"As she talks, her lips breathe spring roses: I was Chloris, who am now called Flora." Ovid This week's sculpture from Hadrian's Villa is a marble statue of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers and the spring season. While she was otherwise a relatively minor figure in Roman mythology, being one among several fertility goddesses,… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Marble statue of Flora, goddess of flowers and the season of spring
Category: Roman villa
Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Marble statue of a crouching Venus
This week's sculpture from Hadrian's Villa is a marble statue of Venus, the goddess of love, crouching at her bath. The statue is modelled after the Crouching Aphrodite type, attributed to the 3rd century BC sculptor Doidalsas of Bithynia. --- Venus crouches with her right knee close to the ground, turns her head to the… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Marble statue of a crouching Venus
The Villa Borg – images of a reconstructed Roman Villa in Saarland (Germany)
Ruins of a grand Roman country house (villa rustica) were discovered by a local school teacher at the end of the 19th century outside the village of Borg in the municipality of Perl (Germany), near where the Saar River runs into the Moselle. The villa consisted of three wings covering an area of more than… Continue reading The Villa Borg – images of a reconstructed Roman Villa in Saarland (Germany)
Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Mosaic, Pair of centaurs fighting wild cats
This week marks the start of a new set of posts called "Art and sculptures from Hadrian's Villa". Hadrian was the greatest patron of the arts. His imperial villa at Tibur was adorned with the very best of what the Roman empire had to offer in terms of works of art and building materials. Hundreds… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Mosaic, Pair of centaurs fighting wild cats
Exploring the Roman Villa on Brijuni Island (Croatia)
Off the coast of Istria, just a few kilometers from Pula, lies the Brijuni archipelago, which includes 14 small islands. Famous for their scenic beauty, the islands are a holiday resort and a Croatian National Park. In Roman times, numerous Roman villae rusticae adorned the coast of these islands referred to by Pliny the Elder… Continue reading Exploring the Roman Villa on Brijuni Island (Croatia)