{"id":553,"date":"2022-12-23T23:47:49","date_gmt":"2022-12-24T04:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/?page_id=553"},"modified":"2023-06-01T10:11:56","modified_gmt":"2023-06-01T14:11:56","slug":"marble-relief-fragment","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/marble-relief-fragment\/","title":{"rendered":"Marble Relief Fragment"},"content":{"rendered":"
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      For a 3D model made by the <\/span>Virtual Curation Lab<\/span><\/a> at Virginia Commonwealth University, see <\/span>https:\/\/skfb.ly\/owuJV<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

      Marble Relief Fragment
      \nAWG0000.01.10
      \nRoman
      \nRoman Imperial, 1st-2nd century CE<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Material: Marble<\/span>
      \n<\/span>Technique: Carved in high relief, with some evidence of drill work<\/span>
      \n<\/span>
      \n<\/span>Weight: 1263g<\/span>
      \n<\/span>Dimensions: 8.3 cm max. height, 14 cm max. length, 8.4 cm width\/thickness<\/span>
      \n<\/span>Condition: Fair - some edges are broken and the relief design is worn<\/span><\/p>\n

      Provenance: Unknown<\/span>
      \n<\/span>Source\/donor: Probably part of the Richmond College Museum collection <\/span>
      \n<\/span>Date of acquisition: Probably before 1932<\/span>
      \n<\/span>Other notes: The old inventory number beginning with R (R6014) suggests that it was part of the Richmond College Museum collection. Other R-numbered items with numbers in the 6000s were displayed in the Biology Museum in Maryland Hall beginning in 1932.<\/span>
      \n<\/span>Research by: William Hunt, \u201823<\/span>
      \n<\/span><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Detailed description of form\/shape:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      The bottom of the fragment is worked smooth, with a lightly incised straight line set in from the front edge (the decorated side) and parallel to it. The front edge is composed of two horizontal bands of relief: a rounded molding below, with a concave band above. The back, right, and left sides are broken.<\/span><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Detailed description of decoration:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      The decoration on the curved molding is a laurel garland design in deep relief. Some spots between the laurel leaves have deeper impressions (round holes) that seem to have been carved with a drill. Above the rounded garland band is a concave band decorated with the bottom of a volute design, with a shell-shaped pattern (palmette) at the right.<\/span><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Comparanda:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      For laurel garlands in deep relief, compare the \u201cgarland sarcophagus\u201d type, such as <\/span>Metropolitan Museum of Art 90.12a,b<\/span><\/a> (130-150 CE) and <\/span>Metropolitan Museum of Art 70.1<\/span><\/a> (200-225 CE).\u00a0 See also, sarcophagus from <\/span>Karaman<\/span><\/a> (Sa\u011flan 2016). Garlands or other vegetal motifs may occur in a horizontal position as rounded moldings at the bottom of sarcophagi (e.g., Koch and Sichtermann figs. 469, 479, and 515, from Athens, Myra, and <\/span>Istanbul<\/span><\/a>) or other relief monuments, as on votive altars like the Augustan-period <\/span>Altar of the Vicus Aesculeti<\/span><\/a>, Rome, which has an oak garland decorating the bottom rounded molding (Petersen 2015, figs. 4.7.2-3; Russell 2020, 33, fig. 2.1). For a garland molding at the bottom of an altar topped by a concave molding with volute motifs, compare an <\/span>altar in the Vatican Museum<\/span><\/a> showing scenes from the founding of Rome and the well-known <\/span>Belvedere altar<\/span><\/a>, also in the Vatican (Russell 2020, fig. 2.8).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Discussion:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      While \u201cgarland sarcophagi\u201d show curved garlands hanging on the sides of the sarcophagus, the garland on our relief fragment is horizontal and seems to have formed the bottom molding of a relief panel, perhaps a votive relief, sarcophagus, or altar. Close parallels are found among the altars of the Lares Augusti, where laurel and oak motifs may have evoked Augustan imperial imagery (Russell 2020, 32-33). The palmette at the right suggests a corner. While on most of the sarcophagi and altars noted above the garland molding appears above another layer (a smooth vertical face), the rounded garland on our fragment is the bottom-most element, with a smoothly finished surface underneath, perhaps for placement atop a separate plinth. A <\/span>garland sarcophagus from Iasos<\/span><\/a> (Caria) offers a parallel for a horizontal garland molding at the very bottom of each side, with a separately worked base assumed (Istanbul Archaeological Museum no. 513, Koch and Sichtermann 1982, 525, fig. 515, early 2nd cent. CE).<\/span><\/p>\n

      The deep round impressions between the laurel leaves were probably made by a drill. Roman sculptors used drills to aid in creating deep channels: first they would drill a series of round holes in a line, and then they would carve the spaces between the holes to connect them (Grossman 2003, 41; Claridge 2015). Often, the round outlines of the shortcut holes are still evident, as they are here.<\/span><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      Bibliography:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      Claridge, Amanda. 2015<\/span>. \u201cMarble Carving Techniques, Workshops, and Artisans.\u201d <\/span>In <\/span>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Sculpture<\/span><\/i>, edited by Elise A. Friedland, Melanie Grunow Sobocinski, and Elaine K. Gazda<\/span>.<\/span><\/i> New York: Oxford University Press. <\/span>DOI: 10.1093\/oxfordhb\/9780199921829.013.0010.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Grossman, Janet Burnett. 2003.<\/span> Looking at Greek and Roman Sculpture in Stone\u202f: a Guide to Terms, Styles, and Techniques<\/span><\/i>. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Koch, Guntram and Hellmut Sichtermann. 1982. <\/span>R\u00f6mische Sarkophage<\/span><\/i>. Munich: C.H. Beck.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Petersen, Lauren Hackworth. 2015. \u201cNon-Elite Patronage.\u201d In <\/span>The Oxford Handbook of Roman Sculpture<\/span><\/i>, edited by Elise A. Friedland, Melanie Grunow Sobocinski, and Elaine K. Gazda<\/span>.<\/span><\/i> New York: Oxford University Press. <\/span>DOI: 10.1093\/oxfordhb\/9780199921829.013.0010.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Russell, Amy. 2020. \u201cThe Altars of the Lares Augusti.\u201d In <\/span>The Social Dynamics of Roman Imperial Imagery<\/span><\/i>, edited by Amy Russell and<\/span> Monica Hellstro\u0308m. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      Sa\u011flan, Suhal. 2016. \u201cA garland sarcophagus from Karaman.\u201d <\/span>Anodos. Studies of the Ancient World <\/span><\/i>12: 243-250. <\/span>https:\/\/www.researchgate.net\/figure\/Front-panel-of-Karaman-Garland-Sarcophagus_fig1_309805409<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      For a 3D model made by the Virtual Curation Lab at Virginia Commonwealth University, see https:\/\/skfb.ly\/owuJV Marble Relief Fragment AWG0000.01.10 Roman Roman Imperial, 1st-2nd century CE Material: Marble Technique: Carved in high relief, with some evidence of drill work Weight: 1263g Dimensions: 8.3 cm max. height, 14 cm max. length, 8.4 cm width\/thickness Condition: Fair […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5468,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full-width-page-template.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"coauthors":[207586],"class_list":["post-553","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5468"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=553"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":857,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/553\/revisions\/857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/urancient\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}