DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49928#0283
PLATE XCIIa AND XCIII.
The Capitoline “Tabula Iliaca.”
Marble {Palombino} Slab with Figures in very Low
Relief and Inscriptions io in. high by nj wide. Roman,
Augustan Period. Found in 1683 at the Osteria
DELLE FrATOCCHIE NEAR THE SlTE OF THE ANCIENT
Bovillae, now in the Capitoline Museum, Rome. Pl. 92 a
gives an Accurate, Pl. 93, a Partly Restored Drawing
of the Original.
Jahn, Bilderchroniken, Pl. i. (references to the literature
before 1873).
Baumeister, Denkmaler, fig. 775.
Engelmann and Anderson, Atlas to Homer, II. fig. 3.
Helbig, Fiihrer, p. 345 (No. 451 ; references).
Scenes taken from the Homeric and other Epic poems are
found on Greek vase-paintings as early as the seventh century,
and there is no lack of literary testimony to show that the same
subjects were equally popular on more costly works of art,
such for instance as the Chest of Cypselus. It was not how-
ever until Hellenistic times that it became usual to depict Epic
scenes in regular sequence following the story as told in
poetry. In earlier periods the artist troubled but little about
the literary version of the story or the order in which the
episodes followed one another (cf. Pl. 34, fig. 5, Pl. 37,
figs, i—3). In the Hellenistic age he had become an illus-
trator and followed the poems closely.
One of the earliest recorded cycles of Epic pictures is the
mosaic in Hiero’s colossal ship (248 b.c.) which contained the
whole story of the Iliad. The painter Theon (or Theorus)
produced a Trojan War in several pictures which was after-
wards brought to Rome. A series of frescoes discovered in a
house on the Esquiline Hill in 1848 gives a good idea of what
these pictures were like. They represent scenes from the
story told by Ulysses to Alcinous in the Odyssey ; Circe, the
Cyclops, Laestrygonians, the Descent to Hades. Scenes from
these cycles were also very popular as ornaments for cups of
metal or clay. Many “ Homeric ” bowls of red Samian ware
have been discovered, and have been recently described by Pro-
fessor Robert (50/^5 Winckelmannsfestprogram 1890, pp. 1—96,
“ Homerische Becher ”). They are decorated with scenes from
the Iliad, Odyssey, Aethiopis, little Iliad, Iliupersis, and the
Theban Cycle, which are accompanied by inscriptions giving
the names of the heroes and quotations from the poet. The
influence of such works of art, suggested by the literary
tendencies of the time, reacted on literature. Virgil’s pictures
of the Trojan War seem to be derived almost as much from
such paintings as from literature. When Aeneas visits the
temple of Juno* at Carthage “ videt Iliacas ex ordine pugnas,” a
quotation that might be applied to the poet himself.
The “ Tabula Iliaca ” bears the title ΤΡΩΙΚΟΊ (sc. πίναξ) and
gives an encyclopaedic series of illustrations of the Trojan War,
drawn from the Sack of Troy by Stesichorus (ΙΛΙΟΥΠΕΡ2Ι2
ΚΑΤΑ 2TH2IXOPON), the Iliad of Homer (IAIAS KATA
ΟΜΗΡΟΝ), the Aethiopis of Arctinus the Milesian (ΑΙΘΙΟΠΙΑ
KATA APKTINON TON MIAH^ION), and the Little Iliad of
Lesches of Pyrrha (IAIA2 Η ΜΙΚΡΑ ΛΕΓΟΜΕΝΗ KATA
AE^XHN ΠΥΡΡΑΙΟΝ).
It is arranged architecturally. Two pillars (that on the left
has been broken off) stand on a basis and form the frame for
the “ Sack of Troy.” At the top, in a frieze, are scenes from
the first book of the Iliad. On the left were scenes from
books ii. to xi., on the right scenes from the remaining
twelve books. On the basis in the centre are scenes from the
Aethiopis. All these are accompanied by titles giving the
names of the characters and the leading incidents.
On the remaining pillar is a summary of the seventh and
following books, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth being
omitted. It begins :—ot 8' ’Αχαιοί τ(ε)ΐχός τε και τάφρον ποιούνται
περί τάς ναύς. Αμφοτερων δ αυτών εξοπλισθεντων και μάχην εν
τω πε8ίω συναψάντων οι Τρώες εις το τ(ε)ιχος τούς ’Αχαιούς
κατα8ιωκουσιν και την νυκτ’ εκείνην έπϊ ταις ταυσιν ποιούνται την
επαυλιν κ.τ.λ. The lost pillar gave the summary of the earlier
books.
An inscription on the basis supporting the pillar gives the
designer’s name:—
ώ φίλε παί ®εο8^ώρηον μάθε τάξιν 'Ομηρου
οφρα δαεις πάσης μετρον εχης σοφίας.
“ Learn, dear boy, Theodorus’s setting of Homer
That from its lesson, thou mayst possess the measure of all
wisdom,”
a motto which reminds one of Horace, who says of Homer,
“ Qui quidpulchrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non, planius ac
melius Chrysippo et Crantore dicitf Epp. 1, 2, 3, 4. There
can be no doubt as to the restoration of the name Theodorus,
for he must be the person mentioned as the author of a summary
by Strabo xiii. 3 (c. 625), in his list of Pergamene celebrities.
I Απολλόδωρος ο ρητωρ ο τάς τεχνας συγγράψας και την ’Απολλο-
8ωρειον αίρεσιν παραγαγων, ητις ποτ εστί' πολλά yap επεκράτει,
μείζονα δε η καθ' ημάς εχοντα την κρίσιν, ων εστι και η Άπολλοδώ-
ρειος αίρεσις καί η ©εοδώρειος. “ Apollodorus the rhetorician,
who made an encyclopaedia of the arts and founded ‘ the sect
of Apollodorus,’ whatever that may be; for many schools
flourished which demand a criticism that is beyond us, and
among these are both the ‘ sect of Apollodorus ’ and that of
Theodorus.”
It is not easy to say with certainty what purpose the
“ Tabula” served. Jahn assumed that it was for use in school,
but it is so small that only one boy at a time could use it. Be-
sides, even though it is unfinished it is a good piece of work
with scenes copied from famous originals, and seems too ambi-
tious and valuable to commit to the rough treatment of a school.
It was more probably intended to be an ornamental panel
in a bookcase or case. If so it is the oldest instance of the
use of framed tablets, so general in the middle ages, to give
scenes from the Bible and legends in a convenient form for
private devotion. Like the mediaeval triptychs, it is no
doubt closely connected with the manuscript illustrations of the
period, both giving a picture gallery of the best-known repre-
sentations of classic scenes.
The scenes are arranged as follows :—
Iliupersis in the centre. A bird’s-eye view of Troy is given
showing its walls with battlements and towers, and a single
gate. Inside we see the temple of Athena standing in the
midst of the houses of the town, its precinct flanked on each
side with a long colonnade (cf. PI. 92, fig. 3). In the court, the
Greeks are issuing from the wooden horse (AOYPHOS ΙΠΠ02)
and have already begun the massacre. On the steps of the
temple itself Ajax is dragging Cassandra by the hair, while she
vainly implores the help of the goddess. A Trojan archer
lurking behind the temple aims his bow at Ajax. Outside the
precinct are other Greeks, who have been let in at the gates,
hastening to the fight.
Below, the courtyard of Priam’s palace is shown surrounded
by a colonnade. Priam himself, seated on the altar, is being
slain by Neoptolemus, while Hecuba beside him is being
dragged away by a rough Greek. On the ground lie the dead
bodies of Astyanax and one of Priam’s daughters.
177
A A
The Capitoline “Tabula Iliaca.”
Marble {Palombino} Slab with Figures in very Low
Relief and Inscriptions io in. high by nj wide. Roman,
Augustan Period. Found in 1683 at the Osteria
DELLE FrATOCCHIE NEAR THE SlTE OF THE ANCIENT
Bovillae, now in the Capitoline Museum, Rome. Pl. 92 a
gives an Accurate, Pl. 93, a Partly Restored Drawing
of the Original.
Jahn, Bilderchroniken, Pl. i. (references to the literature
before 1873).
Baumeister, Denkmaler, fig. 775.
Engelmann and Anderson, Atlas to Homer, II. fig. 3.
Helbig, Fiihrer, p. 345 (No. 451 ; references).
Scenes taken from the Homeric and other Epic poems are
found on Greek vase-paintings as early as the seventh century,
and there is no lack of literary testimony to show that the same
subjects were equally popular on more costly works of art,
such for instance as the Chest of Cypselus. It was not how-
ever until Hellenistic times that it became usual to depict Epic
scenes in regular sequence following the story as told in
poetry. In earlier periods the artist troubled but little about
the literary version of the story or the order in which the
episodes followed one another (cf. Pl. 34, fig. 5, Pl. 37,
figs, i—3). In the Hellenistic age he had become an illus-
trator and followed the poems closely.
One of the earliest recorded cycles of Epic pictures is the
mosaic in Hiero’s colossal ship (248 b.c.) which contained the
whole story of the Iliad. The painter Theon (or Theorus)
produced a Trojan War in several pictures which was after-
wards brought to Rome. A series of frescoes discovered in a
house on the Esquiline Hill in 1848 gives a good idea of what
these pictures were like. They represent scenes from the
story told by Ulysses to Alcinous in the Odyssey ; Circe, the
Cyclops, Laestrygonians, the Descent to Hades. Scenes from
these cycles were also very popular as ornaments for cups of
metal or clay. Many “ Homeric ” bowls of red Samian ware
have been discovered, and have been recently described by Pro-
fessor Robert (50/^5 Winckelmannsfestprogram 1890, pp. 1—96,
“ Homerische Becher ”). They are decorated with scenes from
the Iliad, Odyssey, Aethiopis, little Iliad, Iliupersis, and the
Theban Cycle, which are accompanied by inscriptions giving
the names of the heroes and quotations from the poet. The
influence of such works of art, suggested by the literary
tendencies of the time, reacted on literature. Virgil’s pictures
of the Trojan War seem to be derived almost as much from
such paintings as from literature. When Aeneas visits the
temple of Juno* at Carthage “ videt Iliacas ex ordine pugnas,” a
quotation that might be applied to the poet himself.
The “ Tabula Iliaca ” bears the title ΤΡΩΙΚΟΊ (sc. πίναξ) and
gives an encyclopaedic series of illustrations of the Trojan War,
drawn from the Sack of Troy by Stesichorus (ΙΛΙΟΥΠΕΡ2Ι2
ΚΑΤΑ 2TH2IXOPON), the Iliad of Homer (IAIAS KATA
ΟΜΗΡΟΝ), the Aethiopis of Arctinus the Milesian (ΑΙΘΙΟΠΙΑ
KATA APKTINON TON MIAH^ION), and the Little Iliad of
Lesches of Pyrrha (IAIA2 Η ΜΙΚΡΑ ΛΕΓΟΜΕΝΗ KATA
AE^XHN ΠΥΡΡΑΙΟΝ).
It is arranged architecturally. Two pillars (that on the left
has been broken off) stand on a basis and form the frame for
the “ Sack of Troy.” At the top, in a frieze, are scenes from
the first book of the Iliad. On the left were scenes from
books ii. to xi., on the right scenes from the remaining
twelve books. On the basis in the centre are scenes from the
Aethiopis. All these are accompanied by titles giving the
names of the characters and the leading incidents.
On the remaining pillar is a summary of the seventh and
following books, the thirteenth, fourteenth, and fifteenth being
omitted. It begins :—ot 8' ’Αχαιοί τ(ε)ΐχός τε και τάφρον ποιούνται
περί τάς ναύς. Αμφοτερων δ αυτών εξοπλισθεντων και μάχην εν
τω πε8ίω συναψάντων οι Τρώες εις το τ(ε)ιχος τούς ’Αχαιούς
κατα8ιωκουσιν και την νυκτ’ εκείνην έπϊ ταις ταυσιν ποιούνται την
επαυλιν κ.τ.λ. The lost pillar gave the summary of the earlier
books.
An inscription on the basis supporting the pillar gives the
designer’s name:—
ώ φίλε παί ®εο8^ώρηον μάθε τάξιν 'Ομηρου
οφρα δαεις πάσης μετρον εχης σοφίας.
“ Learn, dear boy, Theodorus’s setting of Homer
That from its lesson, thou mayst possess the measure of all
wisdom,”
a motto which reminds one of Horace, who says of Homer,
“ Qui quidpulchrum, quid turpe, quid utile, quid non, planius ac
melius Chrysippo et Crantore dicitf Epp. 1, 2, 3, 4. There
can be no doubt as to the restoration of the name Theodorus,
for he must be the person mentioned as the author of a summary
by Strabo xiii. 3 (c. 625), in his list of Pergamene celebrities.
I Απολλόδωρος ο ρητωρ ο τάς τεχνας συγγράψας και την ’Απολλο-
8ωρειον αίρεσιν παραγαγων, ητις ποτ εστί' πολλά yap επεκράτει,
μείζονα δε η καθ' ημάς εχοντα την κρίσιν, ων εστι και η Άπολλοδώ-
ρειος αίρεσις καί η ©εοδώρειος. “ Apollodorus the rhetorician,
who made an encyclopaedia of the arts and founded ‘ the sect
of Apollodorus,’ whatever that may be; for many schools
flourished which demand a criticism that is beyond us, and
among these are both the ‘ sect of Apollodorus ’ and that of
Theodorus.”
It is not easy to say with certainty what purpose the
“ Tabula” served. Jahn assumed that it was for use in school,
but it is so small that only one boy at a time could use it. Be-
sides, even though it is unfinished it is a good piece of work
with scenes copied from famous originals, and seems too ambi-
tious and valuable to commit to the rough treatment of a school.
It was more probably intended to be an ornamental panel
in a bookcase or case. If so it is the oldest instance of the
use of framed tablets, so general in the middle ages, to give
scenes from the Bible and legends in a convenient form for
private devotion. Like the mediaeval triptychs, it is no
doubt closely connected with the manuscript illustrations of the
period, both giving a picture gallery of the best-known repre-
sentations of classic scenes.
The scenes are arranged as follows :—
Iliupersis in the centre. A bird’s-eye view of Troy is given
showing its walls with battlements and towers, and a single
gate. Inside we see the temple of Athena standing in the
midst of the houses of the town, its precinct flanked on each
side with a long colonnade (cf. PI. 92, fig. 3). In the court, the
Greeks are issuing from the wooden horse (AOYPHOS ΙΠΠ02)
and have already begun the massacre. On the steps of the
temple itself Ajax is dragging Cassandra by the hair, while she
vainly implores the help of the goddess. A Trojan archer
lurking behind the temple aims his bow at Ajax. Outside the
precinct are other Greeks, who have been let in at the gates,
hastening to the fight.
Below, the courtyard of Priam’s palace is shown surrounded
by a colonnade. Priam himself, seated on the altar, is being
slain by Neoptolemus, while Hecuba beside him is being
dragged away by a rough Greek. On the ground lie the dead
bodies of Astyanax and one of Priam’s daughters.
177
A A