DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26205#0044
42
found between the churches of Santa Maria sopra Minerva and San Stefano
del Caco, situated in the area of the former Campus Martius and strictly
speaking in the precincts of the ancient sacral complex of Iseum Campense.
The figures of reclining bearded males are arranged in such a way that they
must have once composed a unified group; the Tiber reclines on the right
side and the Nile on the left, so that in the case of their having been jointly
erected their legs (or heads) would have met (Figs. 45—46).
Both the figures were easy to identify thanks to their attributes. The two
old men have on their heads wreaths made of reeds and flowers. The Tiber
holds an oar and cornucopia and there lies a She-Wolf at his side together
with Romulus and Remus. The Nile, holding a bundle of ears of corn and
cornucopia, is leaning against a sphinx, while his legs are resting on a crocodile
and beside and behind him there are 16 little boys symbolizing 16 cubits
(nrjxsiQ) by which the river’s water level rose on inundation. Both recline on
marked waves. The bases of both statues are decorated with reliefs representing
the landscapes and scenes characteristic of Italia and Egypt. It is thought
that both the statues were executed in the times of Domitian and were erected
by him after the fire in 80 A. D. of the temple of Isis in the Campus Martius 78.
The sculpture depicting the Nile is more developed and its composition
more refined (it is the only known monument where all the boys, nrjieiq,
appear 79), but both statues make a very studied allegory. The tradition of
depicting the Nile was much older than the tradition of images of the Tiber,
because the latter (having another meaning) occurred at the end of the 1st
century B. C. The statues representing the Nile were executed in the Hellenistic
period in Alexandria (cf. above, p. 23) but, as was stated above, there were
not so popular as we think. Can we really suppose that the Vatican Nile is
a copy of the Hellenistic original? In the author’s opinion it is very doubtful.
The small statuette kept in Stuttgart (cf. above, p. 23), which is a Hellenistic
original is more plain than the “baroque” excessively ornamented statues
in the Vatican and the Louvre. Also the statuette found in Alexandria, dating
from Roman times (cf. above, p. 23) is very simple. The inclination towards
very rich composition overladened with many sophisticated details is typical
of the Flavian period, and unfamiliar (as far as we can conclude from preserved
objects) with art flourishing in Alexandria. The most elaborated Hellenistic
allegory, i.e. “The Homer’s Apotheosis”, was executed in Rhodes rather
than in Alexandria 80 * *.
78 A history of the both objects’ discovery is discussed, among others by Le Gall, pp. 3—4;
W. Fuchs, in: Helbig4, I, No. 440, and by F. FI askell-N. Penny, Taste and the Antique, New
Haven—London 1981, No. 65, Fig. 142, pp. 272—273 (the Nile), No. 79, Fig. 164, pp. 310—311
(the Tiber).
79 On the coins there are only from 8 to 10 boys
80 D.Pinkwart, Das Relief des Archelaos von Priene unddie „Musen des Philiskos", Regensburg,
1965; ead., Das Relief des Archeloas von Priene, AP, 4, 1965, p. 55 ff., supposes that the relief was
executed on the southern or western shores of Asia Minor. Contrary, Bieber, p. 100, Figs. 404
found between the churches of Santa Maria sopra Minerva and San Stefano
del Caco, situated in the area of the former Campus Martius and strictly
speaking in the precincts of the ancient sacral complex of Iseum Campense.
The figures of reclining bearded males are arranged in such a way that they
must have once composed a unified group; the Tiber reclines on the right
side and the Nile on the left, so that in the case of their having been jointly
erected their legs (or heads) would have met (Figs. 45—46).
Both the figures were easy to identify thanks to their attributes. The two
old men have on their heads wreaths made of reeds and flowers. The Tiber
holds an oar and cornucopia and there lies a She-Wolf at his side together
with Romulus and Remus. The Nile, holding a bundle of ears of corn and
cornucopia, is leaning against a sphinx, while his legs are resting on a crocodile
and beside and behind him there are 16 little boys symbolizing 16 cubits
(nrjxsiQ) by which the river’s water level rose on inundation. Both recline on
marked waves. The bases of both statues are decorated with reliefs representing
the landscapes and scenes characteristic of Italia and Egypt. It is thought
that both the statues were executed in the times of Domitian and were erected
by him after the fire in 80 A. D. of the temple of Isis in the Campus Martius 78.
The sculpture depicting the Nile is more developed and its composition
more refined (it is the only known monument where all the boys, nrjieiq,
appear 79), but both statues make a very studied allegory. The tradition of
depicting the Nile was much older than the tradition of images of the Tiber,
because the latter (having another meaning) occurred at the end of the 1st
century B. C. The statues representing the Nile were executed in the Hellenistic
period in Alexandria (cf. above, p. 23) but, as was stated above, there were
not so popular as we think. Can we really suppose that the Vatican Nile is
a copy of the Hellenistic original? In the author’s opinion it is very doubtful.
The small statuette kept in Stuttgart (cf. above, p. 23), which is a Hellenistic
original is more plain than the “baroque” excessively ornamented statues
in the Vatican and the Louvre. Also the statuette found in Alexandria, dating
from Roman times (cf. above, p. 23) is very simple. The inclination towards
very rich composition overladened with many sophisticated details is typical
of the Flavian period, and unfamiliar (as far as we can conclude from preserved
objects) with art flourishing in Alexandria. The most elaborated Hellenistic
allegory, i.e. “The Homer’s Apotheosis”, was executed in Rhodes rather
than in Alexandria 80 * *.
78 A history of the both objects’ discovery is discussed, among others by Le Gall, pp. 3—4;
W. Fuchs, in: Helbig4, I, No. 440, and by F. FI askell-N. Penny, Taste and the Antique, New
Haven—London 1981, No. 65, Fig. 142, pp. 272—273 (the Nile), No. 79, Fig. 164, pp. 310—311
(the Tiber).
79 On the coins there are only from 8 to 10 boys
80 D.Pinkwart, Das Relief des Archelaos von Priene unddie „Musen des Philiskos", Regensburg,
1965; ead., Das Relief des Archeloas von Priene, AP, 4, 1965, p. 55 ff., supposes that the relief was
executed on the southern or western shores of Asia Minor. Contrary, Bieber, p. 100, Figs. 404