetnost situle sa Vača
[The Art of the Situla of Vače],
Starinar (Belgrade),
Series III, 2, 1923 (1925), 79—108.
Style characteristics of the situla
in the prehistoric and antique art of Slovenia:
J. Kastelic: Figuralna dediščina arheoloških dob v Sloveniji
[The Figural Heritage of the Archaeological Periods in Slovenia], Likovni svet, Ljubljana
1950, 177—200. Principal study on metal vessels in Slovenia: F. Stare, Zbornik filozofske fakultete, Ljubljana II, 1955, 103—190. The Providence situla: G. A. Hanfmann, The
Etruscans and Their Art, Bulletin of the Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of
Design, 28, 1940, No. 1. — The origin of situlae: G. Kaschnitz-Weinberg, Handbuch der Archaeologie II (1), München 1950, 388. Style analysis of Iron Age toreutics:
M. Hoernes, Urgeschichte der bildenden Kunst in Europa, Wien 19253,
542—558. Alpine situlae: R. Pittioni, Urgeschichte des osterreichischen Raumes,
Wien 1954, see register under "Situlenstil". Italy: D. Randall-Maclver, Villanovans and Early Etruscans. Oxford 1942; P. Ducati, L'arte classica, Torino,
19393, 243—246, 383—384.
Inscription on the situla of
Bologna: J. Whatmough, The Inscription on the Bolognese Situla, Bulletin of the Museum of Art 28, 1940, 32—33. —
The palmette on the column: P. Ducati,
L'Arte classica, Torino, 19393, 243,
picture 295.
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