Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art Part I
Ancient Sculpture and Works of Art Part I
A Roman Marble Figure of Triple-bodied Hekate (Hekateion), 1st/2nd Century A.D.
Auction Closed
December 7, 04:32 PM GMT
Estimate
50,000 - 80,000 GBP
Lot Details
Description
A Roman Marble Figure of Triple-bodied Hekate (Hekateion)
1st/2nd Century A.D.
consisting of three female figures each standing with her back against a central column and wearing a girdled peplos with overfold, her centrally parted hair bound in a fillet, surmounted by a polos, and falling in long strands over the shoulders, one figure holding two tall torches, another a patera and grasping the hem of the overfold, and a third holding a jug and grasping the hem of the overfold; no restorations.
Height 37 cm.
Hôtel Drouot, Paris, Brissonneau, commissaires-priseurs, November 15th, 2014, no. 185, illus., as "Colonne en albâtre décorée de trois ménades. Style grec"
David Ghezelbash Archéologie, Paris
acquired by the present owner from the above at Tefaf Maastricht in March 2015
Hecate’s triple-bodied iconography was created circa 430 B.C. in Athens by the sculptor Alkamenes. This iconography, of uncertain meaning, became canonical in antiquity. Various related figures of the triple-bodied Hekate are known; particularly close to the present figure is a figure in Berlin: https://arachne.dainst.org/entity/1122079. For other figures see LIMC, vol. 6, pp. 998ff., pl. 661ff. Such monuments were apparently meant to protect doorways and crossroads. An idea of this is conveyed by Roman wall paintings, showing a statue of Hecate in a rural landscape: LIMC, vol. 6, p. 994, nos. 59-63, pl. 658f.
Hekate was a divinity with strong infernal connotations and sometimes thought to be a manifestation of Artemis as goddess of the night and the crossroads. Her worship apparently originated in western Asia Minor and flourished until the Roman Imperial period. Hesiod did devote ample space to her in his Theogony, calling her "honoured exceedingly by the deathless gods“, and praising her powers. Hesiod thought of her as benevolent, but she became already in the late 5th century B.C. a mistress of ghosts, dwelling at tombs, followed by howling dogs. Her nightmarish aspect is especially prominent in late antique hymns: "From toneless throats you send a dread, sharp cry when you, o goddess, have raised up an awful sound with triple mouths. Hearing your cry, all worldly things are shaken“ (H. Betz, ed., The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, 1986, p. 84). As the formidable Mistress of magic her likeness was better suited than any other deity's to help avert evil and was widely used in antiquity as an apotropaic device similar to a gorgoneion, the mask of Medusa whose gaze turned her enemies to stone.
For a recent monography analysing the widespread cult of Hecate see R. Carboni, Dea in limine. Culto, immagine e sincretismi di Ecate nel mondo greco e microasiatico, 2015.
André Meyer (1884-1974) was best known as a collector of musical manuscripts, printed music, and musical instruments. Part of his music-related collection was sold at Sotheby's, Paris, October 17th-18th, 2012.