Frieze with Plant Motif
This frieze was probably part of the architectural decoration of the Forum of Trajan, excavated in the early nineteenth century. In 1832, Nibby reported that it was in Room II of the Villa Borghese. The decorative relief alternates palmettes and lotus flowers connected by spiral shoots.
The sculpture is datable to the Trajanic period.
Object details
Inventory
Location
Date
Classification
Medium
Dimensions
height 405 cm; width 174 cm
Provenance
Borghese Collection, cited for the first time in room II by Nibby in 1832 (pp. 74–75, no. 4); Inventario Fidecommissario Borghese 1833, C., pp. 45–46, no. 67. Purchased by the Italian State, 1902.
Conservation and Diagnostic
- 19th century - Plaster interventions on the upper edge; on the central slab also on the lower edge: the side slabs have been trimmed, while the central slab is preserved in its entire original length.
Commentary
The frieze is decorated with an anthemion design, in relief, that alternates lotus flowers and palmettes. There are two types of palmettes. One has eleven lobes with open spirals, the first two pairs of which, starting from the bottom, curve outward, while the others curve inward. The central lobe has a single central, clearly defined flute. The second type has eleven leaves with lobes facing outward, except for the middle one, which is tapered and ends with a small bud. The lotus flower has a calyx comprising two leaves with a four-petal flower in the middle, ending in a stalk and five stylised leaves. The motifs are connected by paired spiral shoots, curved upward. This decorative pattern was a Hellenistic type popular in Asia Minor, one example of which is a fragment from the Temple of Dionysus in Miletus (Rumscheid 1994, pp. 43–46, pl. 97.3).
In 1832, Nibby reported the frieze in its current location in Room II and noted the similarity of its style and workmanship to the decorations unearthed in the Forum of Trajan (Nibby 1832, pp. 74–75, no. 4). Moreno speculated that the fragment might have entered the Borghese Collection during excavations carried out in the early nineteenth century in the area of the Forum and made a convincing comparison with a decorative element from that same monument, which features the same alternation of the three plant motifs (Leon 1971, p. 64, pls 9, 1, 13; Moreno, Viacava 2003, pp. 172–173, no. 146A). The sculpture is datable to about 112 CE, the year of the inauguration of the Forum of Trajan.
Giulia Ciccarello
Bibliography
- A. Nibby, Monumenti scelti della Villa Borghese, Roma 1832, pp. 74-75, n. 4.
- Indicazione delle opere antiche di scultura esistenti nel primo piano della Villa Borghese, Roma 1840, p. 13, n. 11.
- A. Nibby, Roma nell’anno 1838, Roma 1841, p. 916, n. 11.
- Indicazione delle opere antiche di scultura esistenti nel primo piano del Palazzo della Villa Borghese, Roma 1854 (1873), I, p. 15, n. 11.
- A. Venturi, Il Museo e la Galleria Borghese, Roma 1893, p. 27.
- P. Della Pergola, La Galleria Borghese in Roma (3° Edizione), Roma 1954, p. 10.
- P. Moreno, Formazione della raccolta di antichità del Museo e Galleria Borghese, in “Colloqui del Sodalizio”, 1975-1976, p. 126, fig. 3.
- P. Moreno, Museo e Galleria Borghese, La collezione archeologica, Roma 1980, p. 14.
- P. Moreno, S. Staccioli, Le Collezioni della Galleria Borghese, Milano 1981, p. 102.
- R. H. Cohon, Greek and Roman stone table supports with decorative reliefs, New York 1984, p. 125.
- P. Moreno, C. Stefani, Galleria Borghese, Milano 2000, p. 91, n. 14.
- P. Moreno, A. Viacava, I marmi antichi della Galleria Borghese. La collezione archeologica di Camillo e Francesco Borghese, Roma 2003, pp. 172-173, n. 146A.
- F. Rumscheid, Untersuchungen zur Kleinasiatischen Bauornamentik des Hellenismus, Mainz 1994, pp. 43-46, Tav. 97.3.
- C. F. Leon, Die Bauornamentik des Trajansforums und ihre Stellung in der früh- und mittelkaiserzeitlichen Architekturdekoration Roms, 1971, p. 64, Tav. 9, 1, 13.
- Scheda di catalogo 12/00147842, P. Moreno 1976; aggiornamento G. Ciccarello 2020.
