Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XI 7 April 2016
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Maximinus I Æ37 'Medallion' of Tralleis, Lydia. AD 235-238. Aur. Faidreios, magistrate. AYT K Γ IOYL OYH MAXIMEINOC, laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right / EΠI ΓP AYP ΦAIΔPEIOY A TPAΛΛIANΩN, statue group of diademed Venus standing right wearing stola and palla with arms around Mars, nude but for crested helmet, standing facing, holding shield; cuirass on low column on right field ground line. F. Imhoof, Lydische Statdmünzen, Winterthur 1897, pp. 178-9, 38, pl. 7, 16. 23.63g, 37mm, 5h.
About Extremely Fine. Dark green patina. Of the highest rarity; the only other known specimen is the one recorded by Imhoof in his collection.
Under the Antonines there was an increased interest in depicting both aristocratic and freed men and women in mythical guise. The models for such statuary groups in the round and in the relief undoubtedly belonged to courtly circles. Even though no extant groups or coins explicitly portray an emperor or empress as Mars and Venus, such examples certainly existed. We know from Cassius Dio (81-96) that Marcus Aurelius and Faustina minor were celebrated as Mars and Venus and that she was commonly represented as Venus. Hadrian and other emperors also commonly appeared in statues in the guise of Mars.
Three Roman statue groups have survived of a man and woman depicted as Mars and Venus in which portrait heads were placed on bodies based on the 5th century BC Greek so called 'Ares Borghese' type with attributed to the sculptor Alkamenes, now in the Louvre (MA 866; LIMC II, Ares 23). He stands in a counter-pose (contrapposto), with his right leg advanced in front and his weight resting on the left leg. In his right hand he carries a shield or lance and on his head he wears a high crested helmet. The woman also stands in counter-pose to the male figure which ultimately derives from a 4th century BC Greek so called 'Aphrodite of Capua' type now in the Museo Nazionale Archeologico, Naples (LIMC II, Aphrodite 627), an earlier version of the celebrated Aphrodite of Milos type now in the Louvre (LIMC II, Aphrodite 645), and close to the Venus of Arles attributed to Praxiteles, also now in the Louvre (LIMC II, Aphrodite 526). The statue probably represented the goddess admiring her reflection in the reflective surface of Ares' shield, a motif known on coins from Corinth. (cf. Corinth, Plautilla BMC 664-6), with most of its weight on one foot so that its shoulders and arms twist around from the hips and legs, giving the figure a dynamic and tender appearance.
The earliest extant of these three groups was found on the Isola Sacra in Ostia and now in the Museo Capitolino, Rome (LIMC II, Ares/Mars 348). The woman is represented according to the Capuan Aphrodite type: she turns toward her husband and puts her left arm around his shoulders, unlike the Venus of Capua, she is clothed in a stola and palla. The man is nude, wears a helmet and short pallium and stands in the Ares Borghese counter-pose. The woman's diademed head is coiffure with its series of overlapping locks and bun at the back of the head, is comparable to that of Faustina II on coins and portraits in the round of about AD 147. The carving of the hair style and face of the man resembles the portraits of a young Marcus Aurelius in about AD 145. This group must date from AD 145-150.
The second group, formerly from the Borghese Collection and now in the Louvre (LIMC II, Ares/Mars 350) depicts the woman, probably Sabina, represented in the style of the Capuan Venus, except that she is also clothed in a stola and palla. The man is heroically nude, save for helmet and balteus with parazonium, and stands in the Ares Borghese counter-pose with a portrait that has often been identified as Hadrian during the principate of Antoninus Pius and can be dated to about AD 150-160.
The third and latest group was found in the so-called Basilica at Ostia, now in the Museo Nazionale, Rome (LIMC II, Ares/Mars 347) also represents a man and woman in the style of the Venus of Capua and Ares Borghese statuary group, but now the woman is partially nude and the man is again completely heroically nude but for helmet and balteus with parazonium. The carving style of this group suggests an unknown Roman and his wife in the time of Marcus Aurelian and Faustina II to Commodus and Crispina, circa AD 175-180.
Although there is no consensus amongst scholars as to the identification of these three groups as celebrating imperial personages or high status wealthy members of Roman society emulating the conceit of mythological portraiture popular among the imperial circle, there are three other lesser works with very similar representations of the general Mars/Venus group theme: the 'Concordia group' high relief sarcophagus panel in Palazzo Mattei, Rome (LIMC II, Ares/Mars 351); a mint of Rome medallion of Faustina II (Gnecchi II, p. 39, 10, pl. 67, 8) and a rare mint of Rome As of Faustina II (RIC III, 1680; BMC IV, 999-1001).
About Extremely Fine. Dark green patina. Of the highest rarity; the only other known specimen is the one recorded by Imhoof in his collection.
Under the Antonines there was an increased interest in depicting both aristocratic and freed men and women in mythical guise. The models for such statuary groups in the round and in the relief undoubtedly belonged to courtly circles. Even though no extant groups or coins explicitly portray an emperor or empress as Mars and Venus, such examples certainly existed. We know from Cassius Dio (81-96) that Marcus Aurelius and Faustina minor were celebrated as Mars and Venus and that she was commonly represented as Venus. Hadrian and other emperors also commonly appeared in statues in the guise of Mars.
Three Roman statue groups have survived of a man and woman depicted as Mars and Venus in which portrait heads were placed on bodies based on the 5th century BC Greek so called 'Ares Borghese' type with attributed to the sculptor Alkamenes, now in the Louvre (MA 866; LIMC II, Ares 23). He stands in a counter-pose (contrapposto), with his right leg advanced in front and his weight resting on the left leg. In his right hand he carries a shield or lance and on his head he wears a high crested helmet. The woman also stands in counter-pose to the male figure which ultimately derives from a 4th century BC Greek so called 'Aphrodite of Capua' type now in the Museo Nazionale Archeologico, Naples (LIMC II, Aphrodite 627), an earlier version of the celebrated Aphrodite of Milos type now in the Louvre (LIMC II, Aphrodite 645), and close to the Venus of Arles attributed to Praxiteles, also now in the Louvre (LIMC II, Aphrodite 526). The statue probably represented the goddess admiring her reflection in the reflective surface of Ares' shield, a motif known on coins from Corinth. (cf. Corinth, Plautilla BMC 664-6), with most of its weight on one foot so that its shoulders and arms twist around from the hips and legs, giving the figure a dynamic and tender appearance.
The earliest extant of these three groups was found on the Isola Sacra in Ostia and now in the Museo Capitolino, Rome (LIMC II, Ares/Mars 348). The woman is represented according to the Capuan Aphrodite type: she turns toward her husband and puts her left arm around his shoulders, unlike the Venus of Capua, she is clothed in a stola and palla. The man is nude, wears a helmet and short pallium and stands in the Ares Borghese counter-pose. The woman's diademed head is coiffure with its series of overlapping locks and bun at the back of the head, is comparable to that of Faustina II on coins and portraits in the round of about AD 147. The carving of the hair style and face of the man resembles the portraits of a young Marcus Aurelius in about AD 145. This group must date from AD 145-150.
The second group, formerly from the Borghese Collection and now in the Louvre (LIMC II, Ares/Mars 350) depicts the woman, probably Sabina, represented in the style of the Capuan Venus, except that she is also clothed in a stola and palla. The man is heroically nude, save for helmet and balteus with parazonium, and stands in the Ares Borghese counter-pose with a portrait that has often been identified as Hadrian during the principate of Antoninus Pius and can be dated to about AD 150-160.
The third and latest group was found in the so-called Basilica at Ostia, now in the Museo Nazionale, Rome (LIMC II, Ares/Mars 347) also represents a man and woman in the style of the Venus of Capua and Ares Borghese statuary group, but now the woman is partially nude and the man is again completely heroically nude but for helmet and balteus with parazonium. The carving style of this group suggests an unknown Roman and his wife in the time of Marcus Aurelian and Faustina II to Commodus and Crispina, circa AD 175-180.
Although there is no consensus amongst scholars as to the identification of these three groups as celebrating imperial personages or high status wealthy members of Roman society emulating the conceit of mythological portraiture popular among the imperial circle, there are three other lesser works with very similar representations of the general Mars/Venus group theme: the 'Concordia group' high relief sarcophagus panel in Palazzo Mattei, Rome (LIMC II, Ares/Mars 351); a mint of Rome medallion of Faustina II (Gnecchi II, p. 39, 10, pl. 67, 8) and a rare mint of Rome As of Faustina II (RIC III, 1680; BMC IV, 999-1001).