DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.14696#0198
Diana-Pillars
J43
was the sky-god in feathered form, and that the birds perched on
the neighbouring roof betokened his presence in
the sacred building near at hand. Perhaps we
may venture a step further and identify this
feathered sky-god with Sardopator1 or Sardus
Pater, who appears in a feathered head-dress on
the copper coins of the island (fig. 85V2. Was it
he that sent the winter rains so vital to the life
of the Sardinian peasant3?
(A,) Diana-Pillars.
Similar constructions appear in the landscape-frescoes of Italy
and are susceptible of the same interpretation. A remarkable
painting in greenish monochrome from Herculaneum, now in the
Naples collection (fig. 86)4, shows a pillar-shrine set by the edge of
a lake or river. A short flight of steps leads up to a square plinth,
on which stands a pillar with moulded base, club-shaped shaft, and
shallow disk-like capital. The shaft is surrounded by several bands
and is marked here and there with patches5 probably denoting
votive objects affixed to itfi. Above the capital the shaft is continued
in the form of a tapering finial, round the lower part of which are
seen three ornaments (heads of deer ?)7. The pillar is half-encircled
by a wall carrying an Ionic colonnade, which is finished off with a
low cornice and a row of vases. Two side-walls, each supporting a
1 Ptol. 3. 3. 2 LapooTraTopos iepov with C. Mtiller ad loc.
2 Babelon Monn. r£p. rom. i. 223 f. fig., M. Bahrfeldt Nachtriige und Berechtigungen
zur Miinzkunde der romischen Repitblik Wien 1897 p. 45 f. fig., Hunter Cat. Coins
i. 262, Head Hist, num. - p. 191, A. Boutkowski Dictionnaire numismatique Leipzig
1884 ii. 831 nos. 1601, 1602, E. Klebs in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. ii. 2253 f-> O. Hdfer
in Roscher Lex. Myth. iv. 384 ff., R. Pettazzoni La religione primitiva in Sardegna
Piacenza 1912 p. 62 ff. fig. 17. I figure a specimen in the Fitzwilliam Museum. For the
feathered coiffure see further Sir A. J. Evans Scripta Minoa Oxford 1909 i. 24^ figs.
i\b (e), 11c, 275 f. fig. 126 (no. 2), H. R. Hall in the Ann. Brit. Seh. Ath. 1901-1902
viii. 185 fig. 9, id. in the Journ. Hell. Stud. 1911 xxxi. 119—123 figs. 3—7.
3 Solin. 4. 5 hibernae pluviae in aestivam penuriam reservantur, nam homo Sardus
opem plurimam de imbrido caelo habet. Cp. R. Pettazzoni op. cit. p. 105 ff.
4 Lepitture antiche oT Ercolauo Napoli 1762 iii. 273 ff. pi. 52, H. Roux—M. L. Barre
Herculanum et Pompe'i Paris 1870 iii. 2. 16 ff. pi. 7, Helbig Wandgem. Camp. p. 71
no. 25213, M. Rostowzew 'Die hellenistisch-rdmische Architekturlandschaft' in the Rom.
Mitth. 1911 xxvi. 42 fig. 2r (here used to correct the earliest publication). Inventory
no. 9413. Pleight o'65m. Breadth o-45m. The painting is assigned to the third or ' ornate '
style of mural decoration (c. 25 b.c.—50 a.d.).
5 Le pitture antiche cT Ercolano Napoli 1762 iii. 274 f. ' alquante fasce, o giri, e
macchie di varie figure, che il color della pittura, ch' e tutta a chiaroscuro, sbiadato
ancora pel tempo, non lascia ben distinguere, nella superficie del corpo conico.'
e Cp. infra p. 146. 7 Cp. infra p. 146A
J43
was the sky-god in feathered form, and that the birds perched on
the neighbouring roof betokened his presence in
the sacred building near at hand. Perhaps we
may venture a step further and identify this
feathered sky-god with Sardopator1 or Sardus
Pater, who appears in a feathered head-dress on
the copper coins of the island (fig. 85V2. Was it
he that sent the winter rains so vital to the life
of the Sardinian peasant3?
(A,) Diana-Pillars.
Similar constructions appear in the landscape-frescoes of Italy
and are susceptible of the same interpretation. A remarkable
painting in greenish monochrome from Herculaneum, now in the
Naples collection (fig. 86)4, shows a pillar-shrine set by the edge of
a lake or river. A short flight of steps leads up to a square plinth,
on which stands a pillar with moulded base, club-shaped shaft, and
shallow disk-like capital. The shaft is surrounded by several bands
and is marked here and there with patches5 probably denoting
votive objects affixed to itfi. Above the capital the shaft is continued
in the form of a tapering finial, round the lower part of which are
seen three ornaments (heads of deer ?)7. The pillar is half-encircled
by a wall carrying an Ionic colonnade, which is finished off with a
low cornice and a row of vases. Two side-walls, each supporting a
1 Ptol. 3. 3. 2 LapooTraTopos iepov with C. Mtiller ad loc.
2 Babelon Monn. r£p. rom. i. 223 f. fig., M. Bahrfeldt Nachtriige und Berechtigungen
zur Miinzkunde der romischen Repitblik Wien 1897 p. 45 f. fig., Hunter Cat. Coins
i. 262, Head Hist, num. - p. 191, A. Boutkowski Dictionnaire numismatique Leipzig
1884 ii. 831 nos. 1601, 1602, E. Klebs in Pauly—Wissowa Real-Enc. ii. 2253 f-> O. Hdfer
in Roscher Lex. Myth. iv. 384 ff., R. Pettazzoni La religione primitiva in Sardegna
Piacenza 1912 p. 62 ff. fig. 17. I figure a specimen in the Fitzwilliam Museum. For the
feathered coiffure see further Sir A. J. Evans Scripta Minoa Oxford 1909 i. 24^ figs.
i\b (e), 11c, 275 f. fig. 126 (no. 2), H. R. Hall in the Ann. Brit. Seh. Ath. 1901-1902
viii. 185 fig. 9, id. in the Journ. Hell. Stud. 1911 xxxi. 119—123 figs. 3—7.
3 Solin. 4. 5 hibernae pluviae in aestivam penuriam reservantur, nam homo Sardus
opem plurimam de imbrido caelo habet. Cp. R. Pettazzoni op. cit. p. 105 ff.
4 Lepitture antiche oT Ercolauo Napoli 1762 iii. 273 ff. pi. 52, H. Roux—M. L. Barre
Herculanum et Pompe'i Paris 1870 iii. 2. 16 ff. pi. 7, Helbig Wandgem. Camp. p. 71
no. 25213, M. Rostowzew 'Die hellenistisch-rdmische Architekturlandschaft' in the Rom.
Mitth. 1911 xxvi. 42 fig. 2r (here used to correct the earliest publication). Inventory
no. 9413. Pleight o'65m. Breadth o-45m. The painting is assigned to the third or ' ornate '
style of mural decoration (c. 25 b.c.—50 a.d.).
5 Le pitture antiche cT Ercolano Napoli 1762 iii. 274 f. ' alquante fasce, o giri, e
macchie di varie figure, che il color della pittura, ch' e tutta a chiaroscuro, sbiadato
ancora pel tempo, non lascia ben distinguere, nella superficie del corpo conico.'
e Cp. infra p. 146. 7 Cp. infra p. 146A