The Mute Stones Speak: The Story of Archaeology in Italy — John Shaqi
The Mute Stones Speak: The Story of Archaeology in ItalyMacKendrick, Paul Lachlan
History
The Mute Stones Speak: The Story of Archaeology in Italy
MacKendrick, Paul Lachlan
Italy -- Antiquities
The panel to the left of the east entrance (Fig. 6.14) has as its
central figure a full-breasted woman, whose face closely resembles the
Livia of the south frieze. She has fruits in her lap, chubby naked
babies in her arms, a miniature cow and a sheep at her feet, grain and
poppies behind her. She is flanked by obviously allegorical figures
of Air (riding a swan), and Water (riding a sea monster). Fresh water
gushes from an amphora in the lower left corner; a saltwater harbor
(indicated by waves, and perhaps the arch in the background) is at
the lower right. Surely this is _Saturnia Tellus_, the fruitful earth
of an Italy at peace, that Vergil sang of in the _Georgics_, rich in
crops, flocks, and herds, but fruitful most of all in _men_. Of the
two fragmentary panels, the west one is restored as a scene of Mars,
the Shepherd, the wolf, and the twins Romulus and Remus. (The Mars
was acquired from a private owner in Vienna, whose Roman art dealer
had told him it came from the Palazzo Fiano.) The east one, the least
well preserved of all, probably represented the goddess Roma seated
upon a trophy of arms, like Britannia on an English penny. Thus one
pair of end panels is symbolical, while the other is mythological; the
processional frieze deals with contemporary history. The whole makes a
tripartite arrangement which is artistically very satisfying. At the
same time, victorious Rome, fruitful Italy, the remote founder, and the
first king, are all symbolically related here, as in other Augustan
monuments, to the contemporary scene and the fortunes of the dynasty.
[Illustration: FIG. 6.13 Rome, Altar of Peace. Aeneas sacrificing.
(MPI)]
[Illustration: FIG. 6.14 Rome, Altar of Peace. Tellus or Italia. (MPI)]
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