DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.7898#0043
( 33 )
PLATE XVII.
A patera or cup of sardonyx, engraved on both sides in relief (i). The exte-
rior presents a full-faced head of Medusa with spreading hair and surrounded
by serpents. The interior, extremely shallow, is adorned at the bottom, which
is perfectly level, with the graceful composition represented in this plate.
It has been previously published by several anticpiaries (2); and in the last
instance by Visconti (3), with an engraving more correct indeed than any of
the preceding, but still deficient in several particulars : doubtless, because the
author trusted to a drawing that he had not the opportunity of comparing
with the original.
According to a new explanation proposed by him, the bearded figure seated
on the left, is the Nile, who holds a cornucopia?, the usual symbol of his fer-
tility; the recumbent female figure leaning on a sphinx, is Isis, emblem or per-
sonification of Egypt; the two female figures on the right, are the nymphs
Memphis and Anchirrhoe, daughters of the Nile; two young men hovering in
the air, are the Etesian winds, which blowing against the current of the
Nile, produce its annual overflow.
After such an ingeniftus and satisfactory elucidation of the several figures
described, we must regret that the learned author should not have been alike
successful in ascertaining the name of the figure which appears to be stepping
forward in the centre of the composition. He supposes, but without sufficient
foundation, that it is Horus, who presided over the annual overflowing of the
river, and that the object in its right hand, is an antlia or hydraulic instru-
ment, emblematic of the power of Horus or the sun, on the waters of the Nile.
It is evident from a slight observation of the composition, that an action is
implied, in which this figure bears the principal part. The general character,
the costume, and the want of any symbolical attribute, shew that it is not a
divinity, but a portrait of some celebrated historical personage. He is repre-
sented arriving in Egypt, and received by the tutelary divinities of the coun-
try. Hence the opinion of Bianchini, that the subject was the apotheosis of
Alexander, the great benefactor of Egypt, where divine honours were paid to
(1) Formerly in the Farnese collection, but (2) Maffei Museum Veronense, pag. 356.
now in the Royal Museum at Naples. The en- Osservazioni Letterarie, torn. 11, pag. 33a..
graving is of the same size as the original. (3)Museo Pio Clement, torn. 111, tac. C. n° 1.
5
PLATE XVII.
A patera or cup of sardonyx, engraved on both sides in relief (i). The exte-
rior presents a full-faced head of Medusa with spreading hair and surrounded
by serpents. The interior, extremely shallow, is adorned at the bottom, which
is perfectly level, with the graceful composition represented in this plate.
It has been previously published by several anticpiaries (2); and in the last
instance by Visconti (3), with an engraving more correct indeed than any of
the preceding, but still deficient in several particulars : doubtless, because the
author trusted to a drawing that he had not the opportunity of comparing
with the original.
According to a new explanation proposed by him, the bearded figure seated
on the left, is the Nile, who holds a cornucopia?, the usual symbol of his fer-
tility; the recumbent female figure leaning on a sphinx, is Isis, emblem or per-
sonification of Egypt; the two female figures on the right, are the nymphs
Memphis and Anchirrhoe, daughters of the Nile; two young men hovering in
the air, are the Etesian winds, which blowing against the current of the
Nile, produce its annual overflow.
After such an ingeniftus and satisfactory elucidation of the several figures
described, we must regret that the learned author should not have been alike
successful in ascertaining the name of the figure which appears to be stepping
forward in the centre of the composition. He supposes, but without sufficient
foundation, that it is Horus, who presided over the annual overflowing of the
river, and that the object in its right hand, is an antlia or hydraulic instru-
ment, emblematic of the power of Horus or the sun, on the waters of the Nile.
It is evident from a slight observation of the composition, that an action is
implied, in which this figure bears the principal part. The general character,
the costume, and the want of any symbolical attribute, shew that it is not a
divinity, but a portrait of some celebrated historical personage. He is repre-
sented arriving in Egypt, and received by the tutelary divinities of the coun-
try. Hence the opinion of Bianchini, that the subject was the apotheosis of
Alexander, the great benefactor of Egypt, where divine honours were paid to
(1) Formerly in the Farnese collection, but (2) Maffei Museum Veronense, pag. 356.
now in the Royal Museum at Naples. The en- Osservazioni Letterarie, torn. 11, pag. 33a..
graving is of the same size as the original. (3)Museo Pio Clement, torn. 111, tac. C. n° 1.
5