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Malavisch (Malavis). Etruscan deity, known exclusively from representations on engraved Etruscan bronze mirrors. Malavisch is always depicted as female, and usually in adornment scenes. The name has been etymologized as having to do with either “mirror” or “bride,” reflecting the importance of mirrors to Etruscan females, as well as their importance in wedding preparations. Malavisch is perhaps a representation of the ideal Etruscan bride, or a personification of the mirror itself. The bridal attribution is fitting, as almost all scholars agree that mirrors were frequently used as marriage gifts for the bride.

The deity labeled with the name Malavisch appears on 7 mirrors, ranging in date from the 4th to 3rd century BCE. Find spots are recorded for 2 of the mirrors at the sites of Ager Tarquiniensis and Tarquinii. An additional 4 mirrors fitting the iconography of the Malavisch mirrors, but without inscriptions, date to the same period. Of these, 2 have known find spots at Palestrina and Todi. Mirrors of this type seem to found in central and southeast Etruria, but as many of the mirrors have unknown provenance, it is difficult to make any generalizations at this time.

Typical scenes of Malavisch show her seated in profile, usually facing to the right. She is depicted as an elaborately dressed young woman seated on a backless stool. Often described as a toilette scene, she is adorned by at least 2 attendants, but she can have as many as 6. One attendant usually lifts the chin of Malavisch and adjusts her diadem, while another arranges the ribbons of the diadem from the back. Sometimes one of the attendants, or Malavisch herself may hold a mirror, either as an aid in adornment, or perhaps using it to tell the bride’s future. Her attendants are described as being members of the circle of Turan, and sometimes Turan herself is present. Turan and her entourage are appropriate companions for the bride, as Turan is the goddess of love and the attendants, Thalna, Munthuch, and Hinthial, among others, have names associated with fertility, adornment, and the soul.

While Malavisch is nearly always the central figure in adornment scenes, she does appear on 1 other mirror that does not fit this type. In this scene, she is positioned frontally, and is nude except for a cloak that she holds behind her. She stands among a group of men labeled as Hercle, Artumes, and Aplu. The scene’s meaning is uncertain and does not appear to have a connection with the more frequently represented adornment type.

There are no surviving votive inscriptions to Malavisch. The only inscriptions naming Malavisch are those inscribed on the mirrors themselves. The name does not appear on the Piacenza Liver, so she does not seem to have been a figure of cult. Malavisch has been argued to actually be a representation of the Greek Helen, but Elena already exists as a labeled figure on other Etruscan mirrors; thus, there is little support for such an argument.