Prussian mythology ("krivė krivaitis") and female "waidelinns" (similar to Roman vestales). Various later authors simply copied information from Grunau and the "Sudovian Book" adding no or very little new information. The 1249 Treaty of Christburg mentioned Curche, an idol worshiped during harvest festivals. Scholars were unable to positively determine its gender, function, or etymology. Various suggested functions include god of food (Simon Grunau), smithing god (similar to Slavic Svarog and Greek Hephaestus), god creator (derived from related Lithuanian word "kurti" – to create), god of harvest and grain, evil spirit, god of fire. Some even doubted whether it was a god at
The Artist as Hephaestus 1987: an high bronze figure entitled "Selfportrait with a Strange Machine" (bought by the National Portrait Gallery in 1987, with a second version on display at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art from 1989 to 2010), and a bronze figure entitled "Portrait of the Artist as Vulcan" (sold at Christie's in London in 2006). Paolozzi donated a full-sized plaster and polystyrene version of "The Artist as Hephaestus" to the National Portrait Gallery in 1990. The Artist as Hephaestus The Artist as Hephaestus is a bronze statue by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, created in 1987. It depicts a standing human figure,