Works of art

In the British Museum in London is a bronze dish with incised decoration, found in Anzio, and acquired in 1814. In the central medallion are two Cupids rowing a boat past a seaside building. The surrounding panel is crowded with figures of fishermen, fish and birds.

Bronze dish. Diam. 0.24, h. 0.05. First half of the 4th century.
Photos: British Museum, London.

In the Galleria Corsini in Rome is a silver cup that was found in 1759 on the terrain of the Villa Corsini. It has a depiction of Athena casting a vote in favour of Orestes, as described in the Oresteia, a trilogy by Aeschylus.

The silver Coppa Corsini. C. 50 BC. Diam. of rim 0.10.
Photo: Gallerie Nazionali Barberini Corsini.

In the Museo delle Terme in Rome are some black-and-white mosaics found at the locality Arco Muto, with amorini and wild animals. They have been dated to the late second century AD. In the Museo Capitolino in Rome is a polychrome mosaic of marble and glass paste tesserae with a lion and Erotes, discovered in 1749. In the foreground, three small Erotes play beside an imposing recumbent lion. In the 18th century the original background figure depicting Dionysus underwent restoration and was transformed into a Hercules in women's clothing, alluding to the myth of the hero's enslavement to Omphale, Queen of Lydia.

Mosaic with a lion and erotes. Late 1st century BC.
W. 0.715, h. 0.79. Photo: Musei Capitolini Centrale Montemartini.

Many statues were found, mostly in the area of the Imperial villa. Particularly famous are the so-called Girl of Anzio, the Apollo del Belvedere, and a group of an Amazon and a barbarian. In 1807 the Louvre acquired the so-called Gladiatore Borghese, and in 1861 a statue of Venus and an Erote.

Left. The so-called Girl of Anzio, perhaps the Delphic priestess of Apollo, or a girl carrying ritual objects of the cult of Dionysus.
Found in 1878. H. 1.70. Third century BC. Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome. Photo: Wikimedia, Miguel Hermoso Cuesta.
Right. The Apollo del Belvedere. Found in 1489. H. 2.24. Middle of the 2nd century AD. Vatican Museums. Photo: Wikimedia, Livioandronico2013.

Group of an Amazon perched on a horse, fighting with a barbarian. Found in 1931.
Second century AD. Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome. Photo: Wikimedia, Carole Raddato.

Left. The so-called Gladiatore Borghese, acquired by the Louvre in 1807. Found in 1609. H. 1.73. Around 100 BC. Photo: Louvre.
Right. Statue of Venus and an Erote, acquired by the Louvre in 1861. H. 1.92. Photo: Louvre.

In 1712 and 1718 a building was excavated in which four statues were found: of Jupiter, of Aesculapius, of a Faun or Satyr, and of an athlete.

Statue of Aesculapius. Musei Capitolini, Rome. Photo: Wikimedia, Yair Haklai.

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