Roman Marble Altar / Fountain - Minerva, Apollo, & Rams

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Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic

By Artemis Gallery

Feb 13, 2020

Set Reminder 2020-02-13 10:00:00 2020-02-13 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Exceptional Antiquities, Asian, Ethnographic https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/artemis-gallery/exceptional-antiquities-asian-ethnographic-4848
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• Lot Description
  Roman, Imperial Period, ca. 1st to 3rd century CE. A beautifully carved provincial marble altar that, at a later date but still during antiquity, was transformed into a fountain by drilling out one side. The square bodied altar has a thick lip at the foot and neck with a rounded interior. The exterior is decorated with high relief carvings of important figures: Minerva (Athena) in full warrior costume as well as a youthful god, probably Apollo. The back and sides feature garlands, ram heads, and lion heads. Please see the extended description below for further discussion about the meaningful iconography presented on this piece. Size: 12.5" L x 11.5" W x 15" H (31.8 cm x 29.2 cm x 38.1 cm)
  
  Minerva, goddess of poetry, wisdom, and warfare, was celebrated in Rome as a more peaceful goddess than Athena was in Greece; she was often depicted with her sword lowered to indicate sympathy for the battle victims. Apollo did not have a Roman equivalent, perhaps indicating that this piece was carved in a part of Greece under Roman control. In Greek religion, Apollo was often associated with compassion towards warriors, as during the Trojan War, when he was said to rescue the corpse of Sarpedon from the battlefield and clean it as well as convince Athena to stop the war for a day, so the warriors could rest. Rams, meanwhile, were a common motif on funerary altars - all suggesting that this altar likely once memorialized a soldier. When did it become a fountain? Repurposing Roman marble items happened during the Roman period and beyond, with all manner of Roman items incorporated into Christian monuments, private homes, and even pagan areas of worship in the centuries after Rome's fall. Whoever made this into a fountain must have been struck by its beauty, even if they did not fully comprehend its symbolism.
  
  Provenance: private East Coast, USA collection; ex-William Froelich collection, New York, USA, collected in the 1960s-1990s
  
  All items legal to buy/sell under U.S. Statute covering cultural patrimony Code 2600, CHAPTER 14, and are guaranteed to be as described or your money back.
  
  A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany all winning bids.
  
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  #146682

  Condition

  This was originally an altar that at some point in the past - in antiquity based on wear - was turned into a fountain. One lower corner is lost, but the item still stands on its own. Small losses from the peripheries, with wear commensurate with age. Many of the decorations are still in nice condition and their identities clear. With rich deposits on the surface.
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