DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.52594#0586
Roman Reliefs.
ial image in the hands of the genius of the Senate as the
expression of the obedience of the people. In the relief art
and bronzes of the 2nd century the symbol becomes more
common and among the busts it has been possible to re-
cognize Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. In
our relief it is evidently Septimius Severus (cf. Nos. 721-23).
The tradition is carried on into sarcophagus pictures of the
3rd and 4th century. Tacitus (Annales XV 29) mentions an
image of Nero exhibited on a sella curulis. Similarly, we have
here a seat of honour, a throne with the imperial insignia,
a substitute for the imperial image itself and the centre of
solemn ceremonies.
Billedtavler pl. LXX. Arndt-Amelung text of 2006. S. Eitrem, Collections
III 1942 pp. 189-201. Filippo Magi: I Rilievi Flavi del Palazzo della Can-
cellaria (Rome 1945) p. 117 seqq.
817 a. (I. N. 2120). Suspension disc (oscilluni) with reliefs. M.
Diam. 0.39, thickness 0.04. A small piece below patched in plaster.
Above a hole 4 cm deep for suspension. Acquired 1907 via Munich.
The Romans used to hang these oscilla between the col-
umns of the peristyle, where their swaying in the wind
scared evil spirits away (cf. the pictures from Casa degli
Amorini dorati in Pompeii, Not. Scavi 1907 p. 549 seqq.).
In nearly all cases the low reliefs on both sides represented
figures from Dionysus’s circle and suggest an origin of
similar tablets of wood hung up during the Dionysus feasts
in the trees of the groves (Vergil’s Georgica II 389. Darem-
berg-Saglio s. v. Oscilla).
On one side is a nude dancing satyr with animal’s skin,
knife and the hindquarters of a roe kid, within a frame of
laurel branches; on the other, within a framework of foliage
with rosettes, acanthus and lilies, a dancing maenad in trans-
parent garment and carrying a thyrsus staff in her right
hand and a snake in her left.
Tillteg til Billedtavler pl. XIV. Lippold, Arch. Jahrb. XXXVI 1921 p. 39
fig. 2 and p. 42 with note 81. E. Strong: The Melchett Collection p. 38
No. 37, pl. XXXVIII.’ Pauly-Wissowa s. v. Oscilla on all forms and all quest-
ions as to oscilla. Cf. A. von Salis: Antike und Renaissance (Zurich 1947)
p. 179 seq.
818. (I. N. 887 a). Plaster relief.
. H. 0.83, br. 0.82. Small restorations' in plaster in the fractures. Nos.
818-823 were found partly in 1847 (Nos. 821-822) and partly about
582
ial image in the hands of the genius of the Senate as the
expression of the obedience of the people. In the relief art
and bronzes of the 2nd century the symbol becomes more
common and among the busts it has been possible to re-
cognize Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. In
our relief it is evidently Septimius Severus (cf. Nos. 721-23).
The tradition is carried on into sarcophagus pictures of the
3rd and 4th century. Tacitus (Annales XV 29) mentions an
image of Nero exhibited on a sella curulis. Similarly, we have
here a seat of honour, a throne with the imperial insignia,
a substitute for the imperial image itself and the centre of
solemn ceremonies.
Billedtavler pl. LXX. Arndt-Amelung text of 2006. S. Eitrem, Collections
III 1942 pp. 189-201. Filippo Magi: I Rilievi Flavi del Palazzo della Can-
cellaria (Rome 1945) p. 117 seqq.
817 a. (I. N. 2120). Suspension disc (oscilluni) with reliefs. M.
Diam. 0.39, thickness 0.04. A small piece below patched in plaster.
Above a hole 4 cm deep for suspension. Acquired 1907 via Munich.
The Romans used to hang these oscilla between the col-
umns of the peristyle, where their swaying in the wind
scared evil spirits away (cf. the pictures from Casa degli
Amorini dorati in Pompeii, Not. Scavi 1907 p. 549 seqq.).
In nearly all cases the low reliefs on both sides represented
figures from Dionysus’s circle and suggest an origin of
similar tablets of wood hung up during the Dionysus feasts
in the trees of the groves (Vergil’s Georgica II 389. Darem-
berg-Saglio s. v. Oscilla).
On one side is a nude dancing satyr with animal’s skin,
knife and the hindquarters of a roe kid, within a frame of
laurel branches; on the other, within a framework of foliage
with rosettes, acanthus and lilies, a dancing maenad in trans-
parent garment and carrying a thyrsus staff in her right
hand and a snake in her left.
Tillteg til Billedtavler pl. XIV. Lippold, Arch. Jahrb. XXXVI 1921 p. 39
fig. 2 and p. 42 with note 81. E. Strong: The Melchett Collection p. 38
No. 37, pl. XXXVIII.’ Pauly-Wissowa s. v. Oscilla on all forms and all quest-
ions as to oscilla. Cf. A. von Salis: Antike und Renaissance (Zurich 1947)
p. 179 seq.
818. (I. N. 887 a). Plaster relief.
. H. 0.83, br. 0.82. Small restorations' in plaster in the fractures. Nos.
818-823 were found partly in 1847 (Nos. 821-822) and partly about
582