Collections: Ancient Art

Egypt

Idi, the Count and Overseer of Priests

Egyptian art functioned for religious purposes and primarily in religious settings. Sculptures like this figure were carved for inclusion in a tomb, to help maintain the deceased in life after death. Food, offerings, and rituals enabled the deceased to attain a semi-divine existence with free access to the whole universe. This seated figure holds his hands in a position characteristic of sculpture carved in the later Old Kingdom. His facial features and the shape of his wig are also typical. An inscription on the right side of the seat gives his name as Idi, an unusual one for the Old Kingdom but attested in this period at Abydos. Possibly the Idi of the statue was a native of that city.

Male Mummy Mask

Made of plaster, carefully molded and painted, this mask has inlaid eyes of cast black and white glass with dark blue glass eyeliners. Such masks were set over the faces of mummies, which were then carefully wrapped in strips of linen. The wrapping of the head provided an oval frame of cloth through which the mask appeared. Although cartonnage masks to protect mummies' faces had been in use in Egypt since ca. 2000 B.C., only after Egypt became a Roman province did realistic elements make their appearance. The lifelike appearance of this mask suggests it may have been intended to represent the deceased, although it cannot be considered a true portrait.

The Ancient Near East

Household Shrine and Vases

The shrine is modelled on a temple type found mainly on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean and on Cyprus, areas where the Phoenician goddess Astarte was worshipped. The objects found with the shrine constitute important evidence for our understanding of religious ritual. The rhyton, in form of a bull wearing a halter and elaborate wreath, was used for pouring libations or for drinking during ceremonies; incense burned in the two perforated bowls. The two small vases may have been offerings to the goddess. The group was used for worship in a home or small sanctuary.

Oinochoe in Black-on-red Ware

The shape and patterned decoration on this jug are normal for pottery in Black-on-red II (IV) ware. The representation of an animal is, however, unusual on Cypriote pottery of this period. Although single animals are known on the shoulders of a few other Black-on-red oinochoai, the neatly painted bull on the shoulder of this example is of outstanding quality.

Greece

Red-figured Nolan Amphora; Hermonax

The artist Hermonax signed several vases, and his style has been recognized on more than one hundred others, among them this amphora with a woman running and holding a ribbon, probably intended for the youth on the other side. Hermonax is a follower of the Berlin Painter, one of the most important red-figure painters of the period 500 - 475 B.C. Characteristic of both artists are the single figures isolated against the black background. Hermonax, more than most of his contemporaries, preserves the freshness and sense of movement of the preceding age, the time of the Berlin Painter. A mark of his style is the way he draws the eye: the upper lid is convex instead of concave to the lower, and the iris is shown as a large black dot at the inner corner. This gives his faces an alert expression.

The term Nolan amphora refers to this particular type of small amphora, or two-handled jar, examples of which were first discovered at Nola, near Naples, Italy.

Red-figured Nolan Amphora; Hermonax
Greece, Athens
Ca. 460 B.C.
Pottery
(83.187)
Weinberg Fund and
gift of Museum Associates

Obverse: Head of Deified Alexander the Great with Horn of Ammon

The beginnings of royal portraiture on coins occurred after the establishment of the Hellenistic Kingdoms following the death of Alexander the Great (323 B.C.). Coin portraits, original works of art, are important evidence for Greek portraiture, which otherwise has survived mainly in Roman copies.

Greek coins were based on regulated weight standards. The Attic standard, based on the Athenian tetradrachm of 17 grammes, prevailed in many areas of Greece.

The Roman World

Portrait of the Emperor Hadrian as Diomedes

More than 175 portraits of the emperor Hadrian survive from antiquity. Most fall into seven clearly recognized types, but the Museum’s portrait belongs to an eighth that is very different from the others and has been the subject of much scholarly argument. First identified as Aelius Caesar, Hadrian's adopted son and heir, and then as the emperor Lucius Verus, the type is now recognized as a portrait of Hadrian. The identification was established in 1968 when a scholar connected the portrait type with a series of Hadrianic gold coins struck between A.D. 136 and 137. The portrait on these coins resembles the sculptures, especially in the type of beard. This eighth portrait-type can be dated to the Hadrianic period on stylistic and technical grounds: close-cropped beard, many rounded curls in the hair, use of the drill, and soft modeling of facial features. The lightly incised irises and shallow pupils set a date of just after A.D. 130.

This portrait type differs from the standard ones of the emperor. Those depict him with mustache and short, close-cropped beard covering the cheeks, chin and underside of the jaw, and as mature and middle-aged. The Museum’s bust suggests a reason for the difference. Statues of the Greek hero Diomedes have the same distinctive beard, sharp turn of the head, and soft, youthful features. They also have a mantle on the left shoulder and a belt for a sword across the upper chest, features preserved only on the Museum’s bust of the eighth, Hadrianic portrait-type. All other examples of the eighth portrait-type are heads. The hero Diomedes is chiefly known for an episode of the Trojan Wars–his theft from Troy of the Palladium, a small cult statue of Athena. The Greeks had been warned that Troy would not fall unless the statue was taken out of the city. After the fall of Troy, the Trojan hero Aeneas escaped, eventually to found the city of Rome. Representing the emperor as Diomedes symbolized for the Roman viewer the event that began Rome’s predominance. This portrait type perhaps marks the beginning of a trend in Roman portraiture where the likeness became less important than the symbolism.

Portrait of the Emperor Hadrian as Diomedes
Roman, ca. A.D. 130-140
Marble
(89.1)
Gift of Museum Associates and
Gilbreath-McLorn Museum Fund

Front Panel from a Child's Sarcophagus

The representation of a chariot race in a circus, with Erotes as charioteers, was considered appropriate for the coffin of a child and was often used, probably symbolizing life as a race. This sarcophagus is exceptionally rich in its decoration since the circus is shown in great detail, with chariots going in both directions on either side of the spina, or central divider. The extraordinary three-dimensional quality of the relief is enhanced by the action on two planes, as well as by the remarkable rendering of depth in the chariots rounding the end-posts.