CAPITAL WITH HERCULES, 216 CE. BATHS OF CARACALLA
This huge composite capital is typical of the lavish relief decoration of the Baths of Caracalla, and may have come from the frigidarium or cold plunge. Below, the acanthus leaves of the Corinthian-style capitals are carved using the chisel and the short drill to puncture the marble with shadow. Atop one curve of an acanthus leaf, now broken off, stands the nude figure of Hercules, a figure of personal devotion for the emperor. He has one hand behind his back in imitation of the statue now called the Farnese Hercules, which was also found in the back: in the statue's hidden hand are the Apples of the Hesperides, as retreiving them was one of his twelve tasks. He's leaning on the beaded architectural decoration of the Ionic part of the capital, his lionskin draped by his side. The Ionic volutes are also carved with acanthus leaves. In fact there is a horror vacui in Severan sculpture that makes itself seen here as elsewhere.
#ReliefWednesday takes us underground in the #BathsofCaracalla in #Rome, to admire the remarkably elaborate #relief decoration of one of the remaining column capitals, part of what has been called the "#Severan #baroque".