Marble pillar with Neo-Attic reliefs

Unknown

late 1st century BCE–early 1st century CE · Marble · Greek and Roman Art

A fine example of classicizing art, this marble pillar bears on all four sides reliefs in the Neo-Attic style. The themes are drawn from the world of Dionysus. A flowering acanthus plant carved in low relief occupies one of the long sides, while on the other, in higher relief, two female figures with billowing garments surmount a Silenus herm. Their attributes identify them as Horae, the personifications of the Seasons. At the top is summer holding a garland in one hand and a sheaf of wheat in the other. At the bottom, autumn carries pomegranates and bunches of grapes in the fold of her himation, while a third figure, now missing, most probably represented spring. Both short sides are decorated with a thyrsos, the god’s characteristic staff. This work is notable for its unusual iconography. Decorative relief pillars are predominately adorned by elaborate trailing vegetation motifs; human figures and animals, if present, play only a secondary role in the composition. Mythological scenes as attested here are rare.

Artist

Unknown

Date

late 1st century BCE–early 1st century CE

Medium

Marble

Culture

Roman

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Marguerite and Frank A. Cosgrove Jr. Fund, 2013