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View: Side D
Miniature altar (arula) with relief scenes
Greek
Hellenistic Period
late 3rd to early 1st century B.C.
Place of Manufacture: Asia Minor
Medium/Technique
Terracotta
Dimensions
Height: 9 cm (3 9/16 in.); width at base: 8.5 cm (3 3/8 in.)
Credit Line
Edwin E. Jack Fund
Accession Number65.1318
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsRitual objects
DescriptionThis miniature altar (arula) rests on a raised, stepped base, which is decorated with an egg and dart moulding. The top of the altar carries more decorative embellishment, including dentils just above the figured reliefs and, at top, spirals and rosettes. The altar is hollow and has a sunken top, which likely once enabled it to hold offerings of incense. Each of the flat sides of the altar carries a figurative relief. On side a, a girl crowns a trophy erected from a pile of stones and armor. Side b depicts Poseidon (identifiable by his trident) resting his elbow on a woman’s shoulder. This woman is likely Amymone, as indicated by the vessel she carries in her right hand, which recalls the story of her first amorous encounter with Poseidon as she collected water. On side c the goddess Leto approaches her son Apollo, who is shown enthroned and playing a kitharode. Side d shows an intoxicated Dionysos being supported by a woman (either his wife Ariadne or one of his maenad followers) and a satyr. These scenes do not create a comprehensive, clearly related program, but are seen together on similar arulae.
ProvenanceBy 1965: with Tassos Zoumboulakis (said to come from Asia Minor); purchased by MFA from Tassos Zoumboulakis, November 10, 1965