Marine thiasos from the so-called Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus
- Title:
- Marine thiasos from the so-called Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus
- Collection:
- Cornell Cast Collection
- Creator:
- Unknown
- Photographer:
- Alexandridis, Annetta
- Date:
- ca. 1890-1900
late 2nd to early 1st c. BCE
2008 (image)
- Site:
- Rome, Italy (original)
- Location:
- Warehouse
Rome, Italy (original) - ID Number:
- CCC_0015
- Accession Number:
- Sage no. 289
289 (sticker front)
15 - File Name:
- CCC_0015.tif
- Original Measurements:
- 78 (H) cm
- Culture:
- Roman
- Style/Period:
- Roman Republican
- Work Type:
- casts (sculpture)
- Materials/Techniques:
- plaster cast (sculpture)
marble sculpture in relief (original) - Subject:
- Amphitrite (Greek deity)
Neptune (Roman deity)
Triton (Greek deity) - Image View Type:
- overall
- Image View Description:
- from front
- Measurement:
- 76.2 x 132.1 x 5.1-12.7 (centimeters, height x width x diameter)
- Description:
- This is a cast panel of a section of the marine thiasos relief from the so-called Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus, housed in Munich. Overall, the scene depicts the wedding of Neptune and Amphitrite, and is populated by tritons, nereids, and a number of sea creatures. The relief series formed part of a rectangular sculpture base that has been associated with a sculptural group that stood in the Temple of Neptune in Rome. This cast panel belongs at the center of the long side of the rectangular base. Here, Amphitrite and Neptune ride left (viewer's) seated in a chariot pulled by a flute-playing triton. The unbearded, curly-haired, nude triton faces front holding a shell-like flute to his mouth with his left hand. His serpentine legs curl at his sides. The reins of the wedding chariot he draws wrap around his hips and extend up to Neptune's right hand, which rests on the god's right knee. Neptune, bearded and with full, curly hair bound by a fillet, is foregrounded in the relief, draped from the waist down. His torso is depicted in three-quarter view and his head is in profile. He rests his left arm on the side board of the chariot. Amphitrite sits beside Neptune. Her torso is also in three-quarter view and her head is in profile. She is draped and veiled, and holds her right hand up to the left side of her neck. The cast is missing a surface chip at the lower wheel but is in otherwise good condition. All marine thiasos cast panels are accounted for in Cornell's cast collection. The sculptors of this scene appear to have drawn inspiration from the reliefs of the Altar of Zeus at Pergamon. Another multi-panel relief from this base depicts a military census and a suovetaurilia (the sacrifice of a pig, ram, and bull) and is among the earliest of preserved Roman historical reliefs. It is held in the Louvre (Ma 975).
- Notes:
- Items in the Cornell Cast Collection are meant for inventory and reference purposes. Metadata may not be complete in all cases.
no. 239 - Bibliography:
- Florian Stilp, Mariage et Suovetaurilia: Etude sur le soi-disant 'Autel de Domitius Ahenobarbus' (Rome: Giorgio Bretschneider, 2001)
Heinz Kähler, Seethiasos und Census. Monumenta Artis Romanae. (Berlin: Verlag Gebr. Mann, 1966)
Nancy H. Ramage and Andrew Ramage, Roman Art, 3rd ed. (London: Laurence King Publishing, 2000), 75-76
online catalog at www.louvre.fr - Repository:
- Cornell University (current)
Munich, Glyptothek (original) - Collecting Program:
- Cornell Collections of Antiquities
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- The images in the Cornell Collection of Antiquities: Casts are protected by copyright, and the copyright holders are their creators, generally Cornell University Library, Annetta Alexandridis, and Verity Platt. This collection of plaster casts owned by Cornell University was photographed by Cornell University Library, Alexandridis, Platt, and Andreya L. Mihaloew from 2010-2015, with funding from a Digital Collections in Arts and Sciences Grant to Annetta Alexandridis. Cornell is providing access to the materials for research and personal use. The written permission of any copyright and other rights holders is required for distribution, reproduction, or other use that extends beyond what is authorized by fair use and other statutory exemptions. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item. Please contact Annetta Alexandridis and Verity Platt for more information about this collection, or to request permission to use these images.