Not all renderings of Culśanś are the same, but based on the available evidence, he is most often represented as a youthful, beardless deity with two faces, wearing nothing but a pair of rustic boots and a cap. This rendering of Culśanś is best represented by a bronze statuette from Cortona which dates to the 3rd or 2nd century BCE. In this statuette, he is shown nude, in a
contrapposto stance with one hand on his hip. Some scholars think that his right hand originally held a rustic staff akin to the one often held by Roman Janus, while others propose that it would have held a key, an appropriate attribute for a gatekeeper and one that was also associated with images of Janus. In addition to his rustic boots, and the flat cap that stretches over both of his heads, he also wears a
torque necklace. The statuette is clearly identified by an inscription, running up the statue's left thigh, which translates to: “Velia Cuinti, Arnt’s (daughter) to Culśanś (this object) gladly gave.” It was found buried near the north gate in
Cortona together with a similar statuette representing and dedicated to the god
Selvans.
Selvans is rendered in a very similar manner to Culśanś; he too takes a contrapposto stance with one arm akimbo and his other arm extended to hold something. He is also naked except for his boots, a torque and a cap, and he bears a similar inscription from the same dedicator (Velia Cuinti). points out that since the two figures both wear boots and a torque in common, these items are not likely special clothing, characteristic of either god in particular. The two
Cortona figures are different in that Selvans only has one face and wears a different style cap which seems to be made from an animal skin of some sort, possibly from a lion or a wolf. Selvans is equated by some scholars to the Roman god Silvanus. Selvans, like Culśanś is probably a god who protected boundaries, liminal spaces, gates and doorways. Another noteworthy aspect of these two Cortona figures is the way their hands, and especially, their fingers are positioned. There is a passage by the Roman author
Pliny the Elder in which he describes a statue of Janus where his fingers are positioned to represent the 365 (CCCLXV) days of the year. This has led many scholars to consider whether the finger positions of the
Cortona statuettes may also be significant. If the finger positions were meant to render a number value related to the calendar, it could suggest that Culśanś had an association with time and the cycle of the year just like
Janus. The typical portrayal of Culśanś and Selvans as beardless youths exemplified by these Cortona figures stands in contrast to renderings of their Roman counterparts,
Janus and
Silvanus, who are usually shown as bearded, older men. Three coins from Volterra, all dating to the 3rd or 2nd c. BCE, also depict Culśanś as a youthful, beardless bifrons. Krauskopf includes a 2nd c. BCE
terracotta bust from
Vulci of a double-faced bearded figure on her list of possible representations of Culśanś. This figure is more easily likened to representations of Janus, but some scholars have questioned the bust's identification as Culśanś. Culśanś also differs from
Janus in most of his representations, in that he wears a special cap. Some scholars have compared it to a
petasos, the traveller's hat worn by the Greek god,
Hermes. Others see a possible connection to the
galerus, a special hat worn by Roman priests which the Romans likely adopted from the Etruscans. A (possible) representation of Culśanś that is of a very different nature than the
Cortona figure, occurs on a stone sarcophagus from Tuscania, dating to 300 BCE. This sarcophagus shows an older, bearded bifrons wielding a sickle blade in a scene of combat. The imagery has been interpreted as relating to quite differing narratives. Maggiani identifies the two-faced figure as the Greek mythological guard called
Argos.
Nancy Thomson de Grummond, on the other hand, recognizes the figure as Culśanś and interprets the imagery as a
Gigantomachy scene in which Culśanś plays a role.
Inscriptions . Apart from the inscription on the leg of the Cortona bronze statuette, the other known reference to Culśanś is a fragmentary inscription on a small, partially incomplete slate from Firenzuolo. The inscription was probably a dedication made to the god which was inscribed on a tablet so that it could be attached to a
votive offering. An abbreviated inscription on the Bronze Liver from Piacenza which reads “Cvl alp” might refer to Culśanś but it could also refer to Culśu. The liver includes references to approximately 28 deities whose various names are organized into 16 compartments marked out on the liver, each of which reflects a different region of the heavens.
Van der Meer argues that it is more likely that “Cvl” inscription on the liver is an abbreviation for
Culśu because the region on which the inscription occurs, includes several deities associated with the underworld; since of the two, only Culśu has evidence for being an underworld deity it would make more sense for her to be represented. There are a few additional inscriptions that include the root –cul / -cvl, but these are likely names. ==Foreign equivalents==