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Fountain basin supported by a kneeling satyr
Roman
Early Imperial Period, Augustan/Julio-Claudian
before A.D. 62
Findspot: Italy, Campania, Villa of the Contrada Bottaro, near Pompeii
Medium/Technique
Marble (Attic)
Scientific Analysis:
Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.488 / delta18O -7.827, Attribution - Pentelikon.
Scientific Analysis:
Isotope ratios - delta13C +2.488 / delta18O -7.827, Attribution - Pentelikon.
Dimensions
Height: 106.7 cm (42 in.)
Credit Line
Classical Department Exchange Fund
Accession Number1980.206
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsSculpture
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), no. 041.
DescriptionFountain basin supported by a kneeling satyr (telamon figure). He is beardless and nude with articulated muscles and rib cage; the position of the body hints that the original model for such a sculpture may hav been suspended, like an acrobat. He raises his arms up and bends them backwards at the elbows in order to support the weight of a bundle of loosely folded fabric on his head. The top of the bundle is flattened to support the basin.
The kneeling satury supported the basin with a bronze nozzle for a jet of water in the center. It was found in the center of the peristyle courtyard garden of the Villa Fondo Bottaro.
The surfaces are worn. The damage seems to have resulted both from the weathering when the sculptures stood in the courtyard of the villa and from the rise of the water table after they were buried. Extensive evidence of ancient repairs suggests that the ensemble (1980.201–206) suffered in the earthquake of A.D. 62 and was reconstructed in the villa's garden courtyard in time for the eruption of Vesuvius in August of A.D. 79.
The kneeling satury supported the basin with a bronze nozzle for a jet of water in the center. It was found in the center of the peristyle courtyard garden of the Villa Fondo Bottaro.
The surfaces are worn. The damage seems to have resulted both from the weathering when the sculptures stood in the courtyard of the villa and from the rise of the water table after they were buried. Extensive evidence of ancient repairs suggests that the ensemble (1980.201–206) suffered in the earthquake of A.D. 62 and was reconstructed in the villa's garden courtyard in time for the eruption of Vesuvius in August of A.D. 79.
ProvenanceFound June 5, 1902 during excavation by Gennaro Matrone of the villa of the Contrada Bottaro, located a half mile south of Pompeii; ownership granted to Gennaro Matrone by the Italian government; by 1916: the Cleveland Museum of Art Collection (inv. no. 16.897); purchased by MFA from the Cleveland Museum of Art, June 18, 1980