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In the ancient world, terracotta sculpture was ubiquitous. Readily available and economical—unlike stone suitable for carving—clay allowed artisans to craft figures of remarkable variety and expressiveness. Terracottas from South Italy and Sicily attest to the prolific coroplastic workshops that supplied sacred and decorative images for sanctuaries, settlements, and cemeteries. Sixty terracottas are investigated here by noted scholar Maria Lucia Ferruzza, comprising a selection of significant types from the Getty’s larger collection—life-size sculptures, statuettes, heads and busts, altars, and decorative appliqués. In addition to the comprehensive catalogue entries, the publication includes a guide to the full collection of over one thousand other figurines and molds from the region by Getty curator of antiquities Claire L. Lyons.

This custom online catalogue enables a deeper exploration of these ancient objects, with zoomable high-resolution photography and a select number of 360-degree rotations; the ability to filter the catalogue by location, typology and date; and an interactive map drawn from the Ancient World Mapping Center and linked to the Getty’s Thesaurus of Geographic Names. The complete catalogue can be downloaded for free in multiple formats, as can the object data and main images. For readers who wish to have a bound reference copy, a paperback version is available for sale.

Citation Information

Chicago

Ferruzza, Maria Lucia. Ancient Terracottas from South Italy and Sicily in the J. Paul Getty Museum. Los Angeles: Getty Publications, 2016. http://www.getty.edu/publications/terracottas.

MLA

Ferruzza, Maria Lucia. Ancient Terracottas from South Italy and Sicily in the J. Paul Getty Museum. Getty Publications, 2016. www.getty.edu/publications/terracottas. Accessed 9 May. 2025.

Permanent URL

http://www.getty.edu/publications/terracottas

Revision History

Any revisions or corrections made to this publication after the first edition date will be listed here and in the project repository at https://www.github.com/gettypubs/terracottas, where a more detailed version history is available. The revisions branch of the project repository, when present, will also show any changes currently under consideration but not yet published here.

January 31, 2016

  • First edition

February 24, 2016

  • Minor text corrections
  • Note on ongoing research

December 19, 2017

  • Correct image for fig. 24 in “Guide to the Collection”
  • MLA citation formatting update

Downloads

Complete Catalogue

Each of these alternative formats includes the complete catalogue text, the primary view of each object, and the map. The PDF and paperback editions also include a complete index.

Catalogue Main Images

Each download includes the main image and caption for each of the sixty catalogue entries, free for unrestricted use. JPGs are up to 1024px on their longest side. Alternate views and larger sizes are available through the Getty’s Open Content program at www.getty.edu/art/collection.

Object Data

The object data, available in two formats, includes key information from each of the sixty catalogue entries, with relevant fields keyed to Pleiades locations and the Getty’s Art & Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) and Thesaurus of Geographic Names (TGN). The extended version includes raw data on the 1,000 additional collection objects outlined in the “Guide to the Collection of South Italian and Sicilian Terracottas.”

© 2016 J. Paul Getty Trust

Creative Commons License
Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Tiles for the Map of South Italy and Sicily are from the Ancient World Mapping Center. Sharing and remixing permitted under terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 License.

Published by the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles Getty Publications 1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 500 Los Angeles, California 90049-1682 www.getty.edu/publications

Ruth Evans Lane, Benedicte Gilman, and Marina Belozerskaya, Project Editors
Robin H. Ray and Mary Christian, Copy Editors
Antony Shugaar, Translator
Elizabeth Chapin Kahn, Production
Stephanie Grimes, Digital Researcher
Eric Gardner, Designer & Developer
Greg Albers, Project Manager

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  • Names: J. Paul Getty Museum, author, issuing body. | Ferruzza, Maria Lucia, editor.
  • Title: Ancient terracottas from South Italy and Sicily in the J. Paul Getty Museum / Maria Lucia Ferruzza.
  • Description: Los Angeles : J. Paul Getty Museum, [2016] | ©2016 | Includes bibliographical references.
  • Identifiers: LCCN 2015042795 (print) | LCCN 2015048344 (ebook) | ISBN 9781606064863 (pbk.) | ISBN 9781606064856 (epub) | ISBN 9781606061237 (online)
  • Subjects: LCSH: Terra-cotta sculpture, Ancient—Italy, Southern—Catalogs. | Terra-cotta sculpture, Ancient—Italy—Sicily—Catalogs. | J. Paul Getty Museum—Catalogs. | Terra-cotta sculpture—California—Los Angeles—Catalogs.
  • Classification: LCC NB145 .J27 2016 (print) | LCC NB145 (ebook) | DDC 733/.309377–dc23
  • LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015042795