INTAGLIO OF ATHENA PARTHENOS, 50-100 CE. PALAZZO MASSIMO ALLE TERME
This very small (1.5-2 cm diameter) piece of red-brown jasper is a tiny masterpiece of intaglio reliefwork. The artist, a Greek named Aspasios, took the profile of Athena Parthenos from the great chryselephantine statue of the goddess by Phidias in the Parthenon in Athens. He seems more interested in Athena's hair and helmet than in her face, which nonetheless has a classic beauty. But her helmet is lovingly carved with tiny relief horses over her forehead, a shorter horsehair brush at the peak ceding to a long, lightly-incised central brush. Athena has long curly hair that escapes her helmet in ringlets over her cheek and down over her shoulders. She's wearing a necklace and her ægis with the Gorgoneion. Aspasios may have made this in Rome as part of a neoclassical revival that began under Augustus.
For #ReliefWednesday, a magnificent #jasper #intaglio depicting #Athena Parthenos in profile, in #palazzoMassimo. A tiny signature in Greek running vertically behind her helmet names the artist as one Aspasios. The artist took inspiration from the great statue in the #Parthenon. #AncientBluesky 🏺