DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.37251#0096
64
SALA DEGLI ARAZZI i, 2
movement of the head, consists of the ceremonial wig with corkscrew
curis, the hairs of which are sometimes marked in Egyptian works (e. g.
Deibriick, yDzAA? no. 10); but here, unless indicated in paint,
they were not represented, perhaps through a misunderstanding of the
nature of the head-dress. Above this is the skin of a hawk, emblem of
the divine protection of royal persons.
Helbig (Fuhrers 103'/) believed that the individuality of the features
pointed to the portrait of some Egyptian queen, and saw a resemblance to
coin-portraits of the young Cleopatra. Hekler, on the other hand
xiv (1911), p. 119), held that the features were not those of an individual,
and argued that the upper part of the head-dress and inserted attributes,
in addition to the fact of the head having been found near an Isis-Serapis
sanctuary, shows that a goddess was intended; and, following a suggestion
of Von Bissing, who had recognized it as Nechbet-Aphrodite, supposed that
it belonged to the cult statue of Isis-Nechbet-Aphrodite in that sanctuary.
The suggestion that a mortal is represented with the attributes of
Isis, and thus either deified or assimilated, before or after death, to the
goddess, is probably the correct one; but the resemblance to Cleopatra
which Helbig remarks, is as little apparent as is that to coin-portraits of
Berenice II claimed by Deibriick (^. rz'/., no. 28, pp. xviii and xli, pi. 28).
In any case the head appears to be of fine Hellenistic work, in which the
Greek artist, employing forms superficially Egyptian, has introduced a
subtlety of pose and an archaistic delicacy foreign to Egyptian art. The
resemblance, especially in the mouth and in the forms of the face, to the
head of Artemis in the group by Damophon at Lycosura may suggest,
though it is not sufficient to fix, the second century B. c. as the date.
Found near SS. Pietro e Marcellino with some twenty other heads in
a late wall on the site of the sanctuary of Isis and Serapis which gave its
name to the third region of Rome. Brought from the Antiquario Comu-
nale in 1921.
-5W/. G77/;. xv (i88y), pp. 133. g, and xxv (1897), pp. 118-19, ph viii 1
via (1921), p. 328.
2. SLEEPING EROS (pi. 16).
Br. (max.) .42 m., L. .76 m. Parian marble. Unrestored. Drapery on 1. and
wing on r. roughly tooled out underneath in the shape of an arch, while remainder of
under-surface of the drapery is level. In the centre of this surface is a driil-hole, and on 1.
of the body a siot through the drapery for the attachment of the figure, perhaps to a tomb
(Mariani, f. c.), though a semicircular groove through the edge of the drapery below
1. hand may have held the pipe of a fountain. L. foot broken away from above,
r. foot from below ankle : in broken surface of latter two small drill-holes, showing
that foot was made separately. R. arm broken away at centre of upper arm : in the
broken surface a drill -hole joining at right angles another of the same diameter which
runs inwards from outside of biceps : this was for solder.
Eros wearing quiver, with lid, supported between his wings by a
leather strap crossing the r. shoulder. He sleeps on drapery gathered up
at one end to form a pillow : the head, which is inclined to 1. and turned
to r. upon the shoulders, rests on this and on the 1. shoulder, while the 1.
arm, bent at elbow, frames the back and top of it. The figure lies on its
back with legs apart, but the upper half of the body is twisted to 1. and
the r. arm extended across it to 1., so that the hand lay on the drapery
level with the waist. Hair, secured by a narrow band and parted down
SALA DEGLI ARAZZI i, 2
movement of the head, consists of the ceremonial wig with corkscrew
curis, the hairs of which are sometimes marked in Egyptian works (e. g.
Deibriick, yDzAA? no. 10); but here, unless indicated in paint,
they were not represented, perhaps through a misunderstanding of the
nature of the head-dress. Above this is the skin of a hawk, emblem of
the divine protection of royal persons.
Helbig (Fuhrers 103'/) believed that the individuality of the features
pointed to the portrait of some Egyptian queen, and saw a resemblance to
coin-portraits of the young Cleopatra. Hekler, on the other hand
xiv (1911), p. 119), held that the features were not those of an individual,
and argued that the upper part of the head-dress and inserted attributes,
in addition to the fact of the head having been found near an Isis-Serapis
sanctuary, shows that a goddess was intended; and, following a suggestion
of Von Bissing, who had recognized it as Nechbet-Aphrodite, supposed that
it belonged to the cult statue of Isis-Nechbet-Aphrodite in that sanctuary.
The suggestion that a mortal is represented with the attributes of
Isis, and thus either deified or assimilated, before or after death, to the
goddess, is probably the correct one; but the resemblance to Cleopatra
which Helbig remarks, is as little apparent as is that to coin-portraits of
Berenice II claimed by Deibriick (^. rz'/., no. 28, pp. xviii and xli, pi. 28).
In any case the head appears to be of fine Hellenistic work, in which the
Greek artist, employing forms superficially Egyptian, has introduced a
subtlety of pose and an archaistic delicacy foreign to Egyptian art. The
resemblance, especially in the mouth and in the forms of the face, to the
head of Artemis in the group by Damophon at Lycosura may suggest,
though it is not sufficient to fix, the second century B. c. as the date.
Found near SS. Pietro e Marcellino with some twenty other heads in
a late wall on the site of the sanctuary of Isis and Serapis which gave its
name to the third region of Rome. Brought from the Antiquario Comu-
nale in 1921.
-5W/. G77/;. xv (i88y), pp. 133. g, and xxv (1897), pp. 118-19, ph viii 1
via (1921), p. 328.
2. SLEEPING EROS (pi. 16).
Br. (max.) .42 m., L. .76 m. Parian marble. Unrestored. Drapery on 1. and
wing on r. roughly tooled out underneath in the shape of an arch, while remainder of
under-surface of the drapery is level. In the centre of this surface is a driil-hole, and on 1.
of the body a siot through the drapery for the attachment of the figure, perhaps to a tomb
(Mariani, f. c.), though a semicircular groove through the edge of the drapery below
1. hand may have held the pipe of a fountain. L. foot broken away from above,
r. foot from below ankle : in broken surface of latter two small drill-holes, showing
that foot was made separately. R. arm broken away at centre of upper arm : in the
broken surface a drill -hole joining at right angles another of the same diameter which
runs inwards from outside of biceps : this was for solder.
Eros wearing quiver, with lid, supported between his wings by a
leather strap crossing the r. shoulder. He sleeps on drapery gathered up
at one end to form a pillow : the head, which is inclined to 1. and turned
to r. upon the shoulders, rests on this and on the 1. shoulder, while the 1.
arm, bent at elbow, frames the back and top of it. The figure lies on its
back with legs apart, but the upper half of the body is twisted to 1. and
the r. arm extended across it to 1., so that the hand lay on the drapery
level with the waist. Hair, secured by a narrow band and parted down