Antiquities Exhibits

Tota Italia : At the Origins of a Nation is now open at The Scuderie del Quirinale in Rome. The presentation examines the process of Romanization beginning with exhibits from Pre-Roman Italy of the 4th century BCE then continues through the Julio-Claudian period to the ultimate unification of territories under the banner of Rome. More than thirty Italian museums have loaned objects to the exhibition to illustrate the diversity that made up the Empire and how the extraordinary differences were blended to form the cultural identity of the Italian people. Looking through images of some of the artifacts on exhibit, I was pleased to see once more the Parian marble table support depicting two griffins attacking a doe from the 4th century BCE that I had photographed years ago at the Getty Villa. Apparently, it is thought to have originated from a tomb in Foggia, originally part of the ancient Greek colony known as Argos Hippium in southern Italy. It is truly a magnificent piece! One of my ...

While browsing the Getty's collections today I saw yet another intricately sculpted Roman cornelian gemstone from the 1st century BCE. "The gem captures the moment when Aeneas, son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the goddess Venus, escapes with his family from Troy at the end of the Trojan War. Aeneas climbs up the steps to a waiting ship, with his father over his right arm and his son, Ascanius, holding his left hand. Aeneas wears a corselet but no other armor. His father wears robes with a mantle pulled over his head. Ascanius, shown just at the moment of leaving the gates of the city, wears a Phrygian cap, a chiton, and cloak while holding a pedum (a hunter's throwing stick) over his left shoulder. Anchises holds a cylindrical box with an X pattern on the side. Behind them, the walls of Troy rise up, and a Greek solider in a crested helmets looks towards them from the battlements while holding a lit torch aloft in his raised right arm, a spear upright in his left. Thr...