Esquiline treasure
The Esquiline Treasure is an ancient Roman silver treasure that was found during excavation work in Rome in 1793 . The find is an important testimony to late antique silver work .
History and location of the treasure
In the summer of 1793, while excavating at the foot of the Esquiline , one of Rome's seven hills , workers stumbled upon a large collection of silver objects. These items were in the ruins of a Roman building. The exact place of discovery is controversial and is already located by contemporaries on possessions sometimes of the monastery of San Francesco di Paolo, sometimes of the “ Religious Minime ” convent .
Overall, one speaks of two treasure discoveries that were made one after the other within a short period of time. The first discussions of these finds took place in an essay and an addendum (second find) to this essay by the archaeologist and later head of the Capitoline Museum Ennio Quirino Visconti , which he wrote within a year of the discovery of the treasure. Visconti was commissioned by the then administrator of the monastery of San Francesco di Paolo, Monsignor Giulio Maria della Somalia, which speaks for a site on the property of the respective monastery. An exact inventory of the find was not drawn up at the time. Over the next 30 years, the entire treasure was restored. The restorations share a common technique, style and material used. Although the old parts were taken into account during the restoration, the restored parts can be recognized by a pale white silver. It can be assumed that a single company was responsible for the complete restoration, but this cannot be identified or limited in time. Over the years, the treasure came into the hands of many different owners through sales. In 1866 it was finally sold to the British Museum in London by the heirs of Pierre-Louis de Blacas d'Aulps except for two parts, which are now in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples and in the Musee du Petit Palais , Paris .
Research history
The first records and discussions of the find were made in an essay published by Ennio Quirino Visconti ( Lettere su di una antica Argenteria nuovamente scoperta in Roma a Monsignor della Somaglia ) in 1793. The first inventory list was made in 1930 as a foreword to the publication of the essay “About the original Owner of the late antique silver find from Esquiline and its dating ”created by Stephan Poglayen-Neuwall. The first monographic processing took place in 1981 under the title "The Esquiline Treasure" by Kathleen Shelton. Furthermore, Alan Cameron wrote an essay in 1985 on "The date and owners of the Esquiline Treasure: the nature of evidence". There were also many other smaller publications.
Find description
The Esquiline Treasure is composed of 27 parts, although Visconti only speaks of 25 parts in his essay. Until 1866 the treasure consisted of 61 parts. All additions to the find are antique. Over the years two bowls, two bowls, two vessels, spoons, jewelry, amulets and various fragments were added to the actual find. Two parts of these surely come from the find, which is composed as follows: the Proiecta box, the Muses box, a patera , a grooved plate, eight plates with monograms, a bottle, two jugs, four furniture attachments in the shape of city goddesses representing the cities of Rome, Constantinople , Antioch and Alexandria , two hand-shaped furniture attachments, six pieces of harness.
The design of the Proiecta and Muse boxes was done using the repoussé technique , in which the relief is achieved by pushing or pushing the back of the metal surface. In addition, parts were chiseled , such as the leaf and flower motifs on the border of the individual panels of the Proiecta box. Some of the engraved lines emphasized certain parts of the relief, while others were only used for decoration. There are also elements made using puncturing technology. The Proiecta box was also gilded for decorative reasons, but also to emphasize and enhance certain representations.
Proiecta box
The Proiecta box is considered to be one of the most famous and magnificent examples of silver work made in Rome in late antiquity. Mythological and profane scenes are depicted on this box. Furthermore, the Proiecta box was the most important starting point for dating the treasure and is usually the focus of research discussions.
The body of the elongated box has the shape of a truncated rectangular pyramid, the sides of which are isosceles trapezoids. The lid has the same shape, but is much smaller, so that the shape of two truncated pyramids is obtained. The box is made of silver and partly gold-plated. The box is 559 mm long, 286 mm high and 432 mm wide; it has a weight of 7.153 kg.
The sides of the lid are set back and surrounded by a horizontal edge and a narrow vertical edge. Three hinges on the back of the box connect the edge of the lid to the body. The box rests on four feet, of which only three have survived. On the short sides there is a swinging handle with which the box can be transported. These handles are attached to ring brackets that are presumably soldered on. The handles have continuous grooves.
The box consists of eight trapezoidal and two rectangular surfaces. Every surface with the exception of the floor is surrounded by decorative frames or borders. The four trapezoids of the lid are each framed by uniform leaf patterns. The four surfaces of the body are surrounded by vine tendrils. The frames are slightly raised.
cover
The horizontal edge of the lid has engraved lines on the outer edges. There is an inscription on the front edge of the lid that begins with a Christ monogram. The inscription reads: SECUNDE ET PROIECTA VIVATIS IN CHRI [STO] .
The top of the lid is framed by a floral motif, the side surfaces by leaf garlands. On the lid, three mythological scenes are reproduced on the side panels and the back, a double portrait on the top and a bathing scene on the front.
The double portrait on the top consists of two half-length portraits, framed by a wreath of leaves held by two standing erotes . The clothes of the two people depicted correspond to those of wealthy people. Both wear a long-sleeved tunic , the woman with a jeweled collar. She is holding a roll of paper in her hands. The man also wears a chlamys held by an onion button fibula on his right shoulder . His right hand makes a speech. The man's hair and beard are short and curly. The woman's hair is parted in the middle and combed back. On the head there is a braid of hair in the form of a crown. The faces are facing each other in a three-quarter profile and have no individual features. The two naked erotes have golden wings.
On the front panel you can see Venus sitting in a shell with a mirror in her left hand, flanked by two muscular centaurs with two erotes standing on their backs. Venus wears a cloak over her left shoulder, which is also over her legs. She wears a small conical hat and a gold collar. The entire scene takes place in the sea.
The right side part of the lid shows a nereid riding a hippocampus , followed by a dolphin and an erot, while the left side part shows a nereid on a ketos , surrounded by two dolphins and an eros.
The scene on the rear panel depicts a bathing procession in which a woman, accompanied by five servants, is led to a thermal bath or a house with domed roofs. In the background one can see columned arcades with Corinthian capitals.
Box body
The four panels of the body, which together thematize bathing, show a woman at the toilet and eleven servants.
On the front panel of the box body there is a peacock bird on the right and left, turning its head in the direction of the action. In the middle you can see Proiecta at the toilet, surrounded by two women who bring her the toilet utensils. Proiecta, who wears a long-sleeved tunic under a colobium , a short-sleeved tunic, sits on an ornate chair under an arched column. She is holding an ornate box in her hand.
On the back panel you can see three adult women in long robes who bring various utensils. The right side part shows in the middle a woman carrying a square object, surrounded by two other women, the left side part another woman, flanked by two male servants carrying candlesticks.
Muses box
The silver muse box was probably made at the same time as the Proiecta box. It has a diameter of 327 mm and a height of 267 mm.
The box consists of a sixteen-sided container and a dome-shaped lid, both of approximately the same height. Lid and container are connected with a hinge, the box itself can be carried on three chains. The sixteen side surfaces of the body, which are vertically offset from one another by columns, are formed alternately flat and concave. Inside the box were found five small bottles for perfume and oils.
The flat panels of the container are filled with kantharoi from which arise vegetable motifs and volutes. The same motif extends over the corresponding zones of the lid, which are more elongated due to the curvature and taper towards the apex. While the intermediate surfaces on the lid were simply left smooth, eight of the nine muses are represented in the concave intermediate surfaces of the body and each marked by attributes as one particular. Each muse stands in a cone with a final dome resting on the side columns . Another figure is depicted on the top of the lid, which, due to the lack of attributes, should not be interpreted as the missing ninth muse, but as Venus, as is also found on the Proiecta box. The shape and function of the Muses' box correspond to those on the front panel of the Proiecta box and belong in a context connected to the bath and thermal baths.
Father Dutuit
The silver patera, originally from the Dutuit collection and therefore also known under the name Patera Dutuit , has a diameter of 190 mm and a short handle. It was sold with the Dutuit collection in 1902 and is located in the Musee du Petit Palais in Paris. The allocation to the treasure trove of the Esquiline is considered certain.
The patera shares the same iconographic program with the two boxes. Venus, turned to the left, is shown in a conch shell, straightening her hair with the help of a mirror held by an eros. Another Eros to her right hands her an item. Venus is shown naked except for a robe covering her right thigh. The edge of the patera is decorated with small shells.
A naked male figure can be seen on the handle, standing on a lance to his left. A dog lies at his feet and marks him as a hunter. It is therefore about Adonis , the lover of Venus who died young while hunting and who was allowed to spend a third of the year with her after his death. The patera, which does not come from the same workshop as the two boxes, portrays a conception of Venus that is more strongly committed to myth than was the case with the boxes.
Plate
A large platter and two sets of four plates each belong to the scope of the treasure. The large plate has a diameter of 562 mm and has a central medallion from which 24 alternately flat and curved segments extend. While the medallion shows a notched braided motif, the flat segments are decorated with flower and leaf motifs.
One of the services consists of round silver plates, all of which have a diameter of 161 mm and a height of 29 mm. Their weight is approximately 410 g. In the center of each plate is a gold-plated monogram. One of the plates shows a weight for the service along the edge, another a carelessly carved inscription: VIVASINDEOMARCIANAVIVAS (“You live in God, Marciana, you live”).
The second service consists of four rectangular plates with a side length of 202 mm × 146 mm. In the center of the plates there is the same gold-plated monogram as on the plates of the other service, one of the plates also indicates the weight, another repeats the irregularly applied inscription VIVASINDEOMARCIANAVIVAS .
Jugs and bottle
The jugs and bottles from the treasure trove are made of silver, one of the bottles and the “Pelegrina” jug are in London, the other bottle in Naples.
The slim and elongated egg-shaped London bottle is 346 mm high and rests on a foot that does not reach the largest projection of the bottle body. The bottle is decorated with chased decorations. Starting from the base of each acanthus cup, two uniform, arabesque-floral loop motifs arise, each developing into six spirals. In the central spirals in the area of the largest projection, erotes are depicted in different scenes: riding a donkey, coming with a fruit basket, sitting on a fruit basket with a goat, harvesting grapes with a bowl. The upper spirals show all kinds of fruits, between the spirals there are doves.
The jug in London has the name Pelegrina as an inscription, the jug in Naples is in the shape of a woman's head.
Dating
The dating of the treasure find is extremely controversial and attempts are made to identify the people named in the inscriptions of the find. The names that can be assumed here are: "Proiecta", "Secundus" and "Pelegrina". The interpretation of a monogram on one of the plates as “Proiecta Turci” by Visconti made the focus early on the Turcii family, an aristocratic clan of late antiquity. In this context, reference was made to a grave epitaph erected by Pope Damasus I to commemorate a Proiecta who died in 383 at the age of less than 17 years. According to the epitaph "PROIECTAE FVERAT PRIMO QVAE IVNCTA MARITO", this Proiecta was actually married to a Primus. The contradiction to the connection Proiecta∞Secundus of the Proiecta box was attempted by reinterpreting the word primus of the epitaph to either “married for the first time” or “with the first” in the sense of the highlighted. Since the epitaph was also located in the church of Santi Silvestro e Martino ai Monti and thus in the immediate vicinity of the site, they even wanted to establish a direct relationship between the two objects. If the proiecta of the epitaph was identical to that of the treasure find, she would have died at the age of sixteen, but could have married at the earliest fourteen, which would prove a date of the find around 380.
In all of these considerations, the question of whether the pieces in the find were created at the same time or whether they represent the collection of pieces from several decades remained completely disregarded. Kathleen J. Shelton raised this question among others and came - not least - due to stylistic considerations to the result that the treasure was family property collected over several generations and dates from the period between 330 and 370. In particular, the hairstyle of the female bust, the model of which can be seen in the hairstyle of the imperial mother Helena, who died 330 , suggest a date not too far from the year of death. In hair and beard design, she recognized the closeness to hair fashion under Emperor Julian, who ruled from 360 to 363 .
Recently attempts have been made to combine both positions by abandoning the simultaneity of all pieces, but nevertheless equating Proiecta with that of the epitaph, who was a Turcius Secundus, possibly a Lucius Turcius Secundus, the son or nephew of Lucio Turcio Secondo Asterio would, was married and 383 died. Pelegrina and a Turcius would therefore be another couple from this family to whom individual pieces of the find can be assigned. The name Marciana, which also appears on a piece of the find, has so far not been taken into account in all discussions.
interpretation
The 27 objects that are considered to be the real find vary in their function and different uses.
The two caskets (muses box and Proiecta box) clearly belonged to a woman, the furniture appliqués to a man. The elaborate workmanship of the six furniture applications testify to a man's high public office. All six pieces can be viewed as fittings for one or more chairs. This type of jewelry can be found on the sellae curulis of late antique consuls, sometimes adorned with busts of city personifications. The horse jewelry was intended for equipping the horses. The two caskets can clearly be attributed to the owner's private sphere and belonged to the woman's toiletries. The owner kept her ointments in individual bottles in the muses' box. The pictorial representations of the boxes can be understood as a decorative allusion to certain virtues and characteristics of the owner.
Proiecta box
According to current research, it is assumed that the Proiecta box was a wedding present to the couple Proiecta and Secundus depicted on the medallion on the lid. In late antiquity, it was not uncommon to depict married couples on wedding utensils. Proiecta holds a scroll in her hand, the so-called marriage contract, and Turcius Secundus is represented in the gesture of speech. This type of representation corresponds to common portrait types of this time.
The mythological representations on the Proiecta box represent a late antique transfer and translation of iconographic motifs from the Principate's time, which could now be interpreted in different ways, for example as allusions to certain characteristics or virtues. The representation of Venus is to be interpreted in this context. Proiecta adorns herself in her women's room and looks in the mirror, which is held by a servant. Directly above her in the lid of the box you can see Venus in a shell with the same gestures and utensils. It is very likely that a direct connection should be established between the beauty of Venus and the beauty of the owner of the Proiecta box.
The depiction of the bathing scene on the back panel of the lid has been interpreted differently in research: On the one hand, as the bride's home to the groom's house ( deductio ). The wife moves from the father's house to the husband's house. On the other hand, as the landlady walks into a public bathroom, accompanied by her servants with the necessary utensils, as shown in the depiction of a bathroom visit on the floor mosaic of the Villa Romana del Casale in Piazza Armerina from the 2nd half of the 4th century.
literature
- Stephan Poglayen-Neuwall: About the original owners of the late antique silver find from Esquiline and its dating . In: Communications of the German Archaeological Institute, Roman Department . Volume 45, 1930, pp. 125-136.
- JPC Kent, KS Painter (Ed.): Wealth of the Roman World. AD 300-700. Exhibition cat. London. The Trustees of the British Museum, London 1971.
- Kathleen J. Shelton: The Esquiline Treasure. London 1981.
- Review: Malcolm AR Colledge, In: The Classical Review. New Series, Vol. 32, 1982, pp. 295-296.
- Alan Cameron: The Date and the Owners of the Esquiline Treasure . In: American Journal of Archeology. Volume 89, 1985, pp. 135-145.
- Kathleen J. Shelton: The Esquiline Treasure. The Nature of Evidence . In: American Journal of Archeology. Volume 89, 1985, pp. 147-155.
- David Buckton (Ed.): Byzantium. Treasures of Byzantine Art and Culture. Exhibition cat. London. The Trustees of the British Museum, London 1994, pp. 33-34.
- Kenneth S. Painter: Il tesoro dell'Esquilino. In: Serena Ensoli, Eugenio La Rocca (ed.): Aurea Roma: dalla città pagana alla città cristiana. L'Erma di Bretschneider, Rome 2000, ISBN 978-8-8826-5126-8 , pp. 140-146.
Web links
- Presentation of the treasure on the website of the British Museum.
- Proiecta box on the British Museum homepage.
- Muses box on the British Museum homepage.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kenneth S. Painter: Il tesoro dell'Esquilino. In: Serena Ensoli, Eugenio La Rocca (ed.): Aurea Roma: dalla città pagana alla città cristiana. L'Erma di Bretschneider, Rome 2000, ISBN 978-8-8826-5126-8 , pp. 140-142.
- ^ So the page of the British Museum to the Proiecta box. ( Memento of the original from August 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ For a summary of the discussion, see Kenneth S. Painter: Il tesoro dell'Esquilino. In: Serena Ensoli, Eugenio La Rocca (ed.): Aurea Roma: dalla città pagana alla città cristiana. L'Erma di Bretschneider, Rome 2000, pp. 145-146.
