Tabula ansata

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title: "Tabula ansata" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["ancient-roman-metalwork", "inscriptions"] description: "Tablet with dovetail handles" topic_path: "general/ancient-roman-metalwork" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabula_ansata" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Tablet with dovetail handles ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Heiligtum_mainz4.jpg" caption="sanctuary of Isis and Magna Mater]] in [[Mainz"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Tombeau_de_Charles_IV_d'anjou,_comte_du_Maine.JPG" caption="''Tabula ansata'' relief on the tomb of [[Charles, Count of Maine]] attributed to [[Francesco Laurana]], in [[Le Mans Cathedral"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/AdamclisiMetope10.jpg" caption="boss]] on a soldier shield, metope XXIV from [[Tropaeum Traiani"] ::

A tabula ansata or tabella ansata (Latin for "tablet with handles", plural tabulae ansatae or tabellae ansatae) is a tablet with dovetail handles. |last1 = Giroire |first1 = Cécile |last2 = Roger |first2 = Daniel |title = Roman art from the Louvre |publisher = Hudson Hills Press |year = 2007 |page = 109 |isbn = 978-1-55595-283-9}} It was a favorite form for votive tablets in Imperial Rome. |last1 = Meyer |first1 = Elizabeth A. |title = Legitimacy and law in the Roman world: tabulae in Roman belief and practice |url = https://archive.org/details/legitimacylawrom00meye |url-access = limited |publisher = Cambridge University Press |year = 2004 |page = 28 |isbn = 0-521-49701-9 |lccn = 2003051532}}

Overview

Tabulae ansatae identifying soldiers' units have been found on the tegimenta (leather covers) of shields, for example in Vindonissa (Windisch, Switzerland). Sculptural evidence, for example on the metopes from the Tropaeum Traiani (Adamclisi, Romania), shows that they were also used for the same purpose on the shields. |last1 = Tansey |first1 = Patrick |title = M. Titius, Menas and the insignia scutorum |periodical = Klio |publisher = Akademie Verlag |publication-place = Berlin |date = June 2008 |volume = 90 |issue = 1 |doi = 10.1524/klio.2008.0004 |pages = 68–70

Modern era

Tabulae ansatae have been used by modern artists from as early as the 15th century, as shown on the tomb of Charles, Count of Maine, attributed to Francesco Laurana, in Le Mans Cathedral. |last1 = Barnard |first1 = Toby Christopher |last2 = Clark |first2 = Jane |title = Lord Burlington: architecture, art and life |publisher = Continuum International Publishing Group |year = 1995 |pages = 118–120 |isbn = 1-85285-094-9}} The Statue of Liberty by sculptor Auguste Bartholdi is holding one such tablet on which "July IV MDCCLXXVI" is inscribed.

Gallery

File:4545 - Istanbul - Museo archeol. - Rilievo traianeo dalla Romania sec. II d.C. - Foto G. Dall'Orto 28-5-2006.jpg|Tabulae ansatae on soldiers' shields – metope from the Tropaeum Traiani, Archaeological Museum of Istanbul File:Dativius Victor Bogen.jpg|A tabula ansata on the attic of the arch of Dativius Victor (de) in Mainz File:Fra-titusbuen.jpg|Tabulae ansatae carried on sticks – Arch of Titus File:Triumph1-Mantegna-picture-bearers.jpg|A tabula ansata carried on a stick – Triumphs of Caesar by Andrea Mantegna File:Ostia Mosaic.jpg|Tabula ansata on a mosaic in Ostia Antica File:EIS PHAOS.JPG|Tabula ansata on George Bancroft's bookplate Statue of Liberty frontal 2.jpg|The Statue of Liberty (formally Liberty Enlightening the World) holds a tabula ansata inscribed with "July 4 1776" in Roman numerals Happy 4th! (14572157225).jpg|Detail of the Statue of Liberty's tabula

Footnotes

References

1. See [http://www.leg8.com/Musees/Vindonissa/vindonissa_03.jpg picture] {{Webarchive. link. (2010-12-18 ([http://www.leg8.com/Musees/vindonissa.php source page] {{Webarchive). link. (2012-02-21 ))

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