Credit: Museo dell Accademia Etrusca e della città di CortonaA reassessment of the ancient bronze light has figured out that it is a routine artifact connected to the deceptive worship of Dionysus.A current study published in De Gruyters Etruscan and Italic Studies recommends that an ornately designed bronze lamp, discovered in a ditch near Cortona in central Italy, is much older than formerly thought and includes the image of the god Dionysus.The date of the significance and the light and significance of its decors have been the subject of controversy since its discovery in 1840. Now, Ph.D. student Ronak Alburz and Associate Professor Gijs Willem Tol of the University of Melbourne, Australia, have utilized literary sources and other iconographic evidence to offer an extensive brand-new analysis of the object.The Cortona lamp is a bronze hanging oil light, roughly in the shape of a chandelier, determining 60cm across and weighing nearly 60kg. They therefore propose that the lamp portrays the Dionysian thiasus, the thrilled retinue of Dionysus who are typically depicted as inebriated revelers.Lead author Alburz stated: “The light was most likely an object associated with the mystery cult of Dionysus.
