This month’s sculpture from Hadrian’s Villa is a marble head of Hypnos, the Greek god of Sleep. Hypnos is represented as a young man with wings attached to his temples (now lost). The head must have been part of a full length statue showing Hypnos running forwards, holding in his hands poppies and a vessel… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Marble head of Hypnos
This month’s sculpture from Hadrian’s Villa is a marble head of a female divinity, probably Persephone, the daughter of Demeter and queen of the underworld. The head is closely related to the head of Persephone which is on display in the Museo Barracco in Rome (the Barracco-Budapest type female head, Inv. MB 85), and to the… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Marble head of a female divinity, Persephone?
This month’s sculpture from Hadrian’s Villa is a marble head of Antinous depicted as the god Dionysos, the closest Greek equivalent to the Egyptian god Osiris. It was unearthed in 1769 during excavations undertook by the art dealer and archaeologist Gavin Hamilton who secured it for Lord Lansdowne. The latter was an avid collector of… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: The Lansdowne Antinous
This month’s sculpture from Hadrian’s Villa is a marble head of a companion of Odysseus, copied after a famous work of the Hellenistic period. This head shows the face of a man that probably belonged to a multi-figure group depicting Odysseus with his twelve companions blinding the one-eyed giant and the most famous of the Cyclopes,… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Marble head of a companion of Odysseus
This month’s sculpture from Hadrian’s Villa is a marble statue of a young nude, the so-called 'Capitoline Antinous'. It was found in 1723/24 during the time when Giuseppe Fede was undertaking the earliest concerted excavations at the Villa Adriana. However its exact provenance within the Villa is unknown. Considering that this work was found at… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Statue of the young god Hermes, known as ‘Capitoline Antinous’
This month’s masterpieces from Hadrian’s Villa are the black-and-white mosaics with geometric and floral motifs from the Hospitalia (guesthouse). The Hospitalia (guesthouse) was a two-storey building. It contained ten T-shaped bedrooms (cubiculae) on the first floor which were located on each side of a long and wide central hallway, at the southern end of which… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Black-and-white mosaics with geometric and floral motifs
This month’s masterpieces from Hadrian’s Villa are eight marble statues depicting seated muses. In Greek mythology, the Muses were sister goddesses of music, poetry, and other artistic and intellectual pursuits. Poets and other artists often called on them for inspiration. Zeus, the king of the gods, was the father of the Muses. Their mother was… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Eight statues of seated Muses
This month’s sculpture from Hadrian’s Villa is a head of a goddess made of Pentelic marble. She is wearing a diadem in her wavy hair that are centrally parted and dressed in a chignon at the nape of her neck. It was found in a cryptoporticus near the circular temple dedicated to the Venus of Knidos.… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Head of a diademed goddess
This month’s masterpiece from Hadrian’s Villa is a mosaic depicting a group of doves drinking from an ornate bowl, known as the Capitoline Doves. The mosaic is made of thousands of small tesserae in a dazzling range of colors called opus vermiculatum, by far the most sophisticated mosaic technique. It depicts four doves on the rim… Continue reading Art and sculptures from Hadrian’s Villa: Mosaic of the Doves
From today, the Villa Adriana's Antiquarium is hosting an important new exhibition: "Hadrian and Greece. Hadrian's Villa between Classicism and Hellenism". Fifty masterpieces have arrived at Villa Adriana on loan from Greek museums (from Athens, Marathon, Piraeus and Corinth and Villa of Herodes Atticus in Loukou), many of them never exhibited in Italy before. The… Continue reading Exhibition: ‘Hadrian and Greece’ at Villa Adriana, from 9 April to 2 November 2014
