VOTIVE RELIEF, AMITERNUM Alison E. Cooley AEC/ASHL AN2007.43.xml Oxford Ashmolean Museum AN2007.43 AshLI 158

This relief of palombino marble (De Rossi 1872: p.36; ICUR I no.3267) 0.27 0.545 at bottom - 0.556 at top depicts three figures. A woman holding an open book stands between two men. The male figure on the left is bearded and togate, with sandals. His right arm is held across his body, whilst his left hand holds up folds of his clothing. Behind him is a scroll box, and in front of him at his feet is a bundle of scrolls. He is facing towards the female in the centre of the relief. The central female figure is veiled, wearing tunic and cloak. The male figure on the right is bearded and togate, with sandals. He is also facing towards the female in the centre. Behind him is another scroll box. His right hand is raised in a gesture, whilst his left hand is holding folds of his clothing. The relief is framed by a simple border; the heads of the figures extend beyond this border. The relief is currently mounted within a slate frame.

The letters of the text are split up by the figures in relief.

 0.012-0.022 (line 1); 0.017-0.023 (line 2) AD 350-425 [EDB]; AD c.200-250 Vermeule and von Bothmer (1959) p.342 De Rossi reported (1872: p.40) that Charles Wilshere believed that it was found during excavations in the Forum Romanum in the autumn of 1870, but he points out that this cannot be accurate, given that it had already been seen during preparatory work for CIL VI in March 1869 by Bormann and Henzen at the marble-workshop of Palombius near the Mamertine prison in Rome. Garrucci (1880: p.11) asserted that he knew for certain that it had been found in excavations at San Vittorino (ancient Amiternum). By 1876, it is recorded as having been taken to Britain as part of the Wilshere collection (De Rossi 1872: p.36; CIL VI p.839). Charles Wilshere (1814-1906) was a lawyer and member of the landed gentry, succeeding to his family estate at The Frythe, Welwyn (Hertfordshire) in 1867. As a supporter of the Oxford movement and Anglican layman, he had particular interest in ecclesiastical history, which he pursued during several trips to Rome between roughly 1860 and 1890, purchasing antiquities relevant to Judaism and early Christianity (Kraabel 1979: p.42). In addition to purchasing antiquities for his own collection, he presented others to the Vatican. This inscription was bequeathed to Pusey House, a noted centre for theological study in Oxford, in 1906, along with the rest of the Wilshere collection (Vermeule and von Bothmer 1959: p.342). It was subsequently loaned to and then purchased by the Ashmolean Museum. On the Wilshere collection, see Webster 1929, Kraabel 1979, and Vickers 2011. Although this inscription is believed lost by EDB, it is currently in store in the Ashmolean. Photograph (top inscription) Photograph (top inscription) Photograph (top inscription) Photograph (top inscription) Photograph (top inscription) Photograph (top inscription)
Lygyrius vot um sol vit

Lygyrius fulfilled his vow.

It is generally accepted that this relief should be seen in a Christian context, even though the phrase votum solvit is more common in non-Christian epigraphy and religious practice. There are, however, a few parallels for this formula in a Christian milieu, such as ICUR VIII no.21592/ EDB 35776 from AD 390-425 and ICUR II no.4143/ EDB 18597. A particularly clear example is ICUR II no.4125/ EDB 19135, AD 400-499, from St Peter’s Basilica: Rufius Viventius Gallus / v(ir) c(larissimus) et inl(ustris) ex p(rae)f(ecto) / pro beneficiis domini apostoli / votum solvit. De Rossi (1872: p.39) first suggested a Christian context on the basis of the relief, which he interpreted as a soul being received among the saints in heaven. Garrucci (1880: p.11) interpreted the two male figures as the apostles, St Peter on the left and St Paul to the right, with the central female figure representing a personification of the Church or a female martyr, to whom the vow is being paid.

De Rossi (1872) p.36-40, with photograph as tav.1; CIL VI.1 no.843 + p.839 (1876); Garrucci (1880) vol. 6: p.11, tav. 411, no.4 (drawing); CIL VI.4.2 p.3007 (1902); ICUR n.s. I (1922) no.3267; ILCV no.1906B (1925); Vermeule and von Bothmer (1959) p.342 Oxford, Pusey House, no.10; Schraudolph (1993) p.247 no.L440; Ashmolean Museum Dept of Antiquities MS. Accessions Register 2007.43

Online: EDCS-17300981 [accessed 30/06/15]; EDR149756 [last updated 05/08/16, Benedetti] [accessed 16/06/16]; EDB33204 [accessed 30/06/15] [Filippo Piazzolla, 21/06/13; last updated by Antonio Enrico Felle 15/10/15]

Rossi G.B. de 1872 Un singolare marmo votivo cristiano scritto e figurato Bullettino di archeologia cristiana ser.2 3 36-40 with tab. 1 Garrucci R. 1880 Storia della arte Cristiana vol.6. Sculture non cimiteriali 6 PratoG. Guasti Kraabel A.T. 1979 Jews in Imperial Rome: More Archaeological Evidence from an Oxford Collection’ Journal of Jewish Studies 30 41-58 Schraudolph E. 1993Römische Götterweihungen mit Reliefschmuck aus Italien. Altäre Basen und Reliefs Heidelberg Archäologie und Geschichte 2 Vermeule C. von Bothmer D. 1959 Notes on a new edition of Michaelis: Ancient Marbles in Great Britain, Part three: 2 American Journal of Archaeology 63.4 329-48 Vickers M. 2011 The Wilshere Collection of Early Christian and Jewish Antiquities in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford Miscellanea a Emilio Marin Sexagenario Dicata Split Franjevačka provincija Presv. Otkupitelja: Kačić 41-43 605-614 Webster T.B.L. 1929 The Wilshere Collection at Pusey House in Oxford Journal of Roman Studies 19 150-54