Original scientific paper
Roman portrait stelae from the Trogir City Museum
D. Maršić
Abstract
The subject of this paper are three fragmentary portrait stelae from the Trogir City Museum. The fragment of a monumental stela with portraits of four deceased persons stands out in terms of quality of work and representation. It was discovered in Salona at the very beginning of the 19th century and once was a part of the I.L. Garagnin collection. A fragment of the same monument still exists in the garden of the Archaeological Museum in Split, which is confirmed by identical fracture line and representation. Based on the remains of the inscription present on the fragment from Split, the author establishes that the lower part of the same monument, which is now lost, was also kept in the Garagnin collection and present at the famous sketch of that collection drawn by the painter Ivan Danilo in 1805. The inscription is written in sepulchral poetry and it mentions four members of the family of freed slaves Attius and a girl which was their freed slave. The other two monuments were discovered in Trogir or immediate vicinity of the town. The lower part of a small portrait stela contains fully preserved, interesting inscription dedicated to the old woman Marcella, while her portrait is chipped from the neck upwards. Typological determination of the third monument is questionable, but it is most likely a fragment of another monumental stela. Thick stone plate, chipped from all sides represents a man in togated posture. Several individual sections contain discussion on the circumstances of the find, their state of preservation, typology, portraits, inscriptions and the chronology of these three artifacts.
Keywords
Trogir City Museum; grave stelae; portraits; inscriptions; typology; chronology
Hrčak ID:
6066
URI
Publication date:
8.12.2004.
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