DOI Artikel:
Bažant, Jan: Villa Star in Prague
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51713#0072
Next to it we see Apollo characterised by his lyre
and heroic nudity, he sits on a throne covered with
drapery. He does not play the lyre, his right hand
rests on the throne, stressing in this way that the lyre
is represented as an attribute. Another attribute of
Apollo is an eagle standing to the left side. It was not
usual to represent Apollo with an eagle in the Re-
naissance but on ancient Greek coins Apollo was of-
ten combined with eagle. We may recall in this con-
text that the constellation of Lyre was often repre-
sented as an eagle with folded wings, exactly like the
bird is represented in the Villa Star, to differentiate it
from the constellation of Eagle characterised by out-
stretched wings.
Apollo’s sister, Diana, is represented opposite to
him, on the other side of the corridor [Fig. 11]. The
virgin huntress and patron of Atalanta, appeared in
her corridor, but the goddess is represented in a very
unusual way. Diana has none of her traditional at-
tribut es, but it is clear that the represented figure is
an important goddess. She sits on an elaborately dec-
orated throne, the right hand reposes on its armrest,
the left one is pressed to her left knee, and the whole
upper part of her body is unveiled. In front of her
there is an altar, which is also decorated, on top of
which we see fiâmes of the sacrificial lire. Behind the
altar we see a tree on which a snake climbs up, his
head turned to the goddess.
In ancient art and literatuře snakes corne to altars
to consume sacrificial offerings. The situation was well
known from Virgil’s Aeneid, when Aeneas made of-
fering on the grave of his father.28 In the Villa Star
the scene with snake was evidently Brocco’s inven-
tion in which he adapted the well-known iconograph-
ical type of Salus feeding a snake from bowl, which
she extends towards it. The ancient Roman Salus is
a goddess of health, an équivalent of Hygiea, but in
the distinction to its ancient Greek counterpart she
had important political functions. Salus embodied the
well-being of the state, at first of the Roman repub-
lic, later of the emperor, and that is why she often
appeared on coins, from which Brocco certainly knew
her. But important modifications of the traditional
image radically changed its meaning. In the Villa Star,
28 VERGILIUS: Aeneid 5, 77-94.
29 HOMER: IliadV, 529-549.
the goddess is passive, her hands are empty and her
head is turned upward, as if she was waiting for some-
thing. An image of a snake drinking from the sacrifi-
cial bowl was a well-known symbol of a successfully
consummated sacrifice, but here evidently something
went wrong.
As in Aeneas’ sacrifice, the snake in the Villa Star
is curling upward to the altar, but it came in vain,
the goddess has empty hands, there are no offerings
around. There is nothing to feed the snake or the fire
on the altar. This feature differentiates the sacrifice
to Diana from the sacrifices to other gods depicted in
the entrance corridor and connects it with equally
unusual scenes depicting the harvest under a war
cloud.
Ail these seemingly disparate éléments are found
together in one place in Homer’s Iliad, which evi-
dently served as inspiration for the program of the
entrance corridor in the Villa Star. Homer omits Ata-
lanta in his narration on the Calydonian boar, but
explains at length why the beast was sent on earth.29
The ancient literáty tradition stressed that Caly-
donian King Oeneus paid exceedingly for his négli-
gence. Because he did not give to Diana a small frac-
tion from the harvest, the goddess destroyed the en-
tire agricultural production in his kingdom.30 In Greek
Oeneus means “vinaceous” and his name alluded to
the fact, that he was the first mortal who received
wine from Bacchus. This god is always mentioned
among those to whom he sacrificed, which would
explain the prédominance of Bacchus in the repré-
sentations of sacrifices in the entrance corridor. The
important role of Diana in the story might be sug-
gested by numerous représentations of hinds, animais
sacred to the divine huntress. Right next to the panel
with Diana we see a man pulling a dead hind from
the forest indicated by a tree. Other hinds can be seen
in the first décorative band of the entrance corridor
just before one entered the central hall; on both sides
there is stucco with a satyr and dead hind.
Much more important is the connection between
the story of the Oeneus and the personifications of
virtues, Prudence, Tempérance and Force. “Each man’’
taught Cicero, “should so conduct himself that fortitude
30 PSEUDO-APOLLODORUS: Bibliotheca 1, 8. 2 - 3. Similar-
ly: PSEUDO-HYGINUS: Fabulae, 74.
66
and heroic nudity, he sits on a throne covered with
drapery. He does not play the lyre, his right hand
rests on the throne, stressing in this way that the lyre
is represented as an attribute. Another attribute of
Apollo is an eagle standing to the left side. It was not
usual to represent Apollo with an eagle in the Re-
naissance but on ancient Greek coins Apollo was of-
ten combined with eagle. We may recall in this con-
text that the constellation of Lyre was often repre-
sented as an eagle with folded wings, exactly like the
bird is represented in the Villa Star, to differentiate it
from the constellation of Eagle characterised by out-
stretched wings.
Apollo’s sister, Diana, is represented opposite to
him, on the other side of the corridor [Fig. 11]. The
virgin huntress and patron of Atalanta, appeared in
her corridor, but the goddess is represented in a very
unusual way. Diana has none of her traditional at-
tribut es, but it is clear that the represented figure is
an important goddess. She sits on an elaborately dec-
orated throne, the right hand reposes on its armrest,
the left one is pressed to her left knee, and the whole
upper part of her body is unveiled. In front of her
there is an altar, which is also decorated, on top of
which we see fiâmes of the sacrificial lire. Behind the
altar we see a tree on which a snake climbs up, his
head turned to the goddess.
In ancient art and literatuře snakes corne to altars
to consume sacrificial offerings. The situation was well
known from Virgil’s Aeneid, when Aeneas made of-
fering on the grave of his father.28 In the Villa Star
the scene with snake was evidently Brocco’s inven-
tion in which he adapted the well-known iconograph-
ical type of Salus feeding a snake from bowl, which
she extends towards it. The ancient Roman Salus is
a goddess of health, an équivalent of Hygiea, but in
the distinction to its ancient Greek counterpart she
had important political functions. Salus embodied the
well-being of the state, at first of the Roman repub-
lic, later of the emperor, and that is why she often
appeared on coins, from which Brocco certainly knew
her. But important modifications of the traditional
image radically changed its meaning. In the Villa Star,
28 VERGILIUS: Aeneid 5, 77-94.
29 HOMER: IliadV, 529-549.
the goddess is passive, her hands are empty and her
head is turned upward, as if she was waiting for some-
thing. An image of a snake drinking from the sacrifi-
cial bowl was a well-known symbol of a successfully
consummated sacrifice, but here evidently something
went wrong.
As in Aeneas’ sacrifice, the snake in the Villa Star
is curling upward to the altar, but it came in vain,
the goddess has empty hands, there are no offerings
around. There is nothing to feed the snake or the fire
on the altar. This feature differentiates the sacrifice
to Diana from the sacrifices to other gods depicted in
the entrance corridor and connects it with equally
unusual scenes depicting the harvest under a war
cloud.
Ail these seemingly disparate éléments are found
together in one place in Homer’s Iliad, which evi-
dently served as inspiration for the program of the
entrance corridor in the Villa Star. Homer omits Ata-
lanta in his narration on the Calydonian boar, but
explains at length why the beast was sent on earth.29
The ancient literáty tradition stressed that Caly-
donian King Oeneus paid exceedingly for his négli-
gence. Because he did not give to Diana a small frac-
tion from the harvest, the goddess destroyed the en-
tire agricultural production in his kingdom.30 In Greek
Oeneus means “vinaceous” and his name alluded to
the fact, that he was the first mortal who received
wine from Bacchus. This god is always mentioned
among those to whom he sacrificed, which would
explain the prédominance of Bacchus in the repré-
sentations of sacrifices in the entrance corridor. The
important role of Diana in the story might be sug-
gested by numerous représentations of hinds, animais
sacred to the divine huntress. Right next to the panel
with Diana we see a man pulling a dead hind from
the forest indicated by a tree. Other hinds can be seen
in the first décorative band of the entrance corridor
just before one entered the central hall; on both sides
there is stucco with a satyr and dead hind.
Much more important is the connection between
the story of the Oeneus and the personifications of
virtues, Prudence, Tempérance and Force. “Each man’’
taught Cicero, “should so conduct himself that fortitude
30 PSEUDO-APOLLODORUS: Bibliotheca 1, 8. 2 - 3. Similar-
ly: PSEUDO-HYGINUS: Fabulae, 74.
66