Opaque blue glass oval engraved gem

Unknown

1st century BCE · Glass, opaque blue paste · Greek and Roman Art

According to tradition, Rome was founded in 753 B.C. by the twins Romulus and Remus. Sons of the god Mars and a mortal woman named Rhea Silvia, a direct descendant of Aeneas, the twins were abandoned by their uncle in the Tibur river. A she-wolf discovered them on the banks of the river and suckled them until they were taken in by a passing sheperd, Faustulus. Faustulus raised the boys together with his own twelve children until they decided to found a city of their own. They chose the spot by the Tibur where they had been rescued by the wolf, which was near the base of the Palatine hill in Rome. The representation of the wolf suckling the twins became a popular subject in Roman Republican and Imperial art. Here the sheperd Faustulus leans on his staff and watches the Roman she-wolf suckling the twins under a vine.

Artist

Unknown

Date

1st century BCE

Medium

Glass, opaque blue paste

Culture

Roman

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, 1917