DOCSLIB.ORG

The Polychromy of White Marble Portraits

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Polychromy of White Marble Portraits Portraits and Colour-codes in ancient Rome: The Polychromy of white marble Portraits Skovmøller, Amalie Publication date: 2016 Document license: CC BY-NC-ND Citation for published version (APA): Skovmøller, A. (2016). Portraits and Colour-codes in ancient Rome: The Polychromy of white marble Portraits. Det Humanistiske Fakultet, Københavns Universitet. Download date: 29. Sep. 2021 UNIVERSITY OF COPENH AGEN FACULTY OF HUMANITIE S Portraits and Colour-codes in ancient Rome: The Polychromy of white marble Portraits Amalie Skovmøller [Titel på afhandling] [Undertitel på afhandling] Academic advisors: Jane Fejfer and Jan Stubbe Østergaard Handed in: 2.11.2015 1 TABLE OF CONTENT Acknowledgements 5 Abbreviations 6 INTRODUCTION 8 1: Colour theory, the science of colour and appreciating colour on sculpture 10 2: Aims and focusses 16 3: Terminology 20 A: Theoretical approaches 25 A1: Colour-coding and colour-codes 26 A2: Semiotic, supra-semiotic and post-semiotic 27 A3: Materiality, material properties and material culture 29 A4: Agencies 32 A5: The extended Roman mind 34 A6: Abduction of Agency 36 A7: Uncanny Valley 37 B: Methodologies: combining multiple sources 39 B1: Archaeological methodology 39 B2: Natural sciences 40 B3: Written sources 41 SECTION A: PRODUCING ROMAN POLYCHROME PORTRAITURE 43 Chapter 1: Roman portraits. White marble and their colour effects 46 A1.1: White marble 46 A1.2: Sculpting marble sculptures 50 A1.3: Ancient pigments and dyes 54 A1.4: Binding media 69 A1.5: Applying the paint. Paint mixtures and layering techniques 73 Chapter 2: Other materials used for polychrome portraiture 78 A2.1: Metals 78 A2.2: Coloured stones 81 A2.3: Limestone 90 A2.4: Terracotta 92 A2.5: Wood 93 A2.6: Wax 94 2 Chapter 3: The materiality of Roman polychrome portraiture 98 A3.1: A cultural revolution of sculptural materials and the question of material appropriation 100 A3.2: The material culture of Roman polychrome portraiture 107 SECTION B: PRESENTATION OF THE PORTRAIT SCULPTURES 117 Chapter 4: Case Study 1. The portraits from the Room of Fundilia 119 B4.1: The Diana Nemorensis sanctuary 120 B4.2: The portrait sculptures 123 B4.3: Reconstructing the original polyhcromy of the portraits from the Room of Fundilia 132 Chapter 5: Case Study 2. The high-gloss polished portraits 149 B5.1: Case Study 2a 150 B5.2: Case Study 2b 153 B5.3: Case Study 2c 154 B5.4: Reconstructing the original polychromy of the high-gloss polished portraits 155 Chapter 6: The materiality of polychrome white marble portraiture 162 B6.1: Material agencies 163 B6.2: Maintenance 171 B6.3: Artistic agency 174 SECTION C: COLOUR-CODING AND EXPERIENCING POLYCHROME MARBLE PORTRAITURE 118 Chapter 7: The semiotic, supra-semiotic and post-semiotic purposes of the painted 182 portraits C7.1: Colour-coding identities within the Room of Fundilia 182 C7.2: Colour-coding sculptural representations of real life garments: the toga of Fundilius 194 C7.3: The agency of the sitter: balancing between individual likeness and generic representation 205 Chapter 8: Experiencing polychrome portraiture 213 C8.1: The mimetic effect of painted marble portraits 214 C8.2: What did the painted marble portraits want? 222 Chapter 9: Summing up. The materiality of colour 229 C9.1: Van Gogh’s painted flowers: colours defined by their contemporary context 229 C9.2: Deciphering Roman colour-codes 233 C9.3: ‘The humility of colours’: colours as social agents 237 3 CONCLUSIONS 241 Abstract 243 Resume 244 Bibliography 245 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation is the results from the collaboration between the University of Copenhagen and the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (NCG). It was made possible by the generous grants from the Ny Carlsberg Foundation and the Augustinus foundation. First and foremost I thank my academic advisors Jane Fejfer (associate professor, classical archaeology) and Jan Stubbe Østergaard (research curator, NCG): without them this dissertation would not have realized. I am grateful for their invaluable support and insightful guidance throughout the entire process of writing the dissertation at hand. I am privileged to have been affiliated with both the University of Copenhagen and the NCG. I have greatly enjoyed the expertise housed at both institutions and their inspirational environments. I am particularly grateful for having had the opportunity to become involved with the Copenhagen Polychromy Network and the international Round Table conference held once a year. I am especially indebted to conservators Maria Louise Sargent and Rikke Hoberg Therkildsen for the many hours they spent on examining the Roman marble portraits and on discussing the results with me. Also, a special thank goes to Flemming Friborg, director at the NCG, for taking his time to evaluate on some of the philosophical issues related to my work. Exploring paint on marble portraits requires knowledge on what marble and paint is. I am therefore grateful for having had the opportunity to benefit from the expertise knowledge of Mikkel Scharff and Jørn Bredahl-Jørgensen, associate professors at the School of Conservation in Copenhagen. A thank also goes to Lars Henningsen and Mette Moltesen, former head of conservation and museum curator at the NCG, for sharing their many years of experience with the collections at the NCG with me. Furthermore, I warm thank is due to painter Per Kapper and sculptor Matthew Simmons for the fruitful and inspirational collaboration on the project of making the physical reconstruction of one of the portraits. I would also like to thank the University of Nottingham for accepting me as visiting scholar. I particularly thank associate professor Katharina Lorenz for arranging my stay and taking good care of me. Finally I am full-heartedly indebted to my family, friends and co-workers who have encouraged me throughout the entire process. I am especially indebted to Lars Hummelshøj for his gentle support and for expertise assistance in making the Photoshop reconstructions of the portraits. Without his patience, love and support I would not have been able to complete my work. 5 Dedicated to my father, Christian Henrik Skovmøller, 17.11.1952-20.11.2012. 6 ABBREVIATIONS Latin and Greek texts are cited according to the guidelines for abbreviations listed in the Oxford Classical Dictionay (4th Edition). The Bibliography is listed according to the guidelines provided by the Oxford Classical Dictionary (4th Edition). Abbreviations of journals are following the guidelines for American Journal of Archaeology (http://www.ajaonline.org/submissions/journals-series) when possible. For the journals of natural sciences abbreviations follows the ISI Journal Title Abbreviations (http://www.efm.leeds.ac.uk/~mark/ISIabbr/A_abrvjt.html). 7 INTRODUCTION Roman sculptures in white marble were once more or less fully polychrome, but most evidence that might testify to this has vanished over the years, either due to gradual deterioration or systematic modern cleaning and restoration. The polychromy of the white marble portraits was made from many different, externally created and applied colour effects, including inlaid eyes, metal attachments and attributes, gilding and painterly effects; and it is the combination of these elements, with particular emphasis on the painterly effects, that concerns this dissertation. Increased awareness over the last 15 years of the fact that white marbles were originally painted confronts established scholarly research traditions with theoretical and methodological obstacles. These obstacles consist in implementing the radically transformative new information into studies of the well-known – sometimes familiar – pieces of material culture. The fact that most marble works were once painted has always been lurking at the corners of art historical and archaeological scholarly research, yet this fact has never been fully incorporated into scholarly practice. Throughout the twentieth century, little attention was paid to the original colours of marble sculptures, with one major exception being Patrik Reuterswärd’s 1960 monograph Studien zur Polychromie der Plastik.1 When a statue of Augustus was discovered in 1863 in Prima Porta, just outside Rome, it revealed extensive remains from its once painted colours (fig. 0:1 and 0:2). The statue of Augustus from Prima Porta continued to display extensive colour remains (although most of them have faded away), but general scholarly interest has gravitated towards its context, its iconography, its style of hair and its Greek assimilations. Compared to the comprehensive attention paid to this single portrait statue, minimal focus has been paid to its original polychromy since it was first discovered; that is, until now. In the early 21st century, the sculpture was restored in the Vatican Museum, and at the same time systematic examinations of the remaining paint were conducted.2 Results showed that the statue was originally painted with various pigments, including madder lake, ochre of red, brown and yellow hues, carbon black and, perhaps, also cinnabar in combination with the madder lake.3 Later, following the invention of VIL imaging, Egyptian blue was added to the knowledge base concerning the statue’s original colouration (fig. 0:3). With aid from modern technology, the 1 Reuterswärd 1960; Østergaard 2004A, 11-13; Østergaard 2004B, 32-33; Brinkmann 2014, 35-36. 2 Liverani 2003, 188. 3 Spada 2003, 196; Liverani 2003; Liverani 2004; Satamaria, Morresi, Agresti and Pelosi 2014. 8 pigments embedded in the marble surface of the statue have been located and identified (some of them not even traceable with the naked eye), and the remains experimentally reconstructed on a plaster cast of the original (fig. 0:4).4 Together with the portrait of Caligula in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek (NCG) (fig. 0:5)5, the statue of Augustus from Prima Porta was the first examinations of a Roman marble portrait once having had more or less fully covering paint applications. Since then, more pieces have joined, and knowledge on how and why the marble portraits were once painted is steadily growing. This dissertation will contribute to this growing scholarly field by being the first thorough examination of the original paint on Roman white marble portraits.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • 00010853-Preview.Pdf
    ANALECTA ROMANA INSTITUTI DANIcI Supplemen turn XXIX A CATALOGUE OF SCULPTURES FROM THE SANCTUARY OF DIANA NEMORENSIS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA MUSEUM, PHILADELPHIA A Catalogue of Sculptures from the Sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis in The University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia by Pia Guldager Bilde and Mette Moltesen <<L'ERMA>> di BRETSCHNEIDER ROMAE MMII ANALECTA ROMANA INSTITUTI DANIcI, SUPPL. XXIX Accademia di Danimarca - Via Omero, 18 - 00197 Rome - Italy Lay-out by the editors © 2002 <<L'ERMA>> di BRETSCHNEIDER, Rome PUBLISHED WITH THE SUPPORT OF GRANTS FROM Knud Højgaards Fond Novo Nordisk Fonden University of Pennsylvania. Museum of archaeology and anthropology A catalogue of sculptures from the sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis in the University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia / by Pia Guldager Bilde and Mette Moltesen. - Roma: <<L'ERMA>> di BRETSCHNEIDER , 2002. - 95 p. : ill. ; 30 cm. (Analecta Romana Instituti Danici. Supplementum ; 29) ISBN 88-8265-211-4 CDD 21. 731.4 1. Sculture in marmo - Collezioni 2. Filadelfia - University of Pennsylvania - Museum of archaeology and anthropology - Cataloghi I. Guldager Bilde, Pia II. Moltesen, Mette The journal ANALECTA ROMANA INSTITUTI DANICI (ARID) publishes studies within the main range of the Academy's research activities: the arts and humanities, history and archaeology. Intending contributors should get in touch with the editors, who will supply a set of guide- lines and establish a deadline. A print of the article, accompanied y a disk containing the text should be sent to the editors, Accademia di Danimarca, 18 Via Omero, I - 00197 Roma, tel. +39 06 32 65 931, fax +39 06 32 22 717.
    [Show full text]
  • La Latinità Di Ariccia E La Grecità Di Nemi. Istituzioni Civili E Religiose a Confronto
    ANNA PASQUALINI La latinità di Ariccia e la grecità di Nemi. Istituzioni civili e religiose a confronto Il titolo del mio intervento è solo apparentemente contraddittorio. Esso è volto a mettere in relazione due contesti sociali tanto vicini nello spazio quanto distanti per impianto culturale e per funzioni politiche: la città di Ariccia e il lucus Dianius. Del bosco sacro a Diana e della selva che lo circonda si è scritto moltissimo soprattutto da quando esso costituì il fulcro di un’opera straordinaria per ricchezza ed originalità quale quella di Sir James Frazer1 Su Ariccia, invece, come comunità cittadina e sulle sue istituzioni politiche e religiose non si è riflettuto abbastanza2 e, in particolare, queste ultime non sono state messe sufficientemente in relazione con il santuario nemorense. Cercherò, quindi, di svolgere qualche considerazione nella speranza di fornire un piccolo contributo alla definizione degli intricati problemi del territorio aricino. Ariccia, come comunità politica, appare nelle fonti letterarie all’epoca del secondo Tarquinio, il tiranno per eccellenza, spregiatore del Senato e del popolo3. Al Superbo viene attribuita una forte vocazione al controllo politico del Lazio attraverso un’accorta rete di alleanze con i maggiorenti del Lazio, primo fra tutti il più eminente di essi, e cioè Ottavio Mamilio di Tuscolo, che è anche suo genero (Livio I 49); è ancora Tarquinio che, secondo le fonti (Livio I 50), indirizza la politica dei Latini convocando i federati in assemblea presso il lucus sacro a Ferentina4. La scelta del luogo non è casuale. Il bosco sacro è stato localizzato nel territorio di Ariccia, ma esso viene considerato idealmente collegato con il Monte Albano, cioè con il centro sacrale dei Latini, 1 La prima edizione dell’opera, The Golden Bough, risale al 1890.
    [Show full text]
  • Castelli Romani” (Roman Castles) Are a Group of Towns in the Province of Rome
    EUROPE ITALY GENZANO DI ROMA LAZIO The “Castelli Romani” (Roman Castles) are a group of towns in the province of Rome. The area of the “Castelli” occupies a volcanic and fertile area characterized by ancient settlements and flourishing agriculture. The old crater is now occupied by two lakes, Lake Nemi and Lake Albano. The recent name Roman Castles derives from the villages built around some villas and palaces where rich noble families spent the summer. The “Castelli Romani” are: •Albano Laziale •Ariccia •Castel Gandolfo •Colonna •Frascati •Genzano di Roma •Grottaferrata •Lanuvio •Lariano •Marino •Monte Compatri •Monte Porzio Catone •Nemi •Rocca di Papa •Rocca Priora •Velletri EVENTS “CASTELLI ROMANI” PARK HISTORICAL GEOLOGICAL INFORMATION INFORMATION UPPER SECONDARY SCHOOL: LICEO SCIENTIFICO “GIOVANNI VAILATI” ““CASTELLICASTELLI ROMANIROMANI”” REGIONALREGIONAL PARKPARK Genzano and its surroundings are included in the area of the “Castelli Romani” Regional Park . The chestnut is the most important tree in our area. The holm-oak tree is very important, too. Genzano’s events Here’s a short guide that makes you discover Genzano’s traditions. The “Infiorata” The most important attraction is the “Infiorata”, a folkloristic and religious exhibition known all over the world. The “Infiorata” has taken place on Sunday following Corpus Domini since 1778. It consists of a huge flower carpet divided into many images that covers the street that joins the cathedral with the main square. Many famous artists have contributed to the “Infiorata”. A masked parade walk on the flower carpet. The people wear traditional clothes that date back to the 17th century. At least 350,000 flower petals, in addition to earth, beans and sometimes wood cuttings, are necessary to make the carpet.
    [Show full text]
  • Temples with Transverse Cellae in Republican and Early Imperial Italy
    BABesch 82 (2007, 333-346. doi: 10.2143/BAB.82.2.2020781) Forms of Cult? Temples with transverse cellae in Republican and early Imperial Italy Benjamin D. Rous Abstract This article presents an analysis of a particular temple type that first appeared during the Late Republic, the temple with transverse cella. In the past this particular cella-form has been interpreted as a solution to spatial constraints. In more recent times it has been argued that the cult associated with the temple was the decisive factor in the adoption of the transverse cella. Neither theory, when considered in isolation, can fully and con- vincingly explain the particular forms of both Republican and Imperial temples. Rather, it can be argued that a combination of pragmatic and above all aesthetic considerations has played a major role in the particular archi- tecture of these temples.* INTRODUCTION archaeological evidence, even though the remains of the building itself have never been excavated. In the fourth book of his famous treatise on archi- Furthermore, this is one of the temples actually tecture, Vitruvius mentions a specific temple-type, mentioned by Vitruvius in his treatise. In yet an- whose basic characteristic is that all the features other case, the temple of Aesculapius in the Latin normally found on the short side of the temple colony of Fregellae, although construction activi- have been transferred to the long side. What this ties have destroyed virtually the entire temple basically means is that the pronaos still constitutes building, a reconstruction of a transverse cella the front part of the temple, but instead of being nevertheless seems likely on the basis of the scant longitudinally developed, the cella is rotated 90º remains we do have.
    [Show full text]
  • Roman Images of Diana Bettina Bergmann Mount Holyoke College
    ! "! A Double Triple Play: Roman Images of Diana Bettina Bergmann Mount Holyoke College John Miller’s study of Augustan Apollo inspired me to return to Paul Zanker’s The Power of Images in the Age of Augustus (1988), a book that demonstrated the immense potential of an interdisciplinary approach rather than exclusive focus on any one artistic mode. Nearly a quarter of a century later, this session continues to grapple with the challenges of interdisciplinarity and assessment of the Augustan era. Miller’s subtle analysis of poets’ intricate language invites a renewed consideration of the relationships among texts, sites, and images. The operations that he describes -- conflating, juxtaposing, allusion, correspondence, association – can be related directly to the analysis of topography and monuments as well. I also would like to extend his recommendation to “analyze variations in light of one another” and consider visual images of an elusive figure in his book, the divine twin Diana. The goddess appears, often as an afterthought, literally placed in parentheses after a mention of Apollo, until she assumes prominence in Miller’s insightful treatment of the saecular games (Chapter Five). As I will argue, however, in the visual environment of Augustan Rome, she would have been impossible to bracket out. While the goddess, fiercely independent, often appeared alone, in the second half of the first century B.C.E. she became a faithful companion of Apollo. Diva triformis The late republic and early empire saw an explosion of images of the divine sister, who, like Apollo, evolved into a dynamic, shape-shifting deity, slipping from one identity to another: Hecate, Trivia, Luna, Selene, even Juno Lucina.
    [Show full text]
  • Evocatio Deorum
    Evocatio deorum SOME NOTES ON THE ROMANIZATION OF ETRURIA By PATRICK BRUUN Evocatio deorum is an institution known in antiquity in the Roman and in the Hettite religions. It has therefore been regarded as part of the common Indo-European heritage. It is uncertain to what extent the Etruscans had inaugurated the evocatio in their world of religious practices. Sugges- tions that the Etruscans transmitted the institution of the evocatio to Italy and Rome have been taken to prove the Asiatic origin of the Tyrrhenoi. In this context, however, these theories are of little interest. Basically evocatio is a kind of vow. In a trial of strength between two opposing armies, most frequently in the course of a siege, the Roman com- mander (because evocatio in our sources appears as a Roman institution, the subject, the agent is always a Roman) invokes the assistance of the tutelary god of the besieged, in fact evokes him urging him to desert his people and promising him a sacred precinct, temple, cult and devotion in Rome. Now you may ask what on earth this has to do with the subject of our symposium. I would look at it in the following way: Evocatio is a precaution, or a weapon against the enemies of the Romans. The efficacy of this weapon was based on the Roman belief in a firm connex- ion between the gods on the one hand and the territory or the society, the state, protected by them on the other. A study of the evocation is conse- quently apt to shed light on the religious foundations or motivation of the state according to Roman views.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cult of Vesta in the Roman World Thesis
    Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs The cult of Vesta in the Roman world Thesis How to cite: Cobb, Jennifer Mary (1984). The cult of Vesta in the Roman world. MPhil thesis The Open University. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 1983 The Author https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Version: Version of Record Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21954/ou.ro.0000f956 Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk UNRESTS !CTED MISS JENNIFER MARY COBB B.A.(LONDON) THE CULT OF VESTA IN THE ROMAN WORLD SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF M.PHIL FACULTY OF ARTS : CLASSICAL STUDIES DATE OF SUBMISSION : 27 D4AY 19 83 i ) a - C L crf^ ; / 4 - M<3>cA/ J P ro Q u e st N um ber: 27777207 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent on the quality of the copy submitted. in the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 27777207 Published by ProQuest LLC (2020). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. Ail Rights Reserved.
    [Show full text]
  • University of Cincinnati
    UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI Date:___________________ I, _________________________________________________________, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of: in: It is entitled: This work and its defense approved by: Chair: _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ THE ANATOMICAL VOTIVE TERRACOTTA PHENOMENON : HEALING SANCTUARIES IN THE ETRUSCO-LATIAL-CAMPANIAN REGION DURING THE FOURTH THROUGH FIRST CENTURIES B.C. A thesis submitted to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of Classics of the College of Arts and Sciences 1999 by Alexandra L. Lesk Blomerus B.A., Dartmouth College, 1995 M.St., University of Oxford, 1996 Committee: Professor C. Brian Rose (Chair) Professor Jack L. Davis 1 ABSTRACT At some point in the fourth century B.C., anatomical votive terracottas began to be dedicated in sanctuaries in central Italy. Thousands of replicas of body parts have been found in votive deposits in these sanctuaries, left to deities as requests or thank offerings for healing. The spread of the anatomical votive terracotta phenomenon has been attributed to the colonisation of central Italy by the Romans. In addition, parallels have been drawn to the similar short-lived phenomenon at the Asklepieion at Corinth where models of body parts were also dedicated in the context of a healing cult. After a general introduction to the historical and physical context of the anatomical votive terracotta phenomenon, this thesis examines the link to Corinth and suggests how the practice was first transmitted to Italy. Votive evidence of early date and peculiar typology found in situ from the sanctuary at Gravisca on the south coast of Etruria suggests contact with Greeks who would have been familiar with the practice of dedicating anatomical votive terracottas at Corinth.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding Style and Identity in the Mediterranean Oikoumene The
    L. Ricci 6176607 [email protected] Understanding style and identity in the Mediterranean oikoumene The case of the sanctuary of Aesculapius at Fregellae Luca Ricci BA 1 L. Ricci 6176607 [email protected] Summary The sanctuary of Aesculapius at Fregellae provides a useful case study to understand the complex dynamics of cultural interaction and formation. The thesis will study its forms and what they could have meant at a socio-cultural level. While this question has already been addressed before, the approach followed static, linear conceptions of cultural interaction. Here, a more dynamic framework will be adopted, taking into consideration the heightened connections between local and “global” realities. What this implies is that Fregellae, as a local reality, could assert its own presence within the wider Mediterranean landscape without being a passive pawn in the hands of supralocal forces. The sanctuary will reflect these dynamics at an architectural level, whereby “global” elements that belong to a Mediterranean oikoumene are combined with localised architectural developments according to “glocalising bricolage.” At a more socio-cultural tier, the sanctuary embodied these local-“global” dynamics by conveying different ideas of self-portrayal at different levels: local, regional and pan- Mediterranean. Index 2 L. Ricci 6176607 [email protected] Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………… 5 Introduction………………………………………………………………………… 6 Defining terms and boundaries……………………………………………………. 9 Latin colonies………………………………………………………………………..
    [Show full text]
  • Julia DYSON the Oleaster at the End of the Aeneid the Aeneid's
    Julia DYSON The Oleaster at the End of the Aeneid The Aeneid's penultimate episode in the human sphere (12.766-90) has puzzled readers ancient and modern. While he is chasing Turnus, who is compared to a hunted deer, Aeneas' spear gets stuck in the stump of Faunus' sacred tree, a wild olive (oleaster) on which sailors "saved from the waves" had hung votive offerings before the Trojans cut it down. This paper argues that the episode is vital to Virgil's program of allusions to Roman cult, especially those of the deified Aeneas and of the Rex Nemorensis. The paper first addresses the question that puzzled Servius Auctus (ad 12.768): Why are rescued sailors making offerings to a rural land divinity? L. A. Holland suggests, plausibly, that Virgil is alluding to Faunus' shrine on the island in the middle of the Tiber (Janus and the Bridge [Rome, 1961] p. 168). But this does not explain why Virgil chooses to recall that shrine here, in the middle of a land battle. The incongruous mention of shipwrecked sailors may in fact be intended to remind the reader of the tradition surrounding Aeneas' own death. It was well known to Virgil's ancient readers that Aeneas was worshipped at a shrine by the Numicus river, into which (by most accounts) he fell, and his body was never found. Allusions to this tradition are as important to the Aeneid as the death of Achilles is to the Iliad; as the death of Hector predicts and prefigures that of Achilles, so the sacrificial death of Turnus points to that of Aeneas.
    [Show full text]
  • Nemi: V. 1 Free
    FREE NEMI: V. 1 PDF Lise Myhre | 160 pages | 18 Mar 2008 | Titan Books Ltd | 9781845765866 | English | London, United Kingdom NEMI Method Summary - The town's name derives from the Latin nemusor "holy wood". In antiquity the area had no town, but the grove was the Nemi: v. 1 of one of the most famous of Roman cults and temples: the Temple of Diana Nemorensisa study of which served as the seed for Sir James Frazer 's seminal work on the anthropology of religion, The Golden Bough. In Marcantonio I Colonna gave to Nemi the "Statuti e Capituli del Castello di Nemi", the first city statute with rules and regulations to observe. It was a famous place of pilgrimage in the Italian peninsula. The temple complex covered an area of square meters. Historical Nemi: v. 1 suggests that worship of Diana at Nemi flourished from at least the 6th century BCE [4] The temple was abandoned at some point in the late Roman Empire period. If still in use by the 4th-century, it would have been closed during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire. Portions of its marbles and decorations were removed. The area of the temple was gradually covered by forest and generally left undisturbed for centuries. Amateur archaeological excavations of the site began in the s. Possibly in connection with the cult of Diana Nemorensis, Roma emperor Caligula built several very large and costly luxury barges for use on the lake. One ship was a shrine dedicated to ceremonies for the Egyptian Isis cult or the cult of Diana Nemorensis, designed to be towed, Nemi: v.
    [Show full text]
  • Diana Augusta Y El Collegium Lotorum (Cil Xiv 2156) Los Piacula Del Emperador Claudio*
    DIANA AUGUSTA Y EL COLLEGIUM LOTORUM (CIL XIV 2156) LOS PIACULA DEL EMPERADOR CLAUDIO* María José Pena Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona [email protected] RESUMEN Estudio de una inscripción del s. I hallada en Ariccia (Lacio) y dedicada a Diana por dos cura - tores de un collegium lotorum , cuyas funciones se desconocen. Análisis del término lotores . Posible relación con otra inscripción del santuario de Diana en Nemi (en el término de Ariccia) y con los piacula celebrados en el año 50 por orden del emperador Claudio. Conside raciones sobre la purificación por el agua. PALABRAS CLAVE : lotores , Diana, Nemi, piacula . DIANA AUGUSTA AND THE COLLEGIUM LOTORUM (CIL XIV 2156) THE PIACULA OF EMPEROR CLAUDIUS ABSTRACT Study of an inscription from the 1 st century found in Ariccia (Latium) and dedicated to Diana 9 3 by two curatores of a collegium lotorum , whose functions are unknown. Analysis of the term 5 . Possible relation to another inscription from the sanctuary of Diana at Nemi (within lotores 6 5 the Ariccia municipal area) and to the piacula held in the year 50 by order of Emperor 5 - 9 Claudius. Observations on the purification by water . 3 5 . KEYWORDS : lotores , Diana, Nemi, piacula . P P , ) 2 ( 0 2 El trabajo que aquí presento pretende rendir merecido homenaje al amigo 0 2 ; Ángel, que tan cordial y afectuoso ha sido siempre conmigo; lamento no poder ofre - 2 3 º cer algún hermoso epigrama griego a quien ha dedicado buena parte de su traba - N , E jo y de su vida a la epigrafía cretense; no obstante, aunque esté escrito en latín y sea A T A poco poético, no saldremos del mundo epigráfico y analizaremos un texto hallado N V en un santuario del Lacio, un lugar tan sugerente que inspiró a Sir J.
    [Show full text]