The remains of the sanctuary of Fondo Patturelli, built during the Sixth Century BCE at the eastern gate of the ancient Etruscan city of Capua (Santa Maria Capua Vetere), were first discovered in 1875. The place of worship did not lose its importance during the occupation of the city by the Samnites from the Fourth Century BCE and was probably dedicated to a form of “mother goddess”, a custodial deity of the rites of passage into adulthood, as well as of the treatment of diseases.
The main aspect of the cult was the kourotrophia, the protection of childbirth and the raising of new-borns, as highlighted by the profusion of votive terracotta figurines showing women either seated with a child or in a pose that alludes to childbirth. A similar iconography reappears in the series of over one hundred large tuff rock statues, the famous “Madri Capuane” (Mothers of Capua), understood to be either representations of the protecting deity or offerings of thanks after a successful birth. The example on display here is a dignified representation of an enthroned woman with twelve children in swaddling clothes, an exultation of motherhood and the consequent prosperity of the entire Capuan community.