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facing the tree at the right end, while an unknown object was placed on the semicircular protrusion on the left side of the pedestal. At some later time, the tree was moved to that protrusion behind the bear, making room for the newly added statue of the human Artio, her basket and her now missing throne. This was probably done at the behest of the statue's sponsor, Licinia
Sabinilla, and the pedestal also probably received its inscription at that time, because it is unlikely that the bear alone would have been titulated as
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91:– whose name is inscribed on the pedestal of the Naria statue. The temple belonged to a large Roman estate. At an unknown time, probably to protect them against some threat, the statues were removed from the temple, locked in a chest and brought to a nearby building in whose ruins they were found 1,500 years later, in May 1832.
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that is now lost. She wears a sleeved dress, a heavy mantle over her left shoulder, and a diadem in her wrapped hair. A high basket filled with fruit and grain, on a slender pillar, hides the wreath of fruits in her lap and the sacrificial bowl in her right hand from view. This, and also the lack of
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in 1899 confirmed that the bear had indeed been affixed to the pedestal, and allowed a reconstruction of what are now believed to be the two configurations in which the bronze elements were originally displayed. It appears that Artio's bear form was initially alone on the left side of the pedestal,
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At the time of their discovery, the individual elements of the group – pedestal, bear, woman, tree and basket – were separated from each other, making their configuration a matter of conjecture. In the 19th century, the human Artio was displayed alone in the center of the pedestal, facing forward.
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The matching style of the five main statues (Jupiter, Juno, Minerva , Naria and the human Artio) indicates that they were made by the same bronze caster, probably in the late second century AD somewhere in western
Switzerland. The Lare appears to have been made in Italy in the first century AD.
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The dominating element of the group is the she-bear, Artio in her animal form, 21 centimetres (8.3 in) long. The taut, muscular body and open mouth convey the great animal's tense attention, and the structure of her fur is realistically suggested by carefully engraved lines. The bear is
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The Artio group (Inv. no. 16170/16210) weighs 5,308 grams (11.702 lb). The pedestal is 28.6 centimetres (11.3 in) long and the tree is 19 centimetres (7.5 in) high. The body of the bear, the pedestal, and the human body up to the shoulders are hollow.
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any accoutrements associated with a bear goddess, suggests that this figure was originally conceived as a solitary representation of a goddess of vegetation or agriculture, which was later repurposed – together with the bear – as a representation of Artio.
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of Muri. Part of the decorative fittings and the iron key of the chest were also unearthed, but the key was later lost. The find was reported, together with drawings of the statues, in the
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that is, "To the
Goddess Artio, from Licinia Sabinilla." About the sponsor of the group nothing is known but her name, which is Italic in origin but was also widely used in
256:, examining the statues in 1860, first recognized the bear as female. Inspired by the Muri statuettes, his 1863 monograph about bears in ancient religion,
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151:. This helped to establish Artio in the public consciousness as a particularly Bernese bear goddess, which fit with the tradition of the bear as
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Lohner, to inspect the find. After lengthy negotiations with the parson, the government acquired the statues after paying a finder's fee of 400
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71:. The ensemble includes the only known representations of Artio and Naria, and is one of the more significant items in the collection of the
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are the most famous bronzes of Roman
Switzerland, and the only known representation of a Gallo-Roman deity in both human and animal form.
419:"Beide Monumente scheinen durch eine innere Beziehung unter sich verknüpft, die Bärin die thierische Darstellung der Dea Artio zu sein."
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Together with a number of household effects from the Roman period, the statues were found during an excavation for a new garden for the
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The deities belong to two different religious traditions, attesting to the fusion of Roman and Gallic practices of worship in
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449:. Glanzlichter aus dem Bernischen Historischen Museum (in German). Vol. 9. Zürich: Chronos Verlag.
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Dea Artio, die Bärengöttin von Muri: römische
Bronzestatuetten aus einem ländlichen Heiligtum
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The group was put on display in various government rooms until it was acquired by the
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was pictured on the title sheet of the journal of the
Bernese historical society,
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accompanied by a bronze tree, highly stylized and botanically indeterminable.
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The statues are believed to be the idols worshiped at the temple of the
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Cultural property of national significance in the canton of Bern
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The discovery of several soldering joints on the pedestal by
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Blätter für bernische
Geschichte, Kunst und Altertumskunde
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217:The human Artio was originally seated on a
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264:was related to the Greek word for bear,
258:Der Bär in den Religionen des Alterthums
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445:Kaufmann-Heinimann, Annemarie (2002).
225:The pedestal bears the inscription,
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153:Berne's heraldic animal and namesake
98:The statues as depicted in the 1832
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167:: Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, the
474:Bronze sculptures in Switzerland
23:The statuettes exhibited in the
120:dispatched one of its members,
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499:Hellenistic and Roman bronzes
165:Switzerland in the Roman era
16:Gallo-Roman bronze figurines
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141:Historical Museum of Bern
73:Historical Museum of Bern
25:Historical Museum of Bern
431:Kaufmann-Heinimann, 9–13
135:Rudolf Münger's drawing.
187:Artio as bear and woman
394:Kaufmann-Heinimann, 54
385:Kaufmann-Heinimann, 52
373:Kaufmann-Heinimann, 48
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33:Muri statuette group
191:The two figures of
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35:is a group of six
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234:Licinia Sabinilla
43:found in 1832 in
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288:Measurements
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409:XIII, 05160
159:Description
37:Gallo-Roman
468:Categories
456:303400544X
439:References
489:Figurines
282:Dea Artio
270:Dea Artio
108:parsonage
89:river Aar
67:and of a
41:figurines
199:Elements
79:History
57:Minerva
49:Jupiter
39:bronze
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266:arktos
219:throne
297:Notes
262:Artio
212:Naria
193:Artio
179:Artio
65:Artio
61:Naria
451:ISBN
241:Gaul
53:Juno
31:The
405:CIL
69:Lar
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