Roma Numismatics Ltd
Auction XIV 21 Sep 2017
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Hadrian Æ Medallion. Rome, AD 128-138. HADRIANVS AVG COS III P P, laureate and draped bust left / Silvanus striding right, holding vine-sickle and leading ram by its forelegs; fruiting tree behind, one Ionic column and a portion of the pediment of a temple before, lighted altar and hound at feet. Gnecchi 16, pl. 39, 1; Mittag, Römische Medaillons, 105. 40.78g, 36mm, 11h.
Near Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; Mittag records three examples.
This medallion is one of very few surviving examples of a prestigious issue struck at the Rome mint that has been associated with the famed 'Alphaeus Master' (cf. NAC 15, 1999, 355), who was responsible for some of the most accomplished die engraving in all the great span of Roman coinage. This highly talented individual may have been the sculptor Antonianus of Aphrodisias, a master from the illustrious school at the Carian 'City of Marble'. This identification may possibly be supported by a marble relief found in 1907 at Torre del Padiglione, between ancient Lanuvium and Antium. That relief, signed by Antonianus, depicts Antinous as a youthful Silvanus, in an otherwise similar compositional piece. Speculative identification aside, this noted engraver's body of work was recognized by Charles Seltman, and can be seen on bronze medallions of Hadrian (Gnecchi pl. 39, 3 and pl. 42, 3-4), medallic sestertii of Hadrian (see Sotheby's, 1990, Hunt Sale I, lot 134), and provincial bronze medallions struck in honour of Antinous.
The appearance of Silvanus on this medallion of Hadrian may be significant. It is the only depiction on Roman coinage of this tutelary deity of the woods, fields and flocks, who was not officially part of the Roman pantheon, but was an assimilation of numerous native 'provincial' gods, including Silenos, Pan, certain Celtic gods, and possibly the Etruscan 'Selvans'. It is evident, considering the existence of Antonianus' Antinous as Selvans relief, that Hadrian in some way associated his deceased companion with this god of Arcadian vitality. A medallion of Antinous struck at Bithynium-Claudiopolis displays a reverse very similar in character to this medallion - it shows a Pan-like Antinous in a pastoral scene, holding a pedum and reaching towards a reed or stalk of grain, as a bull stands in the background. It is conceivable then that unless the association with Silvanus was contrived only later, after this medallion was issued, that in the Rome medallion may be a veiled allusion to Antinous, whose image was not struck on coins at that city.
Near Extremely Fine. Extremely Rare; Mittag records three examples.
This medallion is one of very few surviving examples of a prestigious issue struck at the Rome mint that has been associated with the famed 'Alphaeus Master' (cf. NAC 15, 1999, 355), who was responsible for some of the most accomplished die engraving in all the great span of Roman coinage. This highly talented individual may have been the sculptor Antonianus of Aphrodisias, a master from the illustrious school at the Carian 'City of Marble'. This identification may possibly be supported by a marble relief found in 1907 at Torre del Padiglione, between ancient Lanuvium and Antium. That relief, signed by Antonianus, depicts Antinous as a youthful Silvanus, in an otherwise similar compositional piece. Speculative identification aside, this noted engraver's body of work was recognized by Charles Seltman, and can be seen on bronze medallions of Hadrian (Gnecchi pl. 39, 3 and pl. 42, 3-4), medallic sestertii of Hadrian (see Sotheby's, 1990, Hunt Sale I, lot 134), and provincial bronze medallions struck in honour of Antinous.
The appearance of Silvanus on this medallion of Hadrian may be significant. It is the only depiction on Roman coinage of this tutelary deity of the woods, fields and flocks, who was not officially part of the Roman pantheon, but was an assimilation of numerous native 'provincial' gods, including Silenos, Pan, certain Celtic gods, and possibly the Etruscan 'Selvans'. It is evident, considering the existence of Antonianus' Antinous as Selvans relief, that Hadrian in some way associated his deceased companion with this god of Arcadian vitality. A medallion of Antinous struck at Bithynium-Claudiopolis displays a reverse very similar in character to this medallion - it shows a Pan-like Antinous in a pastoral scene, holding a pedum and reaching towards a reed or stalk of grain, as a bull stands in the background. It is conceivable then that unless the association with Silvanus was contrived only later, after this medallion was issued, that in the Rome medallion may be a veiled allusion to Antinous, whose image was not struck on coins at that city.