Earth and Space News: Gilt Silver Dish in Boscoreale Treasure May Depict Cleopatra's Daughter

Summary: A gilt silver dish in the Boscoreale Treasure found near Pompeii in 1895 may depict Cleopatra's daughter, Cleopatra Selene II, Queen of Mauretania.

The bust in a gilt silver dish in the Boscoreale Treasure that was discovered near Pompeii, in southwestern Italy in 1895 may depict Cleopatra's daughter, Cleopatra Selene II, Queen of Mauretania.

The Louvre Museum (Musée du Louvre), located on the right bank of the Seine in the 1st Parisian arrondissement (1er arrondissement de Paris), lists a gilt silver dish from the Boscoreale Treasure among its holdings. Inventory number Bj 1969 is held in the museum's Département des Antiquités grecques, étrusques et romaines (Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities). The item, however, is not on display ("non exposé"). French Jewish collector and philanthropist Edmond James de Rothschild (Aug. 19, 1845-Nov. 2, 1934) is credited with gifting the silver dish to the Louvre on Oct. 23, 1895, according to the museum's official description of the object.

The Boscoreale Treasure (Italian: il tesoro di Boscoreale) namesakes the Boscoreale district in the Metropolitan City of Naples (Italian: Città metropolitana di Napoli) in southwest Italy's Campania region. Boscoreale is located southeast of Naples in Vesuvius National Park (Italian: Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio).

The Boscoreale Treasure was found in 1895 during excavations of Villa della Pisanella. The villa had been buried by volcanic ash spewed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius (Italian: Vesuvio) in 79 CE. The gilt silver dish numbered among 109 silver objects recovered from the safety of the villa's wine pressing room.

The gilt silver dish has a height of 6 centimeters. Its diameter measures 22.5 centimeters. It weighs 634.7 grams, according to museum curator, museum keeper and Roman art and archaeology specialist Susan Walker (born Sep. 11, 1948) in "324 Gilded silver dish, decorated with a bust perhaps representing Cleopatra Selene" (page 312), one of her 52 catalogue entries in Cleopatra of Egypt: From History to Myth, which she co-published with museum curator, museum keeper and classical archaeologist Peter John Higgs in 2001.

A female figure emerges from the silver dish in an emblema, a central panel with figure representations or other design motifs. Curls frame the face. Pierced ears have lost their earrings. An elephant skin, "a symbol of Africa," with ram's horns protruding over each temple and framing a central uraeus (Ancient Greek: οὐραῖος; Egyptian: jꜥrt, "rearing cobra"), rests on the thick curls (Susan Walker, Cleopatra of Egypt, "324 Gilded silver dish," page 312).

The female figure allegorized by the emblema silver dish has been suggested as representing Cleopatra Selene II (Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Σελήνη; "Cleopatra the Moon"; 40-5 BCE). The future Queen of Mauretania numbered as the only daughter of the three children born to the last queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, Cleopatra VII Philopator (Ancient Greek: Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ, Kleopatra Philopator; 69-Aug. 10 or 12, 30 BCE), and Roman militarian and politician Marcus Antonius "Mark Antony" (Jan. 14, 83-Aug. 1, 30 BCE).

"One of the most beautiful and intriguing works of Hellenistic art, certainly the most precious artefact among the Boscoreale treaures, is a gilded silver emblema dish with an allegorical portrait supposed to be of Cleopatra Selene, surrounded by a plethora of religious symbols and attributes within a garland of myrtle berries and laurel leaves (Figure 11)," independent curator and scholar Branko Fredde van Oppen de Ruiter has observed in "Monsters of Military Might: Elephants in Hellenistic History and Art" (page 11 of 37), published in the December 2019 issue of Arts, an open access, peer-reviewed, scholarly online bimonthly journal of the performing and visual arts. "She wears an exuvia elephantis, evincing that the elephant remained a powerful image even in the post-Hellenistic age," van Oppen assessed.

A gilded crescent moon balances on a pine cone as adornments atop a cornucopia held in the figure's left hand. Engravings on the cornucopia include a representation of Helios the sun as a short-cloaked young male with a sunray surround of his hairstyle, reminiscent of Alexander the Great (Alexander III of Macedon; Ancient Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; July 20 or 21, 356-June 10 or 11, 323 BCE). The cornucopia may be interpreted as Ptolemaic-themed, with the crescent moon and the sun youth equating to Cleopatra Selene II and her twin brother, Alexander Helios (Greek: Ἀλέξανδρος Ἥλιος; "Alexander the Sun"; 40 BCE-?). Also, the figure's elephant skin crown may be considered as referencing Cleopatra Selene's rulership of northwest Africa's Mauretania with her husband, Juba II (Latin: Gaius Iulius Iuba; Ancient Greek: Ἰóβας, Ἰóβα or Ἰούβας; ca. 48 BCE-23 CE), as suggested by Susan Walker (Cleopatra of Egypt, "324 Gilded silver dish," page 312).

Commission of the seemingly Ptolemaic motif-inspired emblema silver dish likely occurred after Cleopatra Selene's death, according to Susan Walker. Specifically, the silverware might have been commissioned during the reign (23-40 CE) of Cleopatra Selene and Juba II's son, Ptolemy of Mauretania (Greek: Πτολεμαῖος, Ptolemaîos; Latin: Gaius Iulius Ptolemaeus; ca. 13/9 BCE–40 CE).

gilt silver dish with bust possibly depicting Cleopatra's daughter, Cleopatra Selene II, Queen of Mauretania; "Cleopatra Selene (Louvre inv. no. Bj 1969); silver; Boscoreale, Italy; ca. 25 BCE-25 CE. [Image courtesy of the Louvre Museum, Paris]", in Branko van Oppen de Ruiter, "Monsters of Military Might," Arts (December 2019), Figure 11: CC BY 4.0 International, via ResearchGate

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

detail of bust possibly depicting Cleopatra's daughter, Cleopatra Selene, Queen of Mauretania, on gilt silver dish, ca. first century BCE-first century CE, found in 1895 at Villa della Pisanella, Boscoreale, Vesuvius National Park (Parco Nazionale del Vesuvio), Campania region, southwestern Italy; donated Oct. 23, 1895, by French Jewish collector and philanthropist Edmond James de Rothschild (Aug. 19, 1845-Nov. 2, 1934) to Louvre Museum; Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Allégorie_de_la_province_romaine_d'Afrique_-_Grand_Palais,_Paris_2014.jpg; Jean-Pierre Dalbéra (dalbera), CC BY 2.0 Generic, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/dalbera/14804084293/

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Earth and Space News

Thursday, September 28, 2023

Gilt Silver Dish in Boscoreale Treasure May Depict Cleopatra's Daughter

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