Hunter with partridges. Sculptural group of Cerrillo Blanco (Porcuna, Jaén, Spain)

Relief made of white calcarenite stone. It is a sculptural group that represents a hunting scene with partridges and an animal. The hunter wears a short robe, with a “V” neckline, short sleeves up to the elbow and a bend of slack pointed at the crotch. The robe is very close by a girdle that falls to the beginning of the left thigh. In the center of the long crease of slack we find a deep round hole, where it would possibly be fixed a perhaps metallic or wooden element. The right arm seems to rest fixed almost in the center of the waist and the left one appears folded, it is not known if maintaining a basket; what is clearly appreciated is as subject a kind of tablet from where they are pended, suspended by the peaks, two partridges. The hand that holds the tablet closes naturally and the partridges are very well studied, marking with mastery the hard closed peaks. The animal, which would stick its head to the left shoulder of the hunter, has a long neck that turns to it and the front legs bent, apparently missing inside the basket. The animal could be a small lamb or perhaps a dog. This sculptural group lacks the head and neck of the human figure, the right hand from the wrist, all right leg from the start of the thigh and left leg from above the knee. The animal lacks the head and the codillo of the front left leg, as well as the whole body lost behind the hunter’s back. It also lacks the legs and part of the wing of one of the partridges and part of the wing and fragments of the neck of the other, finding both very deteriorated. In the back of the group is missing a large smooth straw that makes doubt if we are facing another highrelief or before figures of round bulk. It belongs to the group of juvenile initiation of the sculptural group of Cerrillo Blanco. Chronology: 440-400 B.C. Dimensions: Height: 68 cm Width: 68 cm Maximum thickness: 25 cm Minimum thickness: 17 cm The sculptural group of Cerrillo Blanco was found in 1975 in the municipality of Porcuna (Jaén). This set constitutes nowadays the most important Iberian sculptural group of the known so far. It is composed of more than forty pieces that represent heroic struggles of men with each other or men with animals, hunting scenes, images of fantastic animals or important characters. The sculptural group of Cerrillo Blanco would be integrated into a possible staggered monument as a tower in which the history of a lineage is expressed through the ages of the prince, in a context in which the animals shape with their presence the different landscapes of the narrated history. The whole has enough elements to be represented as a whole, programmed from its beginning. The initiatory struggle in distant territory and the mourning with death between aristocrats, zoomachia and monomachias reproduce the two activities that in the sculptural representation of Porcuna more fit the aristocratic imaginary. Porcuna also offers the possibility of reading this double activity in two ages, in children when it shows the learning of both activities in the forms of small hunting and ruled struggle, and in adulthood with the tragic component added. The group of the youth initiation is formed by two hunting scenes and one of palestra. The three groups are presented as a relief on a background that serves as a tectonic support to the group. The upper part of the characters, which correspond mainly to the bust, are made in a round bundle. The three scenes are defined by their essentially demonstrative character, of presentation. It is clear that his intention is to manifest virtue, to show himself after the feat. - Hunter with hare. - Partridge hunter. It is also shown frontally. It highlights the size of the hung birds, whose peaks are rummaged. The young man marches and seems to stop sharply. The tapes that stick his belt reflect the inertia of the movement. Possibly he turns his face, almost frontal to back. The dog jumps up his forelegs and turns his head sharply, implauding his neck, attentive to the master. Pugilists: Both opponents intertwine their arms and cross their legs. The feet are bare. The scene is a display of movement and argues. Probably the skill, and not the simple force is the dominant virtue of the contest. The male on the left tries to put a zancadilla to his opponent and turn it over. This one holds onto the companion belt. Hands intertwine. The faces turn to the spectator, they break decisively the frame of the action, they leave it to introduce us to the ideal sphere of the representation. Bibliography: Chapa, T. (2015): “Los escultores del Cerrillo Blanco de Porcuna,” in A. Ruiz y M. Molinos (coord.): Jaén, ibera land. 40 years of research and transfer. University of Jaén. Jaén. Olmos, R. (2002): “The sculptural groups of Cerrillo Blanco de Porcuna (Jaén). A convergent iconographic reading essay.” Spanish Archive of Archaeology, 75 107-122. Ruiz, A. and Molinos, M. (2015): “The sculptural group of Cerrillo Blanco, Porcuna.” In Arturo Ruiz and Manuel Molinos (Eds.). Jaén, Iberian land 40 Years of research and transfer. University of Jaén. 67-84. Torrecillas, J. F. (1985): The late period cemetery of Cerrillo Blanco. Institute of Giennenses Studies. Jaén.