Speranza
Five marble architectural fragments
Period: Early Imperial,
Domitianic
Date: ca. A.D.
90–92
Culture: Roman
Medium: Marble
Classification: Stone Sculpture
Credit Line: Gift of J. Pierpont
Morgan, 1906
Accession Number: 1906.970a–e
This artwork is currently on
display in Gallery 162
These highly
elaborate fragments are believed to belong to the palace that the emperor
Domitian had built on the Palatine hill between A.D. 81 and 92, in succession to
the imperial residences that had been established there by Augustus, Tiberius,
and Nero.
The palace was designed by the architect Rabirius, who made much use
of imported colored marble, pools, and fountains in the decoration of the vast
complex.
Another striking feature was the height of the various state rooms.
The
Aula Regia (the main audience chamber), for example, had an interior façade of
three stories and a ceiling some one hundred feet above the floor. The grand
suite of halls was where the emperor greeted and sometimes entertained
well-to-do members of Roman society, ambassadors from the provinces, and foreign
princes. Little now survives of the grandeur of the imperial palace, although it
remained in use well into later Roman times and underwent numerous alterations
and additions during the intervening period. In the Middle Ages, it became a
ready source for marble, and later, the site for several Italian villas and
gardens.
The five pieces comprise different elements of the entablature,
which decorated the upper part of the building:
06.970a Cornice block with
dentils and egg-and-dart motifs
06.970b Architrave lintel block from between
two columns
06.970c Fragment of a frieze depicting a sphinx
06.970d
Cornice block with palmettes
06.970e Fragment of a frieze with a bucranium
supporting swags
The pieces are said to be from the Aula Regia of Domitian’s
Palace in Rome
References
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1987.
Greece and Rome. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 88, pp. 118-19.
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