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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. E-mail: [email protected] Contents A CATALOGUE OF SCULPTURES FROM THE SANCTUARY OF DIANA NEMORENSIS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA MUSEUM, PHILADELPHIA ................... 7 CATALOGUE................................................................ 19 APPENDIX1 ................................................................ 49 APPENDIX 2 ................................................................ 51 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS ............................................. 53 A Catalogue of Sculptures from the Sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis in The University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia BY PIA GULDAGER BILDE AND METTE MOLTESEN1 The University of Pennsylvania Museum in William Drexel, and was a woman of large Philadelphia owns a collection of marble means as noted in a letter from S. Yorke sculptures of considerable interest (Fig. 1). Stevenson to J.R. Coolidge, February 18th The earliest collection of ancient sculptures 1901. Mrs. Drexel was a passionate collector donated to the museum was an ensemble con- of fans, and her most joyous moment must sisting of 44 pieces unearthed in the Sanctu- have been the day, when she succeeded in ary of Diana Nemorensis by Lake Nemi in the wresting from Pope Leo XIII the ceremonial Alban Hills, ca. 25 km southeast of Rome. The fans of his predecessor, Pius IX. As the gal- museum curators E. Hall and later S.B. Luce leries of the museum became overcrowded questioned the provenance, though, and this with her fans, the then curator, Mrs. Sara uncertainty has prevailed ever since.2 There Yorke Stevenson, according to the above- is, however, no reason for harbouring this mentioned letter, talked her into spending doubt: it is absolutely certain that the sculp- her money on something more serious, the col- tural ensemble derives from one of the most lecting of ancient sculpture. Thus, Mrs. Drex- important sanctuaries in Central Italy, the el became one of the main contributors to Sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis. The sculp- the collections in the Mediterranean section tures are typical examples of the types, styles, of the University of Pennsylvania Museum materials and marble sculpting techniques during its formative years; it opened in 1894. available in a main Central Italian sanctuary Professor Arthur L. Frothingham from during the crucial years of the transition from Princeton was associated with the museum the late Republic to the Imperial period. At during the years 1895-1898, and acted as an the same time, they provide us with invaluable intermediary for the museum when buying information on the character of the votives in works of art in Rome. He was well acquaint- the Sanctuary. ed with the antiquities' market there and was on friendly terms with Wolfgang Helbig and Acquisition Rodolfo Lanciani some of the main actors on The Nemi sculptures were donated by Mrs. this scene. He also acted as an intermediary Lucy Wharton Drexel (1838-1912). 3 (Fig. 2). for the Field Museum in Chicago and for pri- She was married to the banker, Joseph vate collectors such as Henry Allan Marc- The study of the Nemi sculptures in the University Julie von Mullen Fund. Mette Moltesen had the opportu- of Pennsylvania Museum has come a long way, since we nity to work on the material while a visiting scholar at the for the first time in 1993 studied the pieces in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Malibu in the spring of 1996. We Philadelphia Museum exhibition and storerooms, and the would, finally, like to thank the staff of the Danish Insti- materials kept in the museum's archives. We would like to tute in Rome, particularly its director in the years 1996- acknowledge our great debt to the staff of the museum: 2000 Jan Zahle, for promoting the Nemi studies. in the Mediterranean Section, curator Donald White, 2 Hall 1914: 121; Luce 1921: 169; 176. Irene Romano and Ann Brownlee and in the archive, The Nemi sculptures are inventoried in the Uni- Douglas Haller and Alessandro Pezzati. Brunilde S. Ridg- versity of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia as MS way most kindly discussed the Nemi material with us on 3446-3484, MS 4034-4038, and MS 6012a-b. several occasions. Our study has been generously sup- The archival material mentioned in the following ported by the following foundations: Novo-Nordisk Foun- is housed in the Archive of the University of Pennsylva- dation, Aarhus University Research Foundation, and the nia Museum. 8 PIA GULDAGER BILDE AND METTE MOLTESEN Fig. 1. University of Pennsylvania Museum, Philadelphia. Pepper Hall c. 1905-1907. Photo: University of Philadelphia Museum. hand in New York. In 1895 he took up his After some months of silence, a group of post first as secretary and later as director of marbles apparently turned up on the art mar- the American Academy in Rome.5 ket. In letters to Mrs. Stevenson and to the di- Frothingham arrived in Rome in Mid-Oc- rector of the University of Pennsylvania Muse- tober 1895. At first, he spent his efforts on um, William Pepper dated October 26th and trying to procure models and facsimiles of November 29th 1896 respectively, he talks Etruscan tombs and plaster casts of monu- about those Nemi sculptures, which he appar- mental Roman sculpture. 6 In January 1896 ently previously had discussed with Pepper, he deplored the fact that there are absolutely who promised he would raise the money for them no antiquities for sale neither in Etruria, nor in zf I [Frothingham] strongly advised the purchase. Rome. 7 This may be due to the fact that Wolf- Frothingham continues to Mrs. Stevenson: gang Helbig had swept the market for good The price for the lot was 20.000 lire; with the antiquities before the arrival of "the Ameri- commission of 10% to iViassimiliano Pirani, who can" as he was wont to do, according to his took me there, it would have been 22.000 lire. I letters to the founder of the Ny Carlsberg have brought down price + commission by 3.500 Glyptotek, the brewer and art patron, Carl lire, making total cost 18.500 = $ 3.400 includ- Jacobsen in Copenhagen.8 ing commission. M. Barnabei & F. Delpino eds., Le 'Memorie di 7 Letter to Stevenson, January 30rd. Archeologo" di Felice Barnabel, Roma 1991: 435, 451, 463, 8 An extensive correspondence between Carl Jacob- 471, 476, 479. sen and Wolfgang Helbig covering the years 1887-1914 6 Letters from Frothingham to Stevenson, October is kept at the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek. 20th and December 18th 1895. A CATALOGUE OF SCULPTURES FROM THE SANCTUARY OF DIANA NEMORENSIS 9 That one or more intermediaries made a good profit is evident from a letter to Carl Jacobsen of December 8th 1896. W. Helbig recounts of the art dealer Bardini: Er hat den Rest der im Palazzo Orsini befind- lichen Nemorensia - also die Stücke, die Sic abgelehnt - mit 12.000 Lire bezahlt. Wie Sic sich denken kJnnen, schwimmt Borghi in Wonne. [He has bought the rest of the Nemi sculptures in Palazzo Orsini, the ones you (i.e. Carl Ja- cobsen) didn't want - for 12.000 Lire. As you can imagine, Borghi is delighted]. F. Borghi was the art-dealer who was exca- vating at Nemi at the time. These must be the sculptures which turn up in the correspondence with the University of Pennsylvania Museum. In the letter to Pepper, the sculptures are described a little further: Sig. Pirani, who is an excellent practical judge L. says there is no restoration at all, - merely the re- F attaching of a few broken parts - nothing new... - I hope you will decide to buy. It is a splendid chance. - With a little skilful restoration in Rome, the figures can be made far more effective. All of the finds offered for sale were ap- parently photographed. Unfortunately, only few of these photos still exist. A letter from Frothingham to Pepper dat- ed December 8th 1896, informs us that the marbles have been bought. The payment for the lot was sent the following year as can be gleaned from the account lists (February was cleared up and the bill was reduced by 17th 1897: Nemi marbles $ 603; March 9th 13.300 Lire 12 - a favourable reduction, asJa- 1897: Nemi marbles $ 2490.29). The money cobsen had only paid 1.250 Lire per vase-" transfer was confirmed by the Roman The letter from the Roman firm moreover bankers, Sebasti & Reali, 9 but the money was noted that they have found some extra pieces of not released immediately, because the Muse- small importance..