Cicadas and locusts, ivy and grapevine: the crown from San Biagio alla Venella and its context

Abstract

The article deals with a tomb found in 1972 in the chora of Metapontum at ‘San Biagio alla Venella’, not far from the famous sanctuary attributed to Artemis. The burial, dated to the second half of the 4th century B.C., is distinguished by an installation above the coverage, which can be interpreted as a base for a funerary sema, as well as by the presence on the chest of the deceased of acrown of ivy leaves and grapevine in gilded bronze: it was decorated with zoomorphic elements in gilded terracotta, depicting cicadas and locusts. The unusual composition of the crown, which finds few comparisons in Magna Graecia, suggests a reference to the Dionysiac world and to the eschatological beliefs that come to be structured around the figure of the deity.