Puteal (wellhead) with Narcissus and Echo, and Hylas and the Nymphs

Unknown

2nd century · Marble · Greek and Roman Art

Excavated in 1797 in Tor Bavacciano, Ostia, the port of Ancient Rome This puteal (wellhead) is an outstanding example of Roman figural relief sculpture of the second century A.D. It once covered a well in Ostia, the port town of ancient Rome, probably within a sumptuous Roman villa along the Tiber River. The ancient Roman sculptor has transformed a utilitarian object into a luxurious work of art. Carved from a single block of marble, whose form resembles a Hellenistic altar, the drum is decorated with two cautionary tales from Greek mythology that relate to water. The sculptor seamlessly combined the story of Narcissus and Echo, best known from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, with the tale of the handsome hero Hylas being abducted by nymphs in the land of Mysia (western Turkey) as he was fetching water for the Argonauts on their quest to find the Golden Fleece, best known in Greek literature from the Argonautica of Apollonios of Rhodes.

Artist

Unknown

Date

2nd century

Medium

Marble

Culture

Roman

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace, Howard S. and Nancy Marks, Mr. and Mrs. Ronald S. Lauder, The Jaharis Family Foundation Inc., Philodoroi, Leon Levy Foundation, Renée E. and Robert A. Belfer, Mr. and Mrs. John A. Moran, Mr. and Mrs. Mark Fisch, Annette de la Renta, Beatrice Stern, Frederick J. Iseman, The Abner Rosen Foundation Inc., Mr. and Mrs. Richard L. Chilton Jr., Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Barbara G. Fleischman, in memory of Lawrence A. Fleischman, and Malcolm Hewitt Wiener Foundation Gifts; and The Bothmer Purchase and Diane Carol Brandt Funds, 2019