Getting ready to take my eighteen 6th form classicists to #Rome on Monday. Aside from showing them the wonders of the #EternalCity, there's photos I need of coins in #PalazzoMassimo and the #FastiTriumphales in the #CapitolineMuseums just in time for my #Mphil submission next month!
TERRACOTTA PLAQUE WITH TRAGIC SCENE, C. 20-10 BCE. PALAZZO MASSIMO ALLE TERME This terracotta panel was found in the columbarium of P. Numitorius Hilareus along the via Salaria. It shows a play in progress against a backdrop of elaborate architecture. Two small figures at left are reacting like a chorus to the tragic events of a play by the late Republican author Accius based on the sack of Troy. Ulysses, the Latin form of Odysseus, stands at right, calling Astyanax, heir to the throne of Troy, to come to him. The boy, at centre left, is being held back by his mother Andromache. But his fate has been determined: either he will grow up to be a warrior who will devastate Achaia, or the Achaeans will kill him now. Ulysses throws him from the battlements of the burning city of Troy. The tragedy is that Ulysses chooses to commit a moral crime in the present to avoid a theoretical danger in the future.
A #polychrome #terracotta #relief in #palazzoMassimo alle Terme in #Rome from the late C1 BCE shows a scene from a now mostly lost #tragedy by #Accius, #Astyanax. We can see Hector's widow Andromache holding her son Astyanax back as Ulysses calls him, to throw him from the walls.
INTAGLIO OF ATHENA PARTHENOS, 50-100 CE. PALAZZO MASSIMO ALLE TERME This very small (1.5-2 cm diameter) piece of red-brown jasper is a tiny masterpiece of intaglio reliefwork. The artist, a Greek named Aspasios, took the profile of Athena Parthenos from the great chryselephantine statue of the goddess by Phidias in the Parthenon in Athens. He seems more interested in Athena's hair and helmet than in her face, which nonetheless has a classic beauty. But her helmet is lovingly carved with tiny relief horses over her forehead, a shorter horsehair brush at the peak ceding to a long, lightly-incised central brush. Athena has long curly hair that escapes her helmet in ringlets over her cheek and down over her shoulders. She's wearing a necklace and her ægis with the Gorgoneion. Aspasios may have made this in Rome as part of a neoclassical revival that began under Augustus.
For #ReliefWednesday, a magnificent #jasper #intaglio depicting #Athena Parthenos in profile, in #palazzoMassimo. A tiny signature in Greek running vertically behind her helmet names the artist as one Aspasios. The artist took inspiration from the great statue in the #Parthenon. #AncientBluesky 🏺
WALL FRESCO FROM THE DOMUS OF THE FARNESINA, 30-20 BCE. PALAZZO MASSIMO ALLE TERME The mythology of Dionysus is so full of amazing and contradictory accounts that it would be worth exploring in detail. But suffice it to say that one strain of his infancy legend has Zeus send his son via Hermes to Mount Nysa, where he was raised by the Nysiads, nymphs who raised him with Silenus as his tutor. In this extraordinarily beautiful fresco from Cubiculum B of the domus of the Farnesina, a seated nymph at right is putting a wreath on the head of the baby, who is sitting on her lap. Her shoulders are bare and she may have been nursing Dionysus. Her iridescent drapery is in ochre over a blue dress. To the right are two standing nymphs, both looking off to the right with concern. Both are fully dressed with their heads covered. One looks rather old; the one in the front holds a fan. At far left a statuette of Zeus overlooks the scene. At right a thyrsus is leaning against a wall.
#FrescoFriday shows us a tender maternal scene of the care of the Holy Child. Yes, it's the infant #Dionysus in the care of the nymphs of Mt Nysa, into whose care #Zeus consigned the baby, from Cubiculum B of the #domus of the #Farnesina, 30-20 BCE, in #palazzoMassimo. #AncientBluesky 🏺
Détails d’une fresque de la villa de Livie (épouse d’Auguste) à Prima Porta près de Rome. La fresque est conservée au Palazzo Massimo alle Terme à Rome. #palazzomassimo
FRESCO FRAGMENT FROM THE DOMUS OF THE VILLA FARNESINA, 30-20 BCE. PALAZZO MASSIMO ALLE TERME This extremely simplified scene comes from a frescoed corridor in the domus or villa (it has aspects of both) that likely belonged to Augustus' daughter Julia and her husband Agrippa. When it was discovered, only to be immediately demolished, some of its fresco work was preserved. This scene, against a plain background that is now mauve, shows a man, at left, and a woman at right. This scene has been interpreted as depicting two Cynic philosophers, Crates of Thebes, who famously gave away all his wealth, and his wife Hipparchia, shown here bringing her worldly goods to Crates, who is carrying only a small satchel. They shocked C4 BCE Athenian society by sleeping in the stoas and public places of the city, and even having sex in public. Crates, the male figure, is dressed in a ragged tunic, and Hipparchia is an elegant figure in a peplos. The scenes in this corridor probably all showed Greek philosophers.
#FrescoFriday returns us to the #Augustan #domus of the #Farnesina, whose surviving #fresco work is in #PalazzoMassimo alle #Terme in #Rome. Here we meet two figures of #Greek #philosophy famous in antiquity, the consciously shameless #Cynic couple #Crates and #Hipparchia. #AncientBluesky 🏺
Portonaccio Sarcophagus
Fnd 1931 #Rome
180-190AD
'Roman Sarcophagi: Warfare, Myth, Theatre, Nature' article
ANTIQVVS SU'23
#PalazzoMassimo
museonazionaleromano.beniculturali.it/en/palazzo-m...
Phs©MSP/Antiqvvs
Fair use, sorry 4the the wtrmrks
#roman #sarcophagus #archaeology #ancient #art #antiqvvs
For #mosaicMonday another fine piece from the Museo Nazionale at #PalazzoMassimo in #Rome - this a #Nile scene with a rather splendid #hippo!
Very late but it is still #mosaicMonday so here’s a figure of #Nike from a 1st century mosaic in #Rome at the #PalazzoMassimo
One of the square panels from a coffered floor mosaic depicting a Dionysiac theater mask, as evidenced by the fillet (ribbon) and wreath atop the head. An egg and dart pattern frames this coffer. From the ruins of a Roman villa in Tusculum (in the Alban Hills in Latium), in the area of the Villa Ruffinella. End of the 1st century BCE. Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome
One of the panels from a coffered floor mosaic depicting a Dionysiac theater mask, as evidenced by the wreath of ivy leaves and berries (and possibly clusters of grapes). An egg and dart pattern frames this coffer. From the ruins of a Roman villa in Tusculum (in the Alban Hills in Latium), in the area of the Villa Ruffinella. End of the 1st century BCE. Museo Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome
For #MosaicMonday, a realistic impression in the medium of mosaic that perfectly captures my expressions over the last few weeks.
Two panels from a coffered floor mosaic depicting Dionysian masks, from a Roman villa excavated in Tusculum. 🏺 #ancientbluesky
1st c. CE, #PalazzoMassimo, Rome. 📸 me
A roughly rectangular relief with two men, both headless. They each wear very short tunics, exposing their muscular legs, and each has a gladius (short military sword) sheathed on the simple belts at their waists. The last feature, allowing us to identify them as Roman legionaries, are the caligae - the open-work leather sandals tied at the ankles. The men appear to be in a marshy area, clearing the reeds, perhaps to build a road or set up camp. The man in the foreground has an armful of long reeds, which the one behind him - in shallower relief - is clambering atop a tree stump (we don’t know why - that part of the relief is missing). Intriguing in its incompleteness. White marble. From Rome, the area of the church of S. Silvestro in Capite and the Ministry of Public Works. Age of Marcus Aurelius (161-180 CE). Musei Nazionale Romano, Palazzo Massimo alle Terme (inv. 52263)
For #ReliefWednesday, this odd fragment with two men clearing reeds in a marsh. They each have a gladius (sword) and sandals tied at the ankles (caligae): Roman soldiers. Probably from a now-vanished public monument celebrating military operations at the edge of the empire. 🏺
#PalazzoMassimo 📸 me
Although this is a fresco panel, the woman who is the focus of the painting is on a white background, and her features are all outlined, almost like a cartoon panel. This is the style seen on ancient Greek pinake, where delicately outlined and painted figures were rendered on white marble. Here the woman is seen in profile, seated on a stool with impossibly thin stiletto supports. She wears a Greek peplos with a double overfold, and her bare white arms are raised, holding a round little aryballos vessel by its single handle, and pours its contents - likely perfumed oil - into an amphora-like alabastron (or perhaps it qualifies as an amphoriskos, given that it has a pointed base like an amphora). Her peplos is a pale lilac color, with some blue-green peeking through the nearly transparent material. Her sandaled feet rest on a very low gold footrest. The woman's hair is pulled back and up and held with a fillet (ribbon) in the Greek style, and a transparent veil cascades down from her head to the lower part of her back.
This fresco panel from the ancient Roman villa known as the Casa della Farnesina seems to copy the Greek artistic style of a pinax painted on a marble slab. A delicately rendered woman appears to pour perfume from an aryballos into a slim amphoriskos. 🏺
Late 1st c. BCE. #PalazzoMassimo
📸 me
black and white photograph of statue of augustus caesar dressed in as a priest
original social media pious-look filter for an authoritarian
#emperor #statute #sculpture #augustus #caesar #octavius #monochrome #blackandwhite #priest #rome #italy #MuseoNazionaleRomano #PalazzoMassimo #photography
THE PORTONACCIO SARCOPHAGUS, C. 180 CE. PALAZZO MASSIMO ALLE TERME This, along with the Great Ludovisi Sarcophagus in palazzo Altemps, is one of the two absolute masterpieces of sarcophagus relief work found so far in Rome. Like its fellow, it is a battle sarcophagus, though somewhat earlier in date. Found in 1931 on via di Portonaccio along the via Tiburtina, it immediately entered the state collections. What at first appears to be a confusing mixture of figures gradually resolves itself into a series of sections. The main central section shows the Roman cavalry smashing into the enemy infantry with devastating effect. The deceased, his facial features left blank, is at upper centre, in the thick of the mêlée. Framing this scene on either side is, above, a display of arms and armour and below, captured barbarians in despair. The upright of the lid shows at left the victor's wife, again with an unfinished face, as a virtuous matron raising her children. At centre the couple are shown in the dextrarum iunctio, at their wedding, and at right the husband is seated, showing clemency to his defeated enemies.
For #SarcophagusSaturday we return to #PalazzoMassimo to be dazzled by the #sarcophagus of a military man, perhaps one Aulus Iulius Pompilius, who died in #MarcusAurelius' wars against the #Marcomanni and #Quadi tribes. Pressures on the different ethnic groups in central #Europe strained the border.
A bronze fixture from one of the Nemi ships, a lion’s head
© 📷 Rick Ehling 10/16/2024 #caturday 🐈⬛ #art #bronze #decorativeart #Rome 🇮🇹 #MuseoNazionaleRomano #PalazzoMassimo
“Boxer at Rest” Greece bronze 330-50BC Palazzo Massimo alle Terme Rome 🇮🇹 A post battle fighter dazed and worse for fighting
Another view. “Boxer at Rest” Greece bronze 330-50BC Palazzo Massimo alle Terme Rome 🇮🇹
And a third view from his left. “Boxer at Rest” Greece bronze 330-50BC Palazzo Massimo alle Terme Rome 🇮🇹
We tire of fighting
Only after battles
are already lost
© Rick Ehling ✍️11/21/2024 📷10/16/2024 #senryū #senryūsunday #ekphrastic #poetry #BoxeratRest #TermeBoxer 🇬🇷 #Hellenistic #bronze #sculpture #art #Rome 🇮🇹 #MuseoNazionaleRomano #PalazzoMassimo
Le #PalazzoMassimo est notamment connu pour les splendides fresques de la villa de Livie (épouse d’Auguste) à Prima Porta près de #Rome.
A pretty old kitten as they go, set in a Roman mosaic.
© 📷 Rick Ehling 10/16/2024 #caturday #happycaturday 🇮🇹 #Rome #romanmosaic #mosaic #tile #floors #art #decorativeart #MuseoNazionaleRomano #PalazzoMassimo and #ducks
Medusa staring back from stone. A mosaic in the National Museum of Roman art. Rome. 🇮🇹
Medusa set in
stone Frozen in time As are
we, gazing at her
© Rick Ehling ✍️ 11/07/2024 📷 10/16/2024
One last #squares making squares
#romanart #mosaic #tile #medusa #Rome 🇮🇹 #MuseoNazionaleRomano #PalazzoMassimo #alphabetchallenge #weekSforSquares #haikusaturday #Haiku #senryū #poetry
In a dark room, six of these herm portraits of charioteers are lit up in pools of light. A white marble bust of this man is set into a colored marble pillar (sort of purplish marble). He’s quite young, and has high, sharp cheekbones, a cleft chin, a very straight nose, deep set eyes, and straight hair in a kind of bowl cut. We can see a charioteer’s criss-crossed rope strapping across the upper part of his chest - this was a kind of protective harness that aurigae tied around their torso, in case of accidents. His straight hair appears somewhat yellow, as does his harness - these may be the staining from remains of pigments.
As we head into the weekend, here’s a herm of a devilishly handsome auriga (charioteer). One of several set in a sanctuary of Hercules in the Trastevere area in #Rome, a thanks to the god for their victories. 🏺 #archaeology
Trajanic, 98-117 CE. #PalazzoMassimo alle Terme, Rome.
📸 me
A Roman floor, still remarkably current, (Escher, Deco, illusion), now in the National Roman Museum.
© Rick Ehling 📷 10/16/2024. #squares making squares making cubes in a rectangle. It started here. #romanmosaic #mosaic #tile #floors #optical #art #decorativeart #Rome 🇮🇹 #MuseoNazionaleRomano #PalazzoMassimo #alphabetchallenge #weekSforSquares
Panneau en opus sectile représentant le rapt d’Hylas par les nymphes et provenant de la basilique de Junius Bassus sur l’Esquilin à Rome (première moitié du IVe s.). Il est exposé au Palazzo Massimo alle terme à Rome. #PalazzoMassimo
Détails d’une fresque de la villa de Livie (épouse d’Auguste) à Prima Porta près de #Rome. La fresque est conservée au Palazzo Massimo alle Terme à Rome. #PalazzoMassimo
