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Image search results - "painting"
0123_001.jpg
Indian Mughal, original miniature painting with illuminated borders painted on the reverse of an unrelated original 18th Century Persian manuscript with mentions of Mahadev (Shiva), Parvati, daughter of Himalaya and Byas. The folio script is about Byas begot Singh and Singh upbringing, suggesting Persian Abd al-Rahman Chishtis at Al-makhlukat (1631-32), which includes Islamic and Sanskrit sacred Parana - Ramayana and Mahabharata (Persian - Razm-nama) - the story of creation.Quant.Geek
Loius_14_Copper_Jeton.JPG
Louis XIV (1643 – 1715), AE Jeton struck c.1650Obverse: LVD•XIIII•D•G•FR•ET•NAV•REX. Laureate and draped youthful bust of Louis XIV facing right.
Reverse: IVSTIS•SPES•PACIS•IN ARMIS. Pax, helmeted, seated on a pile of arms, holding an olive branch in her outstretched right hand and a narrow cornucopia in her left.
Dimensions: 27.94mm | Weight: 6.8gms | Die Axis: 12
Ref. Feuardent: 12482 var.

Struck at unverified mint, probably Monnaie de Louvre, Paris, France
Die engraver: Jean Varin


Jean Varin (6 February 1604 Liège – 26 August 1672 Paris) was a French sculptor and engraver who made important innovations in the process of minting coins. He moved to Paris in 1625 or 1626 where, after demonstrating his talent as an engraver, he obtained the support of Cardinal Richelieu and in 1629 he was assigned as a “Conducteur de la Monnaie du Moulin”. In 1647 he was appointed head of the French mint, and became “engraver of the king's seal” and a member of the Academy of painting and sculpture. Varin brought back the use of the screw press in the mint, initially using it to produce a gold coin, the Louis d'or, which featured his youthful portrait of the King which is similar to that on this jeton.

This jeton, likely struck between 1650 and 1653, commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Münster between France and the Holy Roman Empire on 15 May 1648 which ended the Thirty Years War. France, to the detriment of the Holy Roman Empire, retained control of the bishoprics of Metz, Toul and Verdun near Lorraine as well as receiving the city of Pignerol near the Spanish Duchy of Milan and the cities of the Décapole in Alsace, excluding Strasbourg.
*Alex
1792_YARMOUTH_HALFPENNY.JPG
1792 AE Halfpenny Token. Yarmouth, Norfolk.Obverse: LET YARMOUTH FLOURISH :. Coat of Arms of Yarmouth over crossed sprigs of oak. Small incuse rosette countermark in field to right of shield. The Coat of Arms combines three lion's heads from the Royal Arms with the tails of three silver herrings, believed to come from the original arms of Yarmouth.
Reverse: YARMOUTH HALFPENNY. Three masted ship sailing right; 1792, in panel below.
Edge: PAYABLE AT THE GLASS WAREHOUSE OF W. ABSOLON • X •.
Diameter 29mm | Die Axis 6
Dalton & Hamer: 52

This token was issued by William Absolon (1751 – 1815), a British ceramist who, from 1784, sold English and foreign china and glass but also later offered gilding, enameling and painting services at his shop, No 4, at the lower end of Market Row in Yarmouth.
Absolon bought in wares from the Wedgewood, Davenport, Turner and Staffordshire factories, which he then decorated. He painted dessert services with botanical subjects with the Latin name of the plant inscribed on the plate or dish and also his mark; Absolon Yarm and No 25. He also decorated Turner Ware and Cream Ware Jugs adding mottoes, such as; a Trifle from Yarmouth, or Success to the Trade. Absolon died in 1815 and although his business continued, the quality declined. Today, his work attracts high prices at auction.
*Alex
PCrassusDenAmazon~0.jpg
1ab Marcus Licinius CrassusFormed First Triumvirate with Caesar and Pompey in 60 BC, killed at Carrhae in Parthia in 53 BC.

Denarius, minted by son, P Licinius Crassus, ca 54 BC.
Bust of Venus, right, SC behind
Amazon with horse, P CRASSVS MF.

Seaby, Licinia 18

These coins were probably minted to pay Crassus' army for the invasion of Parthia, which led to its destruction. My synthesis of reviewing 90 examples of this issue revealed a female warrior wearing a soft felt Scythian cap with ear flaps; a fabric garment with a decorated skirt to the knees; probably trousers; an ornate war belt; a baldric; a cape, animal skin, or shoulder cord on attached to the left shoulder; and decorated calf-high boots. She matches the historically confirmed garb of the real amazons—Scythian horsewomen—and of course holds her steed. The horse’s tack is consistent with archeological discoveries of tack in use by Scythians and Romans.

Adrienne Mayor writes that amazon imagery on Greek vases suddenly appeared in 575-550 BC, initially depicting them in Greek-style armor. By the end of the century, as the Greeks learned more through direct and indirect contact with Scythians, they began to appear wearing archeologically confirmed Scythian-Sarmatian-Thracian patterned attire. (Adrienne Mayor, The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2014, 199-200). To this, artists added their own creative ideas regarding colors, fabric patterns, and decorations. “They dressed the warrior women in body-hugging ‘unitards’ or tunics, short chitons or belted dresses, sometimes over leggings or trousers. . . . In paintings and sculpture, pointed or soft Scythian caps with earflaps or ties (kidaris) soon replaced the Greek helmets, and the women wear a variety of belts, baldrics (diagonal straps), corselets, shoulder cords or bands, and crisscrossing leather straps attached to belt loops like those worn by the archer huntress Artemis. . . . Amazon footgear included soft leather moccasin-like shoes, calf-high boots (endromides), or taller laced boots (embades) with scallops or flaps and lined with felt or fur.” (Mayor, 202)

The artists apparently had detailed knowledge of gear used by real Scythian horsewomen to equip their imagined Amazons. “Archeological discoveries of well-preserved sets of clothing confirm that real horsewomen of ancient Scythian lands dressed much as did those described in Greek texts and illustrated in Scythian and Greek artwork.” (Mayor, 203)
1 commentsBlindado
PCrassusDenAmazon2.jpg
1ab_2 Marcus Licinius CrassusFormed First Triumvirate with Caesar and Pompey in 60 BC, killed at Carrhae in Parthia in 53 BC.

Denarius, minted by son, P Licinius Crassus, ca 54 BC.
Bust of Venus, right, SC behind
Amazon with horse, P CRASSVS MF.

Seaby, Licinia 18

These coins were probably minted to pay Crassus' army for the invasion of Parthia. My synthesis of reviewing 90 examples of this issue revealed a female warrior wearing a soft felt Scythian cap with ear flaps (visible in this example); a fabric garment with a decorated skirt to the knees; probably trousers; an ornate war belt; a baldric; a cape, animal skin, or shoulder cord on attached to the left shoulder; and decorated calf-high boots. She matches the historically confirmed garb of the real amazons—Scythian horsewomen—and of course holds her steed. The horse’s tack is consistent with archeological discoveries of tack in use by Scythians and Romans.

Adrienne Mayor writes that amazon imagery on Greek vases suddenly appeared in 575-550 BC, initially depicting them in Greek-style armor. By the end of the century, as the Greeks learned more through direct and indirect contact with Scythians, they began to appear wearing archeologically confirmed Scythian-Sarmatian-Thracian patterned attire. (Adrienne Mayor, The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2014, 199-200). To this, artists added their own creative ideas regarding colors, fabric patterns, and decorations. “They dressed the warrior women in body-hugging ‘unitards’ or tunics, short chitons or belted dresses, sometimes over leggings or trousers. . . . In paintings and sculpture, pointed or soft Scythian caps with earflaps or ties (kidaris) soon replaced the Greek helmets, and the women wear a variety of belts, baldrics (diagonal straps), corselets, shoulder cords or bands, and crisscrossing leather straps attached to belt loops like those worn by the archer huntress Artemis. . . . Amazon footgear included soft leather moccasin-like shoes, calf-high boots (endromides), or taller laced boots (embades) with scallops or flaps and lined with felt or fur.” (Mayor, 202)
The artists apparently had detailed knowledge of gear used by real Scythian horsewomen to equip their imagined Amazons. “Archeological discoveries of well-preserved sets of clothing confirm that real horsewomen of ancient Scythian lands dressed much as did those described in Greek texts and illustrated in Scythian and Greek artwork.” (Mayor, 203)

Plutarch wrote of Crassus: People were wont to say that the many virtues of Crassus were darkened by the one vice of avarice, and indeed he seemed to have no other but that; for it being the most predominant, obscured others to which he was inclined. The arguments in proof of his avarice were the vastness of his estate, and the manner of raising it; for whereas at first he was not worth above three hundred talents, yet, though in the course of his political life he dedicated the tenth of all he had to Hercules, and feasted the people, and gave to every citizen corn enough to serve him three months, upon casting up his accounts, before he went upon his Parthian expedition, he found his possessions to amount to seven thousand one hundred talents; most of which, if we may scandal him with a truth, he got by fire and rapine, making his advantages of the public calamities. . . . Crassus, however, was very eager to be hospitable to strangers; he kept open house, and to his friends he would lend money without interest, but called it in precisely at the time; so that his kindness was often thought worse than the paying the interest would have been. His entertainments were, for the most part, plain and citizen-like, the company general and popular; good taste and kindness made them pleasanter than sumptuosity would have done. As for learning he chiefly cared for rhetoric, and what would be serviceable with large numbers; he became one of the best speakers at Rome, and by his pains and industry outdid the best natural orators. . . . Besides, the people were pleased with his courteous and unpretending salutations and greetings, for he never met any citizen however humble and low, but he returned him his salute by name. He was looked upon as a man well-read in history, and pretty well versed in Aristotle's philosophy. . . . Crassus was killed by a Parthian, called Pomaxathres; others say by a different man, and that Pomaxathres only cut off his head and right hand after he had fallen. But this is conjecture rather than certain knowledge, for those that were by had not leisure to observe particulars. . . .
1 commentsBlindado
PCrassusDenAmazon2~1.jpg
1ab_2 Marcus Licinius CrassusFormed First Triumvirate with Caesar and Pompey in 60 BC, killed at Carrhae in Parthia in 53 BC.

Denarius, minted by son, P Licinius Crassus, ca 54 BC.
Bust of Venus, right, SC behind
Amazon with horse, P CRASSVS MF.

Seaby, Licinia 18

These coins were probably minted to pay Crassus' army for the invasion of Parthia, which led to its destruction. My synthesis of reviewing 90 examples of this issue revealed a female warrior wearing a soft felt Scythian cap with ear flaps (visible in this example); a fabric garment with a decorated skirt to the knees; probably trousers; an ornate war belt; a baldric; a cape, animal skin, or shoulder cord on attached to the left shoulder; and decorated calf-high boots. She matches the historically confirmed garb of the real amazons—Scythian horsewomen—and of course holds her steed. The horse’s tack is consistent with archeological discoveries of tack in use by Scythians and Romans.

Adrienne Mayor writes that amazon imagery on Greek vases suddenly appeared in 575-550 BC, initially depicting them in Greek-style armor. By the end of the century, as the Greeks learned more through direct and indirect contact with Scythians, they began to appear wearing archeologically confirmed Scythian-Sarmatian-Thracian patterned attire. (Adrienne Mayor, The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women Across the Ancient World, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2014, 199-200). To this, artists added their own creative ideas regarding colors, fabric patterns, and decorations. “They dressed the warrior women in body-hugging ‘unitards’ or tunics, short chitons or belted dresses, sometimes over leggings or trousers. . . . In paintings and sculpture, pointed or soft Scythian caps with earflaps or ties (kidaris) soon replaced the Greek helmets, and the women wear a variety of belts, baldrics (diagonal straps), corselets, shoulder cords or bands, and crisscrossing leather straps attached to belt loops like those worn by the archer huntress Artemis. . . . Amazon footgear included soft leather moccasin-like shoes, calf-high boots (endromides), or taller laced boots (embades) with scallops or flaps and lined with felt or fur.” (Mayor, 202)

The artists apparently had detailed knowledge of gear used by real Scythian horsewomen to equip their imagined Amazons. “Archeological discoveries of well-preserved sets of clothing confirm that real horsewomen of ancient Scythian lands dressed much as did those described in Greek texts and illustrated in Scythian and Greek artwork.” (Mayor, 203)
2 commentsBlindado
MarcAntDenOctavian.jpg
1ae Marc Antony and OctavianFormed the Second Triumvirate, 43-33 BC, , along with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Antony killed himself in 30 BC.

Denarius
41 BC

Marc Antony portrait, right, M ANT IMP AVG III VIR RPCM BARBAT QP
Octavian portrait, right, CAESAR IMP PONT III VIR RPC

RSC 8

Plutarch described Antony thusly: Antony grew up a very beautiful youth, but by the worst of misfortunes, he fell into the acquaintance and friendship of Curio, a man abandoned to his pleasures, who, to make Antony's dependence upon him a matter of greater necessity, plunged him into a life of drinking and dissipation, and led him through a course of such extravagance that he ran, at that early age, into debt to the amount of two hundred and fifty talents. . . . He took most to what was called the Asiatic taste in speaking, which was then at its height, and was, in many ways, suitable to his ostentatious, vaunting temper, full of empty flourishes and unsteady efforts for glory. . . . He had also a very good and noble appearance; his beard was well grown, his forehead large, and his nose aquiline, giving him altogether a bold, masculine look that reminded people of the faces of Hercules in paintings and sculptures. It was, moreover, an ancient tradition, that the Antonys were descended from Hercules, by a son of his called Anton; and this opinion he thought to give credit to by the similarity of his person just mentioned, and also by the fashion of his dress. For, whenever he had to appear before large numbers, he wore his tunic girt low about the hips, a broadsword on his side, and over all a large coarse mantle. What might seem to some very insupportable, his vaunting, his raillery, his drinking in public, sitting down by the men as they were taking their food, and eating, as he stood, off the common soldiers' tables, made him the delight and pleasure of the army. In love affairs, also, he was very agreeable: he gained many friends by the assistance he gave them in theirs, and took other people's raillery upon his own with good-humour. And his generous ways, his open and lavish hand in gifts and favours to his friends and fellow-soldiers, did a great deal for him in his first advance to power, and after he had become great, long maintained his fortunes, when a thousand follies were hastening their overthrow.
1 commentsBlindado
geta_RIC79.jpg
211 AD - GETA Augustus denariusobv: P SEPT GETA PIVS AVG BRIT (laureate head right)
rev: TR P III COS II P P (Janus standing facing left & right, holding spear & thunderbolt)
ref: RIC IVi 79, RSC 197,197a
mint: Rome
3.1 gms, 19.5 mm

Geta was killed in late December 211. His memory was condemned, his name removed from inscriptions, his face removed from sculptures and paintings. Official restoration of Geta's reputation came with the arrival of the emperor Elagabalus to Rome in 219, when Geta's remains were translated into the Mausoleum of Hadrian to join those of his father and brother.
Janus was the Roman god of doors, and of beginnings and endings. Of course, the month we know today as January was also named for Janus.
berserker
Lincoln_Essay_Medal.JPG
Abraham Lincoln Essay MedalObverse: LINCOLN - 1809 - 1865 above a lighted torch. Portrait of Lincoln facing left based on a painting by Douglas Volk.

Reverse: LINCOLN - ESSAY - MEDAL - AWARDED - TO (blank space between two ribbons where the award recipient's name can be inscribed) with oak wreath. This medal was unissued.

Note: Lincoln Essay medals were created by the Illinois Watch Company of Springfield in 1924. They were given to the winner of the Lincoln Essay Contest in hundreds of high schools across the land. The face of the medal featured the image of Abraham Lincoln, while on the back was inscribed the name of the winner and date of the award—but not the name of the company. Although the company's name had been included in the design of the medallion, it was expunged before the die was "sunk." Behind this change lay the artist's objection to the "advertising intent" of the watch company. Other participants in the project were vexed and puzzled by this objection, but they eventually capitulated and the matter was forgotten. Yet it exemplifies the persistent belief that Lincoln has been over-commercialized.
Matt Inglima
alxmecu.jpg
Alexander the GreatPortrait of Alexander the Great done in mosaic that is housed at the Museo Nazionale, Naples, Italy. Dated from the late 2nd century. B.C., copy of a painting dated to c. 300 B.C.

Traditionally this scene reresents the turning-point at Issus when Darius fled the battle; but Philoxenus, the artist from whose painting the mosaic was copied, may have incorporated elements from other battles. Alexander's personal moment of peril seems borrowed from the Granicus, and the confrontation also has echoes of Gaugamela.

This mosaic depicts a battle between Alexander the Great and the Persian king Darius, probably the Battle of the Issus River in November of 333 B.C. It is in opus vermiculatum, with over one and a half million tesserae, none larger than 4 mm., in four colors: white, yellow, red, and black. The minuteness of the tesserae enables incredibly fine detail and painterly effects, including remarkable portraits of Alexander and Darius.

See:http://www.hackneys.com/alex_web/pages/alxphoto.htm
Cleisthenes
ATGmosaic.jpg
Alexander the Great, The Battle of Issus RiverThis mosaic depicts a battle between Alexander the Great and the Persian king Darius, probably the Battle of the Issus River in November of 333 B.C. It is in opus vermiculatum, with over one and a half million tesserae, none larger than 4 mm., in four colors: white, yellow, red, and black. The minuteness of the tesserae enables incredibly fine detail and painterly effects, including remarkable portraits of Alexander and Darius.

The border of this huge mosaic consists of large stones in a dentate pattern . In the corners are rosettes. Within the border along the bottom of the picture is a blank brown stripe, which some consider to be part of the picture, balancing the white expanse of sky at the top, while others argue that it is simply part of the frame.

The composition of the mosaic is dominated by the two protagonists: On the left, Alexander, with his head uncovered, rushes forward on his horse Bucephalus. He holds a spear with which he has skewered a Persian soldier, who has rushed to the defence of Darius. With Alexander appear his helmeted Macedonian soldiers, although little remains of them due to damage of the left side of the mosaic. On the right Darius, wearing a Persian cap, stretches out his hand to his wounded defender, while his charioteer whips the horses to flee toward the right. Around him are his Persian soldiers who mill in confusion in the background, their faces filled with fear and determination. One Persian, however, to the right of the dying defender of Darius, is intent upon Alexander, and holds his sword in his hand, ready to attack.

There are many details which emphasize the terror and confusion of the battle. The horse of the Persian defender of Darius collapses beneath him while he writhes in agony on Alexander's spear. Below Darius in his chariot, a Persian soldier, staring in horror at this scene, attempts to hold a rearing horse. The hindquarters of this horse project into the middle ground of the picture, giving it a sense of depth. To the right, a soldier is being crushed under the wheels of Darius' chariot. His face is reflected in the shield which he holds. Further to the right appear the terrified horses of the chariot team, trampling upon another unfortunate Persian.

The composition of the mosaic is dominated by diagonals. The center is dominated by the intersecting diagonals of the Persian speared by Alexander and the Persian restraining the rearing horse. Two other sets of intersecting diagonals are provided by the figures of Darius and his charioteer and by Alexander and the wounded Persian. The lances in the background of the picture also carry on the diagonal motif.

The setting of the battle is very stylized. In the background appears a tree with bare twisted limbs whose diagonals continue the unifying compositional motif of the mosaic. The tree also serves as a formal vertical counterweight to the Persian king and his charioteer, who rise above the battle fray. In the foreground are discarded weapons and rocks, which serve to define the space between the viewer and the battle scene.

The Alexander mosaic is thought to be based on a painting which Philoxenus of Eretria created for King Cassander of Macedonia. The painting is described by Pliny the Elder as representing "the battle of Alexander with Darius." Certain inconsistencies in the mosaic point to its derivation from another source. In the center of the composition appears a helmeted head to the right of the rearing horse. Two lance shafts come from the left and abruptly stop behind this he‡d. To the right of the same head appears a head of a horse and beneath this are the hindquarters of another horse, neither of which is logically completed. Among the four horses of Darius' chariot there are parts of a white horse which do not fit together anatomically. Above these horses is a Persian soldier who appears to have two right hands, one on his head and the other raised in the air. These details provide evidence that the mosaicist misunderstood details of the original.

Nevertheless, the overall effect of the mosaic is masterful. The expert blending of the colors of the tesserae and the careful control of the overall composition create a scene which comes to life with all the horror and confusion of battle. The Alexander mosaic is a truly great work, unmatched in the history of Roman art.

See: http://www.hackneys.com/alex_web/pages/alxphoto.htm
Cleisthenes
Bramsen 0032.JPG
Bramsen 0032. Passage du Saint-Bernard, 1800.Obv. Uniformed bust of Napoleon right BONAPARTE Ir. CONSUL DE LA REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE.
Rev. Napoleon on horseback, crossing the Alps, after the painting by David PASSAGE DU Gd. St. BERNARD LE XXV FLOREAL AN VIII

AE58. Montagny, after Andrieu.

Stained and slightly worn.

LordBest
Lg006GreekLarge_quad_sm~1.jpg
CSA_T68_Back.jpg
Confederate States of America: T-68 1864 $10 (Back)Cuhaj, George S. (2012-11-30). Confederate States Paper Money: Civil War Currency from the South

Obverse: Field artillery. Bust of R. M. T. Hunter, Confederate cabinet member, at lower right. Pink and black.
Reverse: Blue web reverse with denomination. Plain paper.

This is the most commonly available Confederate note today. Issued in Series 1 to 10 and without series. Over 120 plate letter varieties (A to H) plus many insignificant differences in plate letters. 9,135,920 notes (incomplete data). The design is said to represent Braxton Bragg’s artillery at the Battle of Buena Vista in 1847 during the War with Mexico. If correct, it is apparently based on a portion of a contemporary painting by Carl Nebel, except from a different angle. Bragg became a Confederate general during the Civil War.
Quant.Geek
CSA_T68_Front.jpg
Confederate States of America: T-68 1864 $10 (Front)Cuhaj, George S. (2012-11-30). Confederate States Paper Money: Civil War Currency from the South

Obverse: Field artillery. Bust of R. M. T. Hunter, Confederate cabinet member, at lower right. Pink and black.
Reverse: Blue web reverse with denomination. Plain paper.

This is the most commonly available Confederate note today. Issued in Series 1 to 10 and without series. Over 120 plate letter varieties (A to H) plus many insignificant differences in plate letters. 9,135,920 notes (incomplete data). The design is said to represent Braxton Bragg’s artillery at the Battle of Buena Vista in 1847 during the War with Mexico. If correct, it is apparently based on a portion of a contemporary painting by Carl Nebel, except from a different angle. Bragg became a Confederate general during the Civil War.
Quant.Geek
PlautiusDenarius.jpg
Crawford 453/1, ROMAN IMPERATORIAL, L. Plautius Plancus, AR DenariusRome. Moneyer Issues of the Imperatorial Period.
L. Plautius Plancus, 47 BCE.
AR Denarius (3.94g; 19mm).
Rome Mint.

Obverse: L·PLAVTIVS; Facing mask of Medusa with coiled snakes on each side.

Reverse: PLANCVS; Victory facing, leading four horses and holding palm.

References: Crawford 453/1a; HCRI 29; Sydenham 959; BMCRR 4006; Plautia 14.

Provenance: Ex The New York Sale Auction XXXII (8 Jan 2014) Lot 205; NAC 54 (24 Mar 2010), Lot 256.

Lucius Plautius Plancus was a brother of L. Munatius Plancus, who became Prefect of the City under Caesar. Lucius was adopted by L. Plautius. In 47 BCE, Lucius was a moneyer and produced this coin. Two styles of the obverse were produced, one with coiled snakes on either side of Medusa's head; the other without snakes.

In 43 BCE, Lucius was proscribed by the Second Triumvirate and executed. The same year of Lucius’ proscription and execution, his brother, L. Munatius Plancus, placed in the capitol a painting by the 4th century BCE, Greek artist, Nicomachus of Thebes in which Victory is driving a quadriga and holding a palm. David Sear, in “History and Coinage of the Roman Imperators” suggests that Lucius may have owned the Nicomachus painting in 47 BCE (it would have passed to his brother upon his execution) and that the reverse of this coin was inspired by the painting. Sear is not the first numismatist to have proposed this theory regarding the Nicomachus painting. Eckhel had an equally conjectural theory for this coin type that connected the devices to a story involving one of Lucius’ ancestors as the basis for an annual celebration in Rome where masks were worn.

Regardless of the true derivation and meaning of the type, the coin is a remarkably artistic design for the period, and surely the devices must have some connection to the moneyer’s natural or adopted family.
3 commentsCarausius
Ethiopian_Coptic_Bible-004.jpg
Ethiopian Coptic Ge’ez Bible (ca. 18th Century)Ethiopian Handwritten Coptic Ge’ez Bibles were produced as early as the fourteenth century until the late 19th century throughout Ethiopia, the first country to become an independent African nation. Christianity was introduced to Ethiopia in the 4th century when Syrian missionaries first translated the Bible into Ge’ez, the language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The surviving body of Ge’ez literature in composed almost entirely of Christian liturgy, as education was exclusively the responsibility of priests and monks. The bibles produced typically contain the gospels of the New Testament, recounting the life of Jesus of Nazareth and the foundation of the Christian faith with illuminated miniature paintings depicting the lives of the Saints.Quant.Geek
Ethiopian_Coptic_Bible-003.jpg
Ethiopian Coptic Ge’ez Bible (ca. 18th Century)Ethiopian Handwritten Coptic Ge’ez Bibles were produced as early as the fourteenth century until the late 19th century throughout Ethiopia, the first country to become an independent African nation. Christianity was introduced to Ethiopia in the 4th century when Syrian missionaries first translated the Bible into Ge’ez, the language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The surviving body of Ge’ez literature in composed almost entirely of Christian liturgy, as education was exclusively the responsibility of priests and monks. The bibles produced typically contain the gospels of the New Testament, recounting the life of Jesus of Nazareth and the foundation of the Christian faith with illuminated miniature paintings depicting the lives of the Saints.Quant.Geek
Ethiopian_Coptic_Bible-002.jpg
Ethiopian Coptic Ge’ez Bible (ca. 18th Century)Ethiopian Handwritten Coptic Ge’ez Bibles were produced as early as the fourteenth century until the late 19th century throughout Ethiopia, the first country to become an independent African nation. Christianity was introduced to Ethiopia in the 4th century when Syrian missionaries first translated the Bible into Ge’ez, the language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The surviving body of Ge’ez literature in composed almost entirely of Christian liturgy, as education was exclusively the responsibility of priests and monks. The bibles produced typically contain the gospels of the New Testament, recounting the life of Jesus of Nazareth and the foundation of the Christian faith with illuminated miniature paintings depicting the lives of the Saints.Quant.Geek
Ethiopian_Coptic_Bible-001.jpg
Ethiopian Coptic Ge’ez Bible (ca. 18th Century)Ethiopian Handwritten Coptic Ge’ez Bibles were produced as early as the fourteenth century until the late 19th century throughout Ethiopia, the first country to become an independent African nation. Christianity was introduced to Ethiopia in the 4th century when Syrian missionaries first translated the Bible into Ge’ez, the language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The surviving body of Ge’ez literature in composed almost entirely of Christian liturgy, as education was exclusively the responsibility of priests and monks. The bibles produced typically contain the gospels of the New Testament, recounting the life of Jesus of Nazareth and the foundation of the Christian faith with illuminated miniature paintings depicting the lives of the Saints.Quant.Geek
Gilbert_Stuart2C_1968_NYU_Hall_of_Fame_Medal.JPG
Gilbert Stuart, 1968 NYU Hall of Fame MedalObv: GILBERT STUART 1755 – 1828, bust of Stuart facing right.

Rev: HIS GENIUS RECORDED FOR POSTERITY, Gilbert Stuart painting his famous portrait of George Washington who is posing in background. THE HALL OF FAME FOR GREAT AMERICANS AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY ©1968, inscribed on a billowing ribbon below.

Category: Artist

Year Elected: 1900

Medal Issued: 1968

Sculptors: Laura Gardin Fraser (obv.), Karl Gruppe (rev.)

Mint: Medallic Art Company

Details: Bronze, 44 mm, 0°
Matt Inglima
Pompeiifuneral.JPG
Gladiators on Funerary tombPainting depicting two gladiators on a Funerary tomb in PompeiiJay GT4
Roman_era_wall_-_Delos.jpg
Greece, Delos - Wall in the Maritime QuarterRemnant plasterwork and painting illustrates how the coarse stone walls were finished in the residential area that is the Maritime Quarter.1 comments
Jahangir_Rupee.jpg
ISLAMIC, India, Mughals, JahangirIndia / Mughal Empire. Jahangir, AH 1014-1037 / AD 1605-1627. Rupee, AH 1025 / AD 1616; RY 10; month Isfandarmuz. Agra. Lane-Poole 441 (similar). KM 147.1. Zeno 49303. Silver. Square, 20mm × 20mm, 11.04 grams.

Obverse: Shah Nur-ud-din Jahangir, ibn Shah Akbar.

Reverse: "mah-i isfandarmuz-i ilahi / zarb agra / sanat 10 / 1025" (the month of Isfandarmuz of the ilahi month, struck Agra year 10, 1025).

Prince Salim's accession to the Mughal throne occured in 1605 AD following the death of his father, Jalal-ud-din Muhammad Akbar. Prince Salim chose the titular name of Nur-ud-din Muhammad Jahangir and ruled in a fair and just manner. Jahangir was born amidst luxury and opulence and he was a refined, educated and cultured man. He excelled in astronomy, zoology, painting etc and was liberal and tolerant towards other religions. As a prince, he was known for his affair with Anarkali, a courtesan, who, as rumoured, was buried alive by an incensed Akbar. Later Jahangir married a Persian widow, Nur Jahan, who became his favorite wife and a capable administrator as in the last few years of his reign Jahangir's mental and physical health deteriorated under the influence of alcohol and opium. Jahangir died in 1627 AD.

Under Jahangir, numismatics reached its greatest zenith. Jahangir minted some of the best known coins of the world including the largest gold coin ever minted, a 1,000 Tola (12 Kg) gold mohur, zodiac coins in gold and silver, portrait coins of himself and Akbar, and coins featuring poetic couplets. Some of these innovations were radical and defied the Islamic tradition viz zodiac & portrait coins. Shah Jahan, Jahangir's son and successor, ordered death penalty for anyone found using the zodiac coin series (consider as un-Islamic) as well as coins bearing the name of his step-mother, Nur Jahan, as she had undue influence over Jahangir and had interfered in Shah Jahan's accession, that makes them a great rarity today. No wonder coins of Jahangir are considered works of art and are much sought after by collectors around the world.

The featured specimen is an elegant square coin of Jahangir with magnificent work of calligraphy and depiction of vines, creepers, flowers, sunbursts and what not on the coin. It is most certainly struck from the Gold Mohur dies. All square rupee's were intended as 'nazrana' or tribute. The Ilahi coins were struck as round or square shape in alternate months. The ornate multiple dotted borders (thin inner border, thick outer border) together with the artistic scroll work, calligraphy and the flora depicted on the coin makes it an exquisite specimen, more so remarkable due to the absence of any shroff 'test' marks that disfigure and plague the Mughal coin series. The coin has great eye appeal and is a fine tribute to one of the best known numismatic innovator of his time.
mitresh
2009-03-22_03-29_Sizilien_389_Solunto.jpg
Italy, Sicily, View of Solanto from the ruins of Soluntum (aka Solus, Solous, and Kefra)View of Solanto from the ruins of Soluntum (aka Solus, Solous, and Kefra), Sicily

Solus (or Soluntum, near modern Solanto) was an ancient city on the north coast of Sicily, one of the three chief Phoenician settlements on the island, about 16 kilometers (10 miles) east of Panormus (modern Palermo). It lay 183 meters (600 ft) above sea level, on the southeast side of Monte Catalfano 373 meters (1,225 ft), in a naturally strong situation, and commanding a fine view. The date of its founding is unknown. Solus was one of the few colonies that the Phoenicians retained when they withdrew to the northwest corner of the island before the advance of the Greek colonies in Sicily. Together with Panormus and Motya, it allied with the Carthaginians. In 396 B.C. Dionysius took the city but it probably soon broke away again to Carthage and was usually part of their dominions on the island. In 307 B.C. it was given to the soldiers and mercenaries of Agathocles, who had made peace with the Carthage when abandoned by their leader in Africa. During the First Punic War it was still subject to Carthage, and it was not until after the fall of Panormus that Soluntum also opened its gates to the Romans. It continued to under Roman dominion as a municipal town, but apparently one of no great importance, as its name is only slightly and occasionally mentioned by Cicero. But it is still noticed both by Pliny and Ptolemy, as well as at a later period by the Itineraries. Its destruction probably dates from the time of the Saracens.

Excavations have brought to light considerable remains of the ancient town, belonging entirely to the Roman period, and a good deal still remains unexplored. The traces of two ancient roads, paved with large blocks of stone, which led up to the city, may still be followed, and the whole summit of Monte Catalfano is covered with fragments of ancient walls and foundations of buildings. Among these may be traced the remains of two temples, of which some capitals and portions of friezes, have been discovered. An archaic oriental Artemis sitting between a lion and a panther, found here, is in the museum at Palermo, with other antiquities from this site. An inscription, erected by the citizens in honor of Fulvia Plautilla, the wife of Caracalla, was found there in 1857. With the exception of the winding road by which the town was approached on the south, the streets, despite the unevenness of the ground, which in places is so steep that steps have to be introduced, are laid out regularly, running from east to west and from north to south, and intersecting at right angles. They are as a rule paved with slabs of stone. The houses were constructed of rough walling, which was afterwards plastered over; the natural rock is often used for the lower part of the walls. One of the largest of them, with a peristyle, was in 1911, though wrongly, called the gymnasium. Near the top of the town are some cisterns cut in the rock, and at the summit is a larger house than usual, with mosaic pavements and paintings on its walls. Several sepulchres also have been found.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soluntum

Photo by Allie Caulfield from Germany.
Joe Sermarini
Italy- Napoli Museum- Painting from Pompeii.jpg
Italy- Napoli Museum- Painting from PompeiiPeter Wissing
Italy- Napoli Museum- The famous couple Paquio and wife from Pompeii.jpg
Italy- Napoli Museum- The famous couple Paquio and wife from PompeiiPortrait of Paquio and His Wife
Pompeii, Wall Painting, c. A.D. 70

Another relevante contribution to the Naples Museum, and under many aspects a peculiar one, derived from the excavations of the cities buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. , mainly Herculaneum and Pompeii.

It was a sudden catastrophe which buried the cities under a layer of volcanic material, so that buildings, art works and often also remains of organic material have been miraculously preserved underground much better than on any other archaeological site, where gradual abandonment destruction have deprived us of most documents of its culture.
Peter Wissing
Italy- Pompeii- Brothel.jpg
Italy- Pompeii- BrothelSome of the most fascinating clues about the lives of the ancient peoples who made their lives in Pompeii can be found in the numerous brothels in the city. It is an indication of the prosperity of the city -- people had money to burn. Here is one example of the Pompeian "houses of ill repute". I chose this one because of its unusual architecture and fine frescoes.

Ancient Pompeii was full of erotic or pornographic frescoes, symbols, inscriptions, and even household items. The ancient Roman culture of the time was much more sexually permissive than most present-day cultures.

When the serious excavation of Pompeii began in the 18th century, a clash of the cultures was the result. A fresco on a wall that showed the ancient god of sex and fertility, Priapus with his extremely enlarged penis, was covered with plaster and only rediscovered because of rainfall in 1998.[1] In 1819, when king Francis I of Naples visited the exhibition at the National Museum with his wife and daughter, he was so embarrassed by the erotic artwork that he decided to have it locked away in a secret cabinet, accessible only to "people of mature age and respected morals." Re-opened, closed, re-opened again and then closed again for nearly 100 years, it was made briefly accessible again at the end of the 1960s (the time of the sexual revolution) and has finally been re-opened in the year 2000. Minors are not allowed entry to the once secret cabinet without a guardian or a written permission.As previously mentioned, some of the paintings and frescoes became immediately famous because they represented erotic, sometimes explicit, sexual scenes. One of the most curious buildings recovered was in fact a Lupanare (brothel), which had many erotic paintings and graffiti indicating the services available -- patrons only had to point to what they wanted. The Lupanare had 10 rooms (cubicula, 5 per floor), a balcony, and a latrina. It was one of the larger houses, perhaps the largest, but not the only brothel. The town seems to have been oriented to a warm consideration of sensual matters: on a wall of the Basilica (sort of a civil tribunal, thus frequented by many Roman tourists and travelers), an immortal inscription tells the foreigner, If anyone is looking for some tender love in this town, keep in mind that here all the girls are very friendly (loose translation).

The function of these pictures is not yet clear: some authors say that they indicate that the services of prostitutes were available on the upper floor of the house and could perhaps be a sort of advertising, while others prefer the hypothesis that their only purpose was to decorate the walls with joyful scenes (as these were in Roman culture). The Termae were, however, used in common by males and females, although baths in other areas (even within Pompeii) were often segregated by sex.

Peter Wissing
Italy- Pompeii- Entrance to the house of Fauno.jpg
Italy- Pompeii- Entrance to the house of FaunoHOUSE OF THE FAUN (VI,12,2)
With its 3000m² it is the largest house in Pompeii: built over a previous dwelling at the beginning of the 2nd century BC, its current form is the result of subsequent alterations. The entrance on the left leads directly into the public section, the door on the right to the private rooms: an atrium whose roof is supported by four columns, stalls, latrine, baths, kitchen. In the entrance is the Latin message HAVE. The ‘first style’ decoration, the floors of sectile opus, and the mosaic threshold (now at the Naples Museum) highlight the dignity of this house, more similar to the aristocratic Roman domus than local upper class dwellings. In the center of the impluvium is a bronze statue of the ‘faun’ (2nd cent. BC: original in Naples); around it are rooms that held mosaic paintings on the floor and ‘first style’ decorations on the walls. Between the two porticoed gardens is the exedra, the core of the dwelling, with Corinthian columns, stuccoed and painted capitals, a splendid mosaic (now at the N
aples Museum) depicting the victory of Alexander the Great over Darius, King of Persia, which has helped to suggest a connection between the Macedonian ruler and the unknown, educated, and wealthy owner of the
FLOOR PLAN OF THE HOUSE OF THE FAUN Pompeii 2nd Century Courtesy of Professor Barbette Spaeth, Tulane University (Excerpted from Professor Spaeth's accompanying text) This house was among the largest and most elegant of the houses of Pompeii. It took up an entire city block (c. 80 m. long by 35 m. wide or 315 by 115 ft.) and was filled with beautiful works of art, including the famous mosaic depicting Alexander the Great at the Battle of Issus, and wall paintings of the First, Second and Fourth Styles. The decoration of the house is heavily influenced by Hellenistic models. The House of the Faun was originally built in the early second century. In this period, the house was focused around two atria, one a large Tuscan atrium (3), and the other a smaller tetrastyle atrium (10), while the back of the house had a large kitchen garden. The two-atria plan represented an attempt to separate the formal functions of the atrium, i.e., the reception of clients and conduct of business by the patron of the house, from its private functions, i.e., the course of everyday family life. This type of plan is an intermediate step between the simple atrium house, with a single atrium complex, and the atrium and peristyle house. Apparently, the two-atria plan did not prove ultimately satisfactory for the owners of the House of the Faun. In the late second century B.C. they added a peristyle (8) to the north of the original two-atria nucleus, along with a service quarter to the eastern side (12-16), and reception rooms to the north. The rear of the house contained the kitchen garden. To this later period of the house belong its wall decorations in First Style and its famous mosaics. Finally, another peristyle was added around the time of the Early Roman Colony (20), that is, in the early first century B.C. This peristyle included more reception rooms along the south side (17 & 18), and smaller rooms, perhaps for servants, to the north (22) . The center of the new peristyle was occupied by the kitchen garden (19). With these renovations, the house acquired a new focus around the peristyles. The peristyles represented a private retreat for the family, a place where they could relax and entertain special guests. The front part of the house was kept for more formal occasions. The addition of service quarters reflects a further differentiation of function in the house, again separating the daily life of the family from the more public reception areas. The House of the Faun, with its elaborate decoration and extensive plan, represents one of the most important examples of Roman domus architecture of the second to first century B.C.
Peter Wissing
Italy- Pompeii- Entrance to the house of Fauno 1.jpg
Italy- Pompeii- Entrance to the house of Fauno 1House of the Faun. Fauces

FLOOR PLAN OF THE HOUSE OF THE FAUN Pompeii 2nd Century Courtesy of Professor Barbette Spaeth, Tulane University (Excerpted from Professor Spaeth's accompanying text) This house was among the largest and most elegant of the houses of Pompeii. It took up an entire city block (c. 80 m. long by 35 m. wide or 315 by 115 ft.) and was filled with beautiful works of art, including the famous mosaic depicting Alexander the Great at the Battle of Issus, and wall paintings of the First, Second and Fourth Styles. The decoration of the house is heavily influenced by Hellenistic models. The House of the Faun was originally built in the early second century. In this period, the house was focused around two atria, one a large Tuscan atrium (3), and the other a smaller tetrastyle atrium (10), while the back of the house had a large kitchen garden. The two-atria plan represented an attempt to separate the formal functions of the atrium, i.e., the reception of clients and conduct of business by the patron of the house, from its private functions, i.e., the course of everyday family life. This type of plan is an intermediate step between the simple atrium house, with a single atrium complex, and the atrium and peristyle house. Apparently, the two-atria plan did not prove ultimately satisfactory for the owners of the House of the Faun. In the late second century B.C. they added a peristyle (8) to the north of the original two-atria nucleus, along with a service quarter to the eastern side (12-16), and reception rooms to the north. The rear of the house contained the kitchen garden. To this later period of the house belong its wall decorations in First Style and its famous mosaics. Finally, another peristyle was added around the time of the Early Roman Colony (20), that is, in the early first century B.C. This peristyle included more reception rooms along the south side (17 & 18), and smaller rooms, perhaps for servants, to the north (22) . The center of the new peristyle was occupied by the kitchen garden (19). With these renovations, the house acquired a new focus around the peristyles. The peristyles represented a private retreat for the family, a place where they could relax and entertain special guests. The front part of the house was kept for more formal occasions. The addition of service quarters reflects a further differentiation of function in the house, again separating the daily life of the family from the more public reception areas. The House of the Faun, with its elaborate decoration and extensive plan, represents one of the most important examples of Roman domus architecture of the second to first century B.C.

Peter Wissing
Italy- Pompeii- House of Fauno with bronze statuette of Fauno and nice mosaic floor.jpg
Italy- Pompeii- House of Fauno with bronze statuette of Fauno and nice mosaic floorFLOOR PLAN OF THE HOUSE OF THE FAUN Pompeii 2nd Century Courtesy of Professor Barbette Spaeth, Tulane University (Excerpted from Professor Spaeth's accompanying text) This house was among the largest and most elegant of the houses of Pompeii. It took up an entire city block (c. 80 m. long by 35 m. wide or 315 by 115 ft.) and was filled with beautiful works of art, including the famous mosaic depicting Alexander the Great at the Battle of Issus, and wall paintings of the First, Second and Fourth Styles. The decoration of the house is heavily influenced by Hellenistic models. The House of the Faun was originally built in the early second century. In this period, the house was focused around two atria, one a large Tuscan atrium (3), and the other a smaller tetrastyle atrium (10), while the back of the house had a large kitchen garden. The two-atria plan represented an attempt to separate the formal functions of the atrium, i.e., the reception of clients and conduct of business by the patron of the house, from its private functions, i.e., the course of everyday family life. This type of plan is an intermediate step between the simple atrium house, with a single atrium complex, and the atrium and peristyle house. Apparently, the two-atria plan did not prove ultimately satisfactory for the owners of the House of the Faun. In the late second century B.C. they added a peristyle (8) to the north of the original two-atria nucleus, along with a service quarter to the eastern side (12-16), and reception rooms to the north. The rear of the house contained the kitchen garden. To this later period of the house belong its wall decorations in First Style and its famous mosaics. Finally, another peristyle was added around the time of the Early Roman Colony (20), that is, in the early first century B.C. This peristyle included more reception rooms along the south side (17 & 18), and smaller rooms, perhaps for servants, to the north (22) . The center of the new peristyle was occupied by the kitchen garden (19). With these renovations, the house acquired a new focus around the peristyles. The peristyles represented a private retreat for the family, a place where they could relax and entertain special guests. The front part of the house was kept for more formal occasions. The addition of service quarters reflects a further differentiation of function in the house, again separating the daily life of the family from the more public reception areas. The House of the Faun, with its elaborate decoration and extensive plan, represents one of the most important examples of Roman domus architecture of the second to first century B.CPeter Wissing
Italy- Pompeii- House of Fauno with nice mosaic floor.jpg
Italy- Pompeii- House of Fauno with nice mosaic floorFLOOR PLAN OF THE HOUSE OF THE FAUN Pompeii 2nd Century Courtesy of Professor Barbette Spaeth, Tulane University (Excerpted from Professor Spaeth's accompanying text) This house was among the largest and most elegant of the houses of Pompeii. It took up an entire city block (c. 80 m. long by 35 m. wide or 315 by 115 ft.) and was filled with beautiful works of art, including the famous mosaic depicting Alexander the Great at the Battle of Issus, and wall paintings of the First, Second and Fourth Styles. The decoration of the house is heavily influenced by Hellenistic models. The House of the Faun was originally built in the early second century. In this period, the house was focused around two atria, one a large Tuscan atrium (3), and the other a smaller tetrastyle atrium (10), while the back of the house had a large kitchen garden. The two-atria plan represented an attempt to separate the formal functions of the atrium, i.e., the reception of clients and conduct of business by the patron of the house, from its private functions, i.e., the course of everyday family life. This type of plan is an intermediate step between the simple atrium house, with a single atrium complex, and the atrium and peristyle house. Apparently, the two-atria plan did not prove ultimately satisfactory for the owners of the House of the Faun. In the late second century B.C. they added a peristyle (8) to the north of the original two-atria nucleus, along with a service quarter to the eastern side (12-16), and reception rooms to the north. The rear of the house contained the kitchen garden. To this later period of the house belong its wall decorations in First Style and its famous mosaics. Finally, another peristyle was added around the time of the Early Roman Colony (20), that is, in the early first century B.C. This peristyle included more reception rooms along the south side (17 & 18), and smaller rooms, perhaps for servants, to the north (22) . The center of the new peristyle was occupied by the kitchen garden (19). With these renovations, the house acquired a new focus around the peristyles. The peristyles represented a private retreat for the family, a place where they could relax and entertain special guests. The front part of the house was kept for more formal occasions. The addition of service quarters reflects a further differentiation of function in the house, again separating the daily life of the family from the more public reception areas. The House of the Faun, with its elaborate decoration and extensive plan, represents one of the most important examples of Roman domus architecture of the second to first century B.CPeter Wissing
Italy- Pompeii- House with remains of painting and street.jpg
Italy- Pompeii- House with remains of painting and streetPeter Wissing
James_McNeil_Whistler2C_1972_NYU_Hall_of_Fame.JPG
James Abbott McNeill Whistler, 1972 NYU Hall of Fame MedalObv: 1834 WHISTLER 1903, head of Whistler facing, encircled by the fragments of an exploding rocket that is an interpretation of his painting ”The Falling Rocket”. In the 4 o’clock position appears his monogrammed signature in the shape of a butterfly. THE HALL OF FAME FOR GREAT AMERICANS AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY below.

Rev: A depiction of the sensitivity of the artist’s work versus his combative public personality.

Category: Artist

Year Elected: 1930

Medal Issued: 1972

Sculptor: Stanley Martineau

Mint: Medallic Art Company

Details: Bronze, 44 mm, 0°
Matt Inglima
James_Russell_Lowell_1970_NYU_Hall_of_Fame_Medal.JPG
James Russell Lowell, 1970 NYU Hall of Fame MedalObv: JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 1819 - 1891, bust of Lowell facing left.

Rev: THE HALL OF FAME FOR GREAT AMERICANS AT NEW YORK UNIVERSITY ©1970, A representation from Lowell’s narrative poem “The Vision of Sir Launfal,” of when the crusader meets the leper and see in him the Savior. Scene executed in the style of an illuminated manuscript painting.

"For Christ's sweet sake, I beg an alms;"—
The happy camels may reach the spring,
But Sir Launfal sees only the grewsome thing,
The leper, lank as the rain-blanched bone,
That cowers beside him, a thing as lone
And white as the ice-isles of Northern seas
In the desolate horror of his disease.”

And Sir Launfal said,—"I behold in thee
An image of Him who died on the tree;
Thou also hast had thy crown of thorns,—
Thou also hast had the world's buffets and scorns,—
And to thy life were not denied
The wounds in the hands and feet and side;
Mild Mary's Son, acknowledge me;
Behold, through him, I give to Thee!"


-- Excerpt: “The Vision of Sir Launfal” by James Russell Lowell, 1848

Category: Literature

Year Elected: 1905

Medal Issued: 1970

Sculptor: Carl Christian Mose

Mint: Medallic Art Company

Details: Bronze, 44 mm, 0°
Matt Inglima
JeanWarinbyDufour~0.JPG
Jean Warin, Master of all Arts. 1684.Obv: Bust of Jean Warin IEAN. VARIN. CONER. DESTAT. INTEND. GL. D. BATS. E. D. MOES. D.F
Rev: Medallic Art flanked by Painting and Sculpture. The center figure, representing Medal Making, is holding a portrait medal of Warin. .VNE. SEVLE. SVFF ISOIT. POVR. LE. RENDRE. IMMORTAL. (A Single One Would Have Sufficed to Render Him Immortal)
in ex MDCLXXXIIII
Signed: DVFOVR

Jean Warin was born at Liege about 1604 and died in Paris in 1672. He is considered to be one of the foremost medallists of France and the best French Engraver of coin-dies of the seventeenth century. Of the many medals attributed to him, most were engraved and struck although some were cast. Besides medal making Jean Warin had a variety of other interests. He distinguished himself somewhat as a painter but most particularly as a sculptor, even rivaling the great Italian sculptor Bernini. He also experimented in medal making capacity of machinery and helped develop an improved method for coin making. In fact, his fame was established more for his other artistic endeavors than for those as a medallist.

Jean Warin led a somewhat checkered personal life. He seduced the wife of one of his compatriots and was accused at one point of forging coins, for which he was sentenced to banishment for five years. Fortunately for him he had cultivated a champion in Cardinal Richelieu, who, so as not to lose the skill of this great artist, intervened on his behalf, resulting in a pardon.

Jean Warin occupies a pivotal place in the history of medallic art. He took the techniques developed during the Italian renaissance and by mastering the machinery at the Monnaie du Moulin, transformed the art to serve the state. His influence extended not only in France but throughout all of Northern Europe, well into the eighteenth century.
LordBest
ChristPantocratorStCatherines.jpg
Jesus Christ, PantocratorThe iconic image of Christ Pantocrator (Christ, Ruler of All) was one of the first images of Christ developed in the Early Christian Church and remains a central icon of the Eastern Orthodox Church. In the half-length image, Christ holds the New Testament in his left hand and blesses with his right.

The oldest known surviving example of the icon of Christ Pantocrator was painted in encaustic on panel in the sixth or seventh century, and survived the period of destruction of images during the Iconoclastic Disputes that racked the Eastern church, 726 A.D. to 815 A.D. and 813 A.D. to 843A.D., by being preserved in the remote desert of the Sinai, in Saint Catherine's Monastery. The gessoed panel, finely painted using a wax medium on a wooden panel, had been coarsely overpainted around the face and hands at some time around the thirteenth century. It was only when the overpainting was cleaned in 1962 that the ancient image was revealed to be a very high quality icon, probably produced in Constantinople (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Pantocrator).

The Christ Pantocrator Icon at St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai

In 544 AD, a cloth bearing an image of Jesus was discovered hidden above a gate in Edessa's city walls. Six years later, an icon was produced at St. Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai.
(See: http://www.shroudofturin4journalists.com/history.htm)

There are startling similarities between the icon and the image we see on the Shroud of Turin. There are, perhaps, too many similarities for it to be a mere coincidence.

The general placement of facial features including eyes, nose and mouth. In fact, when a transparency of the Shroud face is superimposed over the icon, there are no significant variations.

The hair on the left side (your right) falls on the shoulder and swoops outward. The hair on the other side is shorter.

The eyes are very large.

The nose is particularly thin and long. The face is gaunt.

There is a gap in the beard below a concentration of facial hair that is just below the lower lip.

The neck is particularly long.

It is particularly interesting to note that starting about this time a dramatic change took place in the way Jesus was portrayed on coins, icons, frescoes and mosaics. Before this time, Jesus was usually portrayed in storybook settings such as a young shepherd or modeled after the Greek Apollo.

After the discovery of the Edessa Cloth, images of Jesus were suddenly full-frontal facial images.


The story of the Shroud of Turin is fascinating. It began, for me, ironically when I thought the "story" had finally been laid to rest. Carbon 14 dating conducted in 1988 had just proved that the Shroud was medieval. Along with most, I accepted these results--the fact that two of my former Alma Maters (The University of Arizona and Oxford University) were involved in the testing lent a comfortable sense of closure (to give them their due, scientists from the Institut für Mittelenergiephysik in Zurich, Columbia University, and the British Museum were also involved in the tests). I was re-engaged by the Shroud story in 2005 when an article in the scholarly, peer-reviewed scientific journal Thermochimica Acta by an equally eminent scientist, Raymond N. Rogers, of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, subverted the 1988 tests. Very briefly, the sample cut from the Shroud in 1988 was shown not to be valid. In fact, the article noted, the Shroud was much older than the carbon 14 tests suggested. Curiouser and curiouser. . . and I'll leave the story at this juncture. If you are interested, see the following site:
http://www.shroudofturin4journalists.com/pantocrator.htm

Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
Cleisthenes
VA13374LG.jpg
L. Censorinus. 82 BC. In the contest between Apollo and Marsyas, the terms stated that the winner could treat the defeated party any way he wanted. Since the contest was judged by the Muses, Marsyas naturally lost and was flayed alive in a cave near Celaenae for his hubris to challenge a god. Apollo then nailed Marsyas' skin to a pine tree, near Lake Aulocrene (the Turkish Karakuyu Gölü), which Strabo noted was full of the reeds from which the pipes were fashioned. Diodorus Siculus felt that Apollo must have repented this "excessive" deed, and said that he had laid aside his lyre for a while, but Karl Kerenyi observes of the flaying of Marsyas' "shaggy hide: a penalty which will not seem especially cruel if one assumes that Marsyas' animal guise was merely a masquerade." Classical Greeks were unaware of such shamanistic overtones, and the Flaying of Marsyas became a theme for painting and sculpture. His brothers, nymphs, gods and goddesses mourned his death, and their tears, according to Ovid's Metamorphoses, were the source of the river Marsyas in Phrygia, which joins the Meander near Celaenae, where Herodotus reported that the flayed skin of Marsyas was still to be seen, and Ptolemy Hephaestion recorded a "festival of Apollo, where the skins of all those victims one has flayed are offered to the god." Plato was of the opinion that it had been made into a wineskin.

There are alternative sources of this story which state that it wasn't actually Marsyas who challenged Apollo but Apollo who challenged Marsyas because of his jealousy of the satyr's ability to play the flute. Therefore, hubris would not necessarily be a theme in this tale; rather the capricious weakness of the gods and their equally weak nature in comparison to humans.

There are several versions of the contest; according to Hyginus, Marsyas was departing as victor after the first round, when Apollo, turning his lyre upside down, played the same tune. This was something that Marsyas could not do with his flute. According to another version Marsyas was defeated when Apollo added his voice to the sound of the lyre. Marsyas protested, arguing that the skill with the instrument was to be compared, not the voice. However, Apollo replied that when Marsyas blew into the pipes, he was doing almost the same thing himself. The Muses supported Apollo's claim, leading to his victory.

Ovid touches upon the theme of Marsyas twice, very briefly telling the tale in Metamorphoses vi.383–400, where he concentrates on the tears shed into the river Marsyas, and making an allusion in Fasti, vi.649–710, where Ovid's primary focus is on the aulos and the roles of flute-players rather than Marsyas, whose name is not actually mentioned.

AR Denarius (17mm - 3.97 g)

Laureate head of Apollo right / Satyr Marsyas standing left, holding wine skin over shoulder; column surmounted by statue to right.
1 commentsecoli
markianopolis_domna_unknown.jpg
Moesia inferior, Markianopolis, 17. Julia Domna, HrJ (2013) 6.17.31.01 (plate coin)Julia Domna, AD 193-217
AE 18, 4.04g, 17.85g, 30°
obv. IOVLIA DO - [MNA CEB]
Bust, draped, r.
rev. MARKIANO - [POLITWN]
Kybele, in girded double chiton and himation, wearing mural crown, enthroned l.
in remarkable nonchalant attitude, resting with l. arm on tympanon and holding
patera in r. hand; at both sides of throne a lion, the frontal one std.r.
ref. a) not in AMNG
b) not in Varbanov (engl.)
c) Hristova/Jekov (2013) No. 6.17.31.1 (plate coin)

The depiction of Kybele on this coin is very different from the usual boring ones we see on small coins from Markianopolis. Here we must have a creative artist. The ostensibly nonchalant attitude I know until now only from depictions of MATER DEVM. I think it is the sign of a kind of safety and carelessness. We can see SECVRITAS often in a similar position. So even small coins - often overlooked by collectors - can cause a nice surprise.

Pat Lawrence: (1) I've been hunting for, what I think I recall, another Cybele relaxing like that on a provincial coin. Though the sense of security is, I think, a perfectly valid interpretation, I think there's more to it.
The iconographic type, seated with the pair of lions, goes back to her 4cBC cult statue. But it is on a stiff throne and is decidedly blocky, as cult statues often are.
The pictorial type shown on this and (if I recall correctly) some other Greek Imperial coins, where she leans back as if in a landscape setting, probably is related to paintings or reliefs that re-interpreted the cult-statue type to make a 'natural' and womanly Cybele.
This is like taking the medieval, originally Byzantine (as in apse mosaics) Mary and treating her and the baby as the Renaissance did, kneeling in the woods (Filippo Lippi) or playing with him, offering him grapes as Hermes did to baby Dionysos (with the meaning adjusted appropriately).
(2) Sometimes at the Rome mint JD is shown slightly relaxed on her cult-image throne, but so long as you have that carpentry back-rest to the throne, you are dealing with the cult image as prototype.
Jochen's new Marcianopolis I am sure DOES have the same "pictorial" prototype and meaning (Cybele in Nature, her element) as the Anchialos coin.
Jochen
nikopolis_sept_severus_AMNG1354.jpg
Moesia inferior, Nikopolis ad Istrum, 14. Septimius Severus, HrHJ (2018) 8.14.07.18 #2Septimius Severus AD 193-211
AE 16, 2.16g, 15.71g, 270°
obv. AV KAI CE - CEV[HROC]
bust, laureate, r.
rev. NIKOP - OL - I. - PROC IC
Apollo Sauroktonos stg. r., holding arrow in raised r. hand and leaning with l. arm on tree
stump on which a lizard is creeping upwards
ref. a) not in AMNG
b) Varbanov (engl.) 2246
c) Hristova/Hoeft/Jekov (2018) No.8.14.7.18
scarce, about VF

Varbanov writes: Tree-stump entwined by a snake(!). As Pat Lawrence could show, this is not correct. It is a lizard too but on an awry tree with implied branches. This depiction is known from sacro-idyllic paintings from Hellenistic period.
Jochen
nikopolis_sept_sev_AMNG1354_#2.jpg
Moesia inferior, Nikopolis ad Istrum, 14. Septimius Severus, HrHJ (2018) 8.14.07.19 #2Septimius Severus, AD 193-211
AE 16, 2.93g, 15.86mm, 225°
obv. AV KAI - CEVHROC
laureate head r.
rev. NIKOP - [OL] - I - PROC IC
Apollo Sauroktonos, nude, stg. with crossed legs r., r. hand taken back holding arrow and
resting with l. hand on tree-stump on which a lizard is creeping upwards.
ref. a) not in AMNG
b) Varbanov (engl.) 2247
c) Hristova/Hoeft/Jekov (2018) No.8.14.7.19
About VF, dark green patina

Varbanov writes: tree stump entwined by a snake. As Pat Lawrence could show this is not correct. It is a lizard too but on an awry tree with implied branches which is known from sacro-idyllic paintings from the Hellenistic period.
Jochen
nikopolis_sept_severus_Varbanov2247_#2.jpg
Moesia inferior, Nikopolis ad Istrum, 14. Septimius Severus, HrHJ (2018) 8.14.07.19 #3Septimius Severus, AD 193-211
AE 16, 2.35g, 15.77mm, 235°
obv. AV KAI - CEVHROC
bust, laureate, r.
rev. NIKOP - OL - I - PROC IC
Apollo Sauroktonos, nude, stg. with crossed legs r., r. hand taken back holding arrow and
resting with l. hand on tree-stump on which a lizard is creeping upwards.
ref. a) not in AMNG
b) Varbanov (engl.) 2247 corr.
c) Hristova/Hoeft/Jekov (2018) No.8.14.7.19
Scarce, F/F+, it's a pity that this coin is in such a bad shape!

Varbanov writes: tree stump entwined by a snake. As Pat Lawrence could show this is not correct. It is a lizard too but on a awry tree with implied branches which is known from sacro-idyllic paintings from the Hellenistic period. This type was first described by G.Dzanev in 'Coins of the Rousse region, Rousse 1998, p.66' (Pat Lawrence)
Jochen
fresco_green.jpg
Painted Fresco - Green & WhiteFresco painting, bright green with white (which may be the bare plaster base.)

A similar pairing of colors at Carnuntum was part of a swimming fish design, Behling, fig. 12, and was dated to the 2nd century AD.

6 x 6.5 cm.
SC
Pompeiiwall.JPG
Pompeii Villa of MysteriesPainting in the dining room in the Villa of Mysteries at Pompeii.
Color looks like it was painted yesterday not nearly 2000 years ago!
Jay GT4
pompeiiwall3.jpg
Pompeii Wall painting Another wall painting in Pompeii1 commentsJay GT4
pompeiiwall2.JPG
Pompeii wall paintingAnother stunning painting in Pompeii.Jay GT4
DSC00280.JPG
Pompeii wall paintingThis wall painting is on the outside door post. Jay GT4
DSC00206.JPG
Pompeii wall paintingAnother stunning painting from Pompeii. The colors seem like they were painted yesteday.Jay GT4
Guatemala_Copador_Polychrome_Olla.jpg
Pre-Columbian, Guatemala and Southern Mexico, Mayan Late Classic Period, Copador, (ca. 700-900 CE) Copador Polychrome OllaA corseted olla decorated with deep, earthy red bands at rim, shoulder, and carinated lower body, demarcating a band of pseudo-glyphs beneath the rim and a sequence of artistic depictions of seated humans and animals. This is one of the finer examples of Copador painting I have seen, and the figures painted around the center are rich in detail and seem to include monkeys, gods, kings, and queens, each unique, alongside decapitated heads and well-drawn furniture. A really remarkable piece if you like finely-rendered, ornate painting!

Size: 5.6" W x 4.75" H (14.2 cm x 12.1 cm)

ex Donick Cary Collection
Quant.Geek
RPC1311.jpg
RPC 1311 VespasianÆ27, 8.24g
Sardis (Lydia) mint, Titus Flavius Eisigonos (strategos)
Obv: ΑΥΤΟΚ ΚΑΙϹ ΟΥΕϹΠΑϹΙΑΝΩ; Head of Vespasian, laureate, r.
Rev: ΕΠΙ (Τ) ΦΛ ΕΙϹΙΓΟΝΟΥ ϹΑΡΔΙΑΝΩΝ; Pluto and Persephone in quadriga, r.
RPC 1311 (6 spec.).
Acquired from Tom Vossen, November 2023.

The rape, or more accurately abduction, of Prospernia (Persephone in Greek) depicted on the reverse of this Sardian provincial bronze is an infamous scene from Greco-Roman mythology. Here we see Pluto carrying away Prospernia in his chariot. The story of Proserpina explains why there is winter:

'One day, when Proserpina, daughter of Ceres, the goddess of agriculture, was gathering flowers in the fields, she was abducted by Pluto, god of the underworld, and carried off to his kingdom. Ceres was consumed with grief and in anger she scorched the earth, preventing grain from growing and the earth from producing fruit. Forced to intervene, Jupiter negotiated a compromise that provided Proserpina had not eaten anything while in the underworld she would be set free. Pluto however had offered Proserpina part of a pomegranate, which she accepted. The Fates would not allow Proserpina to be fully released, but a settlement was agreed upon by which she would spend part of the year with Pluto in the underworld (winter) and part of the year with her mother Ceres (summer). When Proserpina is with Pluto the earth is barren and cold and when she returns to her mother, Ceres pours forth the blessings of spring to welcome her beloved daughter home.'

The story has been told in paintings and sculpture throughout the ages. During the Renaissance a large Baroque marble group sculpture by Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini titled 'The Rape of Proserpina' most famously immortalised the tale for a modern audience. This Sardian bronze struck under Vespasian, while not exceedingly rare, is seldom encountered in trade.
2 commentsDavid Atherton
RPC2708.jpg
RPC 2708 DomitianÆ Drachm, 21.63g
Alexandria mint, 94-95 AD
Obv: ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙϹ ΘƐΟΥ ΥΙΟϹ ΔΟΜΙΤ ϹƐΒ ΓƐΡΜ; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r.
Rev: Triumphal arch; date LΙΔ
RPC 2708 (6 spec.). Emmett 257.14. Dattari-Savio 542-3.
Ex Harlan J Berk BBS 225, 30 November 2023, lot 505. Ex Shimmer, 1986, lot 118.

'He erected so many and such huge vaulted passage-ways and arches in the various regions of the city, adorned with chariots and triumphal emblems, that on one of them someone wrote in Greek: "enough!" '- Suetonius, Life of Domitian, 13.2.

Thus we begin with a pun. Some nameless wag scrawled ARCI on one of Domitian’s many arches, punning on the similarity between arcus (‘arch’) and the Greek arkei (‘enough’). Suetonius thought it clever enough to pass it along in his Life of Domitian. Domitian was a builder and he did indeed erect many arches throughout the city of Rome and the wider empire. This remarkable drachm struck at Alexandria for Domitian features a grandiose triple-span triumphal arch. The exact location of the structure is unknown. Some scholars have argued it represents a local Alexandrian arch (Price-Trell 1977, Vogt 1924, Handler 1971). F. Kleiner on the other hand convincingly proposes it to be a triumphal arch erected in Rome commemorating Domitian's victory over the Germanic Chatti. That it's a triumphal arch is fairly sound. The rooftop central figure of the emperor driving a triumphal quadriga pulled by six horses, flanked by twin trophies with defeated captives makes it fairly clear the arch was erected with a triumph in mind. The type first appeared on Alexandrian tetradrachms in 86, just a few years after the victory over the Chatti making a connection to that triumph very appealing. How accurate is the depiction? We simply do not know. Quite possibly the Alexandrian engravers based the composition on generic stock triumphal types, perhaps augmented by written descriptions, paintings, or sketches. The arch did not survive antiquity but is replicated on drachms of Trajan and Hadrian, likely repurposed for their own needs (whether it was located in Rome or Alexandria) and seemingly escaped damnatio memoriae destruction. Luckily, the coins survive to give us an idea of what this impressive monument may have looked like.
4 commentsDavid Atherton
RPC2728aa.jpg
RPC 2728 DomitianÆ Drachm, 21.82g
Alexandria mint, 95-96 AD
Obv: ΑΥΤ ΚΑΙϹ ΘƐΟΥ ΥΙΟϹ ΔΟΜΙΤ ϹƐΒ ΓƐΡΜ; Head of Domitian, laureate, bearded, r.
Rev: Triumphal arch; date LΙΕ
RPC 2728 (9 spec.). Emmett 257.15. Dattari-Savio 544.
Acquired from Glenn Terry, eBay, October 2020.

This remarkable drachm struck at Alexandria during Domitian's final regnal year features a grandiose triple-span triumphal arch. The exact location of the structure is unknown. Some scholars have argued it represents a local Alexandrian arch (Price-Trell 1977, Vogt 1924, Handler 1971). F. Kleiner on the other hand convincingly proposes it to be a triumphal arch erected in Rome commemorating Domitian's victory over the Germanic Chatti. That it's a triumphal arch is fairly sound. The rooftop central figure of the emperor driving a triumphal quadriga pulled by six horses, flanked by twin trophies with defeated captives makes it fairly clear the arch was erected with a triumph in mind. The type first appeared on Alexandrian tetradrachms in 86, just a few years after the victory over the Chatti making a connection to that triumph very appealing. How accurate is the depiction? We simply do not know. Quite possibly the Alexandrian engravers based the composition on generic stock triumphal types, perhaps augmented by written descriptions, paintings, or sketches. The arch did not survive antiquity but is replicated on drachms of Trajan and Hadrian, likely repurposed for their own needs. The fact the structure was not pulled down and suffered damnatio memoriae, the fate of many Domitianic arches, is surprising. Luckily the coins survive to give us an idea of what this impressive monument may have looked like.

Fine style with fetching mottled olive green patina.
4 commentsDavid Atherton
Comb22032018091513.jpg
Samaria. Lead seal. Approximately 4th-3rd century BC.Figure in a long robe standing on the right and her standing naked figure (Ana?), Standing on the left, flanking Thymiaterion, all in temple vignette.
Typical of the motifs of Sami coins and seals is the adaptation of existing coin paintings and iconography, which dates back to the 4th century AD. v. In the Levant were in circulation. This lead seal probably imitates a late Persian depiction of a satrap and the deity Ana, as can also be found on the Tarsus Stateren (see SNG Levante 83).
15mm // 11,83g.
Ex. Lanz Numismatics.
3 commentsCanaan
septimus_severus.jpg
Septimius Severus Color ImpressionA quick colorized marble statue. Hair might be too brown for reality, I believe in older age it was peppered with grey like the famous family painting (the one with Geta scrubbed out), but he looked younger here so artistic license was used. Also, he should really be darker skinned but working on the white surface of the original pic made what I was doing seem dark ennough, in retrospect he should probably be a little more dark toned.12 commentsScotvs Capitis
coins61.JPG
Syria, ApameiaApamea is located on the right bank of the Orontes river about 55 km to the north west of Hama. It overlooks the Ghab valley and was built by Seleucus Nicator, the first king of the Seleucids in Syria in 300 BC. He named it after his parisian wife, Afamea.

The city flourished to an extent that its population numbered half a million. As an Eastern crossroads, it received many distinguished visitors: Cleopetra, Septimus Severus and the Emperor Caracalla. In the Christian era, Apamea became a center of philosophy and thought, especially of Monophostism.

Most of the uncovered ruins in it date back to the Roman and Byzantine ages. It is distinguished for its high walls and the main thoroughfare surrounded by columns with twisted fluting. The street is 1850 meters long and 87 meters wide. The ruins of the Roman theater which have been frequently disturbed, are now a great mass of stone.

Its colonnade (The Cardo Maximus) is 145 meters long. Erected in the 2nd century, it was destroyed in the 12th century by two violent earthquakes; some columns are still standing nevertheless.

To the west of the city, stands the Mudiq citadel, which once formed a defense line along the Orontes.

Fierce battles with Crusaders attempting to conquer it took place in the 12th century, and Nour Eddin finally surrendered it in 1149.

The citadel has huge towers, overlooking the Ghab valley. It also has a Khan (Inn) built by Ottomans in the 16th century which was transformed into an archaeological museum housing Apamea's wonderful mosaics, paintings, and 15,000 cuneiform clay tablets.

Apameia, Syria: Athena / Nike

2nd c. BC. 22mm. Helmeted bust of Athena right / Nike walking left, As SG 5868 but variant legend. aVF. Ex-Sayles
ecoli
4019839_1681459492_l~3~0.jpg
Taras, Calabria 240/35-212 BC
AR Hemiobol (8mm, 0.28g)
O: Scallop shell with five teeth.
R: Winged Eros riding dolphin left, holding kantharos; ΦI(?) below. 
Vlasto 1606-07; SNG France 2181
Rare
ex Aphrodite Coins

The appearance of Eros on the coinage of Taras is very unusual, and this coin may be the only such example. However His cult was popular in the polis and Eros' image appears on many vase paintings and votives, often riding a dolphin. These images are known as early as the 5th century BC, but become more common towards the Roman era. The origins of this cult can certainly be traced to the mother city of Sparta, where Aphrodite was venerated.
2 commentsEnodia
wallpainting.jpg
Turkey, Ephesus - Wall frescoLocated in the ongoing excavation of the upper-class terrace houses. Note the opening in the wall for circulation. The entire complex must have appeared like a luxury hotel with a central arbitorium.
GetaRic13a.jpg
[1005a] Geta, 209 - c. 26 December 211 A.D.Silver denarius, S 7184, RIC 13a, RSC 90, VM 24, aEF/aEF, 3.5g, 19.38 mm, 180o, Rome mint, as Caesar, 199 A.D. Obverse: P SEPT GETA CAES PONT, boy's bare-headed and draped bust right; Reverse: NOBILITAS, Nobilitas standing right, scepter in left, palladium in right. Ex Ancient Imports.

Publius Septimius Geta was the younger son of the emperor Septimius Severus. Geta's rivalry with his older brother, Caracalla, culminated in Geta's murder less than a year after Severus' death. Tradition soon idealized this victim of fratricide as a gentle prince taken by treachery far too soon.

Geta was born 7 March 189 in Rome, where his family was resident in between provincial governorships held by Severus under the emperor Commodus. The boy was named after Severus' father and was only 11 months younger than his brother, Caracalla.

In the course of the civil wars that established Severus as emperor, Severus used the young Caracalla to solidify popular support by changing the older son's name to connect the boy to the Antonine dynasty and by giving Caracalla the titles first of Caesar, then Augustus. As Caracalla was increasingly being treated as the "heir," Geta was being treated as the "spare." Geta was given the title Caesar and publicly promoted as part of a close-knit, imperial family.

The propaganda, however, was unable to hide completely the family's dysfunctional relationships, especially the increasingly bitter rivalry developing between the now teenagers, Caracalla and Geta. Severus decided to take his family out of Rome and on campaign in Britain to keep his sons busy. While Caracalla commanded troops, Geta was given civilian authority on the island. Geta was also given the title Augustus (more than a decade after his brother received it), which meant that Geta theoretically was co-emperor along with Severus and Caracalla. Geta's increased authority did nothing to improve his relationship with Caracalla.

Soon Severus' health began to deteriorate, and ever more desperate pleas were made for his sons to get along. Septimius Severus died 4 February 211 in York. Caracalla was 22 years old, Geta 21.

The Roman world now had two brothers as joint emperors, a situation that recalled events of half a century earlier, when adopted brothers Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus officially shared the empire. Caracalla might well have been satisfied had Geta behaved like Verus, whose authority was more official than real and who deferred to his older sibling in political matters. Geta, however, saw his authority as being truly equal with that of his brother, and the two were barely on speaking terms during the long trip back to Rome. Once in the city, the situation did not improve. Government ground to a halt as the two bickered on appointments and policy decisions. A later story even claimed the brothers were considering dividing the empire into two.

By the end of the year Caracalla was being advised to have Geta murdered, and after at least one unsuccessful attempt at the start of the Saturnalia festival, Geta was killed in late December 211. One version of events claimed Geta was lured to come without his bodyguards to a meeting with Caracalla and their mother, Julia Domna, to discuss a possible reconciliation. When Geta arrived, he was attacked by centurions. Wounded and bleeding, Geta ran to his mother and clinging to her, died.

Caracalla said the murder came in response to his brother's plottings, and the death started a bloody and violent purge of Caracalla's suspected enemies. Geta's memory was condemned, his name removed from inscriptions, his face removed from sculptures and paintings. Critics of Caracalla looked back wistfully at the murdered prince, who came to be described as a lamb devoured by his ferocious, lion-like brother. Official restoration of Geta's reputation came with the arrival of the emperor Elagabalus to Rome in 219, when Geta's remains were translated into the Mausoleum of Hadrian to join those of his father and brother.

The little reliable evidence about Geta's personality does not seem to support the idealized picture of a gentle prince, but the shocking nature of his death at the instigation of his brother transformed Geta's life into legend.

By Michael L. Meckler, Ohio State University
Published: De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers and their Families http://www.roman-emperors.org/startup.htm. Used by permission.

Edited by J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.




Cleisthenes
TarasARnomos_nymph_behind.jpg
[2000a] Taras, Calabria, Italy, c. 272 - 235 B.C.Silver nomos, Vlasto 877, gVF, Taras mint, 6.497g, 20.0mm, 45o, c. 272 - 235 BC. Obverse: DI above, API-STI/KL-HS below, nude youth on horseback right, spearing downward; Reverse: TARAS, Phalanthos on dolphin left, holding trident; nymph head behind. Ex FORVM.

As the world's foremost numismatist, David R. Sear, has said, 'Magna Graecia and Sicily . . . undoubtedly represent the finest examples of numismatic art in the ancient world. Personally, I am quite drawn to the coins of Taras (Tarentum) because of their infinite variety of types on the basic theme of horseman and dolphin-rider.'

This "variation on a theme" concept appeals to me on many levels, and I am reminded of Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn. This masterpiece was, in fact, not composed by Haydn but Johannes Brahms. The B-flat major theme was "borrowed" from Haydn by Brahms for his composition. But there is another nice twist; modern scholarship, for the most part, now agrees that the theme wasn't Haydn's at all. He, too, had "borrowed" it.

So what does this detour into audio art's "variation on a theme" business have to do with numismatics? The ancient Greeks have a wonderful word for art "based upon" art; the word is ekphrasis (ecphrasis). It comes from the Greek ek 'out' and phrasis 'speak'. The verb ekphrazein, means to proclaim or call. One example of ekphrasis is a painting of a sculpture: the painting is "telling the story of" the sculpture, and so becoming a storyteller, as well as a story (work of art) itself. Or it may operate the other way round. Any art may describe any other art. In a manner that I find captivating, I understand these silver nomos of Taras as numismatic art "telling the story of" numismatic art: at once the story teller and the story.

J. P. Fitzgerald, Jr.
3 commentsCleisthenes
 
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