On view
Ancient Mediterranean Art
Ornamental roundel from a horse's bridle: head of Medusa,
second quarter of the 3rd century BCE
Greek
y1951-5
These decorative pieces, intended to adorn, respectively, a horse’s bridle or a woman’s garment, attest to an increasing tendency in the Hellenistic period toward the opulent display of wealth and ornamentation. The two gold disks each had four pairs of loops along the edges, suggesting they were attached with gold chains and intended to be worn on the chest and back. In the center of each disk is a bust of a goddess, one with Artemis, goddess of the hunt, and the other with Athena, goddess of war and craft. The silver roundels similarly depict figures from myth: the head of Medusa, capable of turning her enemies to stone; and the messenger god Hermes, who could travel swiftly from one place to another. While these objects served decorative functions, as representations of powerful gods, who might appear at any moment, they could also serve as apotropaic devices to protect their owner.
Information
Title
Ornamental roundel from a horse's bridle: head of Medusa
Dates
second quarter of the 3rd century BCE
Medium
Silver gilt
Dimensions
diam. 7.0 cm (2 3/4 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with a fund given in memory of Allan Marquand, Class of 1874, and Mrs. Marquand
Object Number
y1951-5
Place Made
Europe, Taranto, Apulia, South Italy
Culture
Period
Type
Techniques
Subject
Purchased from Piero Tozzi, New York, in 1951.
- "Recent acquisitions," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 10, no. 2 (1951): p. 22-23., p. 22
- Frances Follin Jones, "The Princeton Art Museum: antiquities received in recent years", Archaeology 7, no. 4 (Dec., 1954): p. 237-243., p. 238
- F. F. Jones and R. Goldberg, Ancient art in the Art Museum: Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1960)., p. 10; p. 11 (illus.)
- Herbert Hoffmann, "Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe: Erwerbungen der Antikenabteilung 1950-1960", Jahrbuch der Hamburger Kunstsammlungen 6 (1961): p. 221-264., p. 246
- Berta Segall, "Alexandria und Tarent: eine tarentinische Fundgruppe des frühen Hellenismus", Archäologischer anzeiger (1965), no. 3., p. 553-588 (illus.)
- Wendy Stedman Sheard, Antiquity in the Renaissance, (Northampton, MA: Smith College Museum of Art, 1978)., cat. no. 113
- Allen Rosenbaum and Francis F. Jones, Selections from The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: The Art Museum, Princeton University, 1986), p. 29 (illus.)
-
Carlos A. Picón and Seán A. Hemingway, Pergamon and the Hellenistic kingdoms of the ancient world, (New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2016).
, p. 214-215; cat. no. 142 (ill.)
