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Identification and Creation

Object Number
1925.6.42
Title
Wall Painting Fragment
Classification
Fragments
Work Type
wall painting fragment(s)
Date
20 BCE-45 CE
Places
Creation Place: Ancient & Byzantine World, Europe
Period
Roman Imperial period, Early
Culture
Roman
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/292242

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Pigment on plaster
Technique
Fresco painting
Dimensions
H. 7.8 x W. 5.7 x D. 1.2 cm (3 1/16 x 2 1/4 x 1/2 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Fausto Benedetti, Rome (by 1925) gift; to Fogg Museum of Art, 1925.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Gift of Fausto Benedetti
Accession Year
1925
Object Number
1925.6.42
Division
Asian and Mediterranean Art
Contact
am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
The white ground of this fragment is punctuated with a yellow band that serves as a groundline. On this groundline, stands a composite candelabrum figure rendered in red paint with delicate white highlights. The motif's base consists of two curved volutes while the upper, figural portion has two arms, one holding a dish.
Commentary
Brightly colored wall paintings often decorated the interior, and sometimes exterior, of Roman buildings. The fragment shown is just one small part of a much larger decorative scheme that would have covered an entire wall.

The composite figure seen here may represent a herm, or stone sculpture with the head and torso of a male atop a stone pillar. In Roman houses, herms often decorated garden or courtyards. Herms often represented the god Hermes, but in some painted examples the torso and head are of other gods including Priapus and Hercules, identifiable based on the attributes they carry (1).

Notes:
1. For two examples of painted, decorative herms see a dado painting from Pompeii VI Insula Occidentalis, 25 in the Museo Archeologico Nazional di Napoli, inv. 9688.

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 3620 University Study Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/20/2018 - 05/06/2018

Subjects and Contexts

  • Roman Domestic Art

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Asian and Mediterranean Art at am_asianmediterranean@harvard.edu