ABSTRACT
Within ancient Etruscan culture the haruspex, the oracle, fulfilled an important societal function. He (women were excluded from fulfilling this role) foretold the hidden intentions of the gods – and thus the future – by reading animal entrails. Most often the future was read in the liver of a sacrificed sheep. The aforementioned bronze liver found in Piacenza served as an instructive model for students who were training to become haruspex (Fig. 3.2). The haruspex would cut the liver out of the sheep, hold it up in his left hand and run his right hand over the base of the organ. He would then inspect the liver clockwise. Figure 4.1 shows a statue of a haruspex on the lid of an urn, now in the Etruscan Museum of Volterra. The oracle is depicted practicing his craft, holding the liver in his left hand and showing the underside of the organ to the spectator. Beholders of this spectacle would view the liver upside down--the convex side of the gallbladder pointing downward instead of upwards (the position it occupies within the body). This presents one explanation for the upside down orientation of the bronze liver from Piacenza.
