For #ReliefWednesday a glimpse into everyday life in the Roman Empire: this relief from #Ostia shows a vegetable and flower seller behind a market stall, presenting a carefully arranged display of goods.
Dating late 2nd/early 3rd century AD
đź“·Archaeological Museum Ostia
✨The Adoptive Emperor Line✨
This stunning relief shows a sequence of imperial adoptions. Hadrian (right) adopts Antoninus Pius (center left) and at the same time, Marcus Aurelius (left) and Lucius Verus (front center) are adopted by Antoninus Pius at Hadrian’s request to ensure a smooth line of succession. The earliest date for such a relief is the year of this event; 138 CE.
#ReliefWednesday! A relief plaque with an #owl. 🦉
The owl hieroglyph represents the sound m.
Late Period–Ptolemaic Period, 4th/3rd century BC, Egypt.
On display at Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek Copenhagen
đź“· me
✨The Maenad of Dionysus✨
The dance of the maenads in worship of the god of wine, Dionysus, is often described as frenzied. And the sense of frenzy is evident in the way this maenad seems to emerge from stone turning to face us.
✨Titus Aelius Evangelius✨
This relief is thought to be from a sarcophagus depicting the freedman Titus Aelius Evangelius who was a woolworker. While other scenes appear to show him and his wife Gaudenia Nicene sharing wine, this scene shows Titus at work.
✨It’s a god; it’s a man; it’s HERCULES!✨
Hercules’ second labour is a fitting match for #ReliefWednesday (that old hump day). Here he squares off against the Lernean Hydra.
The hydra was known to terrorise the countryside around Lerna with its nine serpenty heads. Between the venom and the fact that one head was immortal, this was not a labour to be sneezed at!
✨Augustus and Tiberius - the Gemma Augustea✨
One of the most impressive artefacts from the Julio-Claudian period, the Gemma Augustea is our pick this #ReliefWednesday. Augustus is honoured in the top register in the guise of Jupiter, holding a sceptre and an augur’s staff. Tiberius is on the left about to disembark from a chariot. Germanicus also makes an appearance dressed in military attire. The lower register depicts a military victory, thought to be the suppression of the Dalmatian Revolt.
For #ReliefWednesday the so called Gemma Claudia, made of five-layered onyx. Emperor Claudius and his forth wife Agrippina minor are depicted on the left, opposite her parents Germanicus - brother of Claudius - and Agrippina maior.
The cameo was presumably made on the occasion of Claudius' and Agrippina's wedding in 49 AD.
Agrippina was the mother of Nero. It was rumoured that she poisoned her husband and uncle Claudius with a dish of mushrooms
On display at Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien
đź“· me
✨Honouring the gods✨
This relief appears to depict the lead up to a bull sacrifice. There is a veiled figure at the altar with an attendant nearby, while another person leads the bull towards the final moment.
Unusually a building in the background appears to be very lop-sided giving the scene a more quirky vibe than you might otherwise expect. If you know more details about this artefact, we’d love to know more. It is apparently held by the Antiques Museum in the Royal Palace, Stockholm.
✨Relief plaque of temple attendants✨
This #ReliefWednesday we are enjoying this beautiful terracotta relief thought to date from the C1st CE but emulating the style of southern Italy and the influences of Magna Graecia. The provenance is not clear, but the style is certainly in keeping with the southern Italy terracotta relief style often seen in tiles and antefixes.
Nina Willburger
The Partial Historians