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XVIII. Notes upon the Sculptures of a Temple discovered at Bath

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2012

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During the fall of last year I visited the ancient city of Bath, and was astonished at the quality and extent of the sculptures and inscriptions now preserved in the Literary Institution. They are collected in a vestibule attached to that building, which has a portico of very pure Greek Doric architecture, and the sculptures are effectively arranged, with the advantage of a central light from above. All the sculptures in this vestibule have a particular local interest, as they were discovered within the precincts of the city, most of them about the year 1790, upon what appears to have been the site of an ancient temple, or, more probably, a group of buildings.

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Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1855

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References

page 188 note a Arohæologia, vol. X. page 327.

page 189 note a Archæologia, vol. X. page 331.

page 191 note a Warner, page 75.

page 191 note a PL. ix page 9.

page 191 note b Arclæologia, vol. X. page 332.

page 191 note c Lysons, page 2.

page 191 note d Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, s. r. Ægis, col. b.

page 191 note e Eckhel, Choix desPierres gravées, pl. 1. A striking example of tlie combination of the scaled asgis with Roman Imperial armour may be seen in a bronze statue of a youth found at Pompeii in 1824. The head of Medusa, surrounded by snakes upon the scales, is extremely beautiful.—Mus. Bor. vol. 5. tar. 36.

page 193 note a Gal. di Fir. vol. ii. tav 55.

page 193 note b Ib. vol. iii. tav. 128.

page 194 note a The same city contains another celebrity of this subject, namely, the bronze statue of Perseus with the head of Medusa by Benvenuto Cellini.

page 194 note b Iliad II. lines 780–5.

page 195 note a Millin, Gall. Myth. No. 352, pl. 13.

page 195 note b Guigniaut, Nouvelle Galerie, pl. 142, No. 334.

page 195 note c Ponce, Thermes de Titus, pl. No. 29.

page 195 note d Mus. Pio Clem., vol. iv. tav. 10; Pistolesi, vol. v. tav. 26; Crystal Palace Catalogue, Greek Court, No. 126. Similar figures occur in pl. 4, vol. ii., of Atlas to the Annali dell' Institute di Eoma; Pistolesi, vol. iv. tav. 94; Oesterley's Denkmaler, part ii. pl. 21, figs. 231, 232, and pl. 22, fig. 242; Easpe's Catalogue of Tassie's Gems, pl. 26, No. 1753; pl. 19, No. 986; pl. 20, Nos. 1001, 995, 991, and 992. Museo Borbonico, vol. i. tav. 53. Millin, Gall. Myth. Nos. 52, 114, 128, and 122. Guigniaut, Nouvelle Galerie, pl. 92, Nos. 338, 356; pl. 93, No. 338a.

page 196 note a Wings spring from the head also of Etruscan marine deities. See Guigniaut, Nouvelle Galerie, pl. 155, fig. 589a, 591c, and 592a; and Dennis' Etruria, title-page, vol. i.

page 196 note b See sculpture upon the lid of the Paiafa Tomb in the Lycian Saloon of the British Museum, No. 142.

page 196 note c See Archæologia, vol. XXIX, Pl. 16, essay by Mr. Birch upon a Canino vase in the British Museum; and Overbeck, Abbildungen zur Gallerie Heroischer Bildwerke, taf. 22, No. 14.

page 196 note d Engraved in Bartoli, Columna Antonini, tav. 15, and Hirt. Bilderbuch, taf. 18, No. 5.

page 196 note e Mon. dell' Institute, Atlas 1832, tav. 37. Overbeck, taf. 8, No 4.

page 197 note a The adoption of classic types, and ignorance of the original forms, can only be paralleled by examples of Anglo-Saxon art in MSS.

page 198 note a Taylor's Notes to Pausanias, vol. iii. page. 242.

page 198 note b The Atlas is engraved in Spence's Polymetis, plate 33; Mus. Bor. vol. v. tav. 52; and Hirt. Bilderbuch, plate 16, fig. 1.

page 198 note c Carter, pl. 9, figs. A and C; Lysons, pl. 6, No. 1.

page 198 note d This position of the crescent appears to be of Phrygian origin. It is seen on coins combined with the male Deus Lunus in Phrygian costume; but a beautiful profile bust of Artemis Selene is thus combined with the crescent on a round altar in the Louvre. (See Bouillon, torn. iii. pl. 69; and Wincklemann, Mon. Ined. No. 21.) The crescent also appears behind her head as she descends with a torch to Endymion in a Pompeian painting. Mus. Bor. vol. xiv. tav. 19.)

page 199 note a Compare a head of Helios or the Sun, in the Eondanini Palace, and a bust in the Capitol at Rome. Bouillon, vol. i. pl. 75; Crystal Palace Catalogue, Greek Court, No. 394. The head of the Sun appears on various coins of Rhodes, and a full-length statue of the same deity is preserved in the Louvre, formerly in the Palazzo Borghese. Seven rays also spring from the head of the painted figure. (Mus. Bor. vol. vii. tav. 55.)

page 199 note b Mus. Bor. vol. vii. tav. 55.

page 199 note c Carter, pl. 10.