Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE C: WORLD ART
Preferred Title:
Personification of the River Nile
Alternate Title:
Colossus of the Nile
Image View:
Detail, left side, babies playing with crocodile
Creator:
unknown (Roman (ancient) sculptor)
Location:
repository: Musei Vaticani (Rome (Vatican City), Santa Sede (Holy See), Italy)
Location Note:
Braccio Nuovo (New Wing)
GPS:
41.906389 12.454444
Date:
Roman copy, second half 1st century (creation)
Cultural Context:
Roman (ancient)
Style Period:
Imperial (Roman)
Work Type 1:
sculpture (visual work)
Classification:
Sculpture and Installations
Material:
white marble
Technique:
carving (processes)
Subjects:
allegory; deities; Nile River; personification; sphinx; cornucopia; babies; crocodile
Description:
This colossal statue of the Nile was found in 1513 in Campo Marzio; probably part of the decoration of the Iseo Campense, dedicated to the Egyptian deities Isis and Serapis. The personification is shown with a cornucopia of fruit in his left arm and ears of wheat in his right hand. Egypt is represented by a sphinx, on which the figure of the Nile supports himself, and by some exotic animals. The scene is enlivened by sixteen children who allude to the sixteen cubits of water by which the Nile rises for its annual flood. The sculpture was probably inspired by a monumental statue of the Nile in black basalt, a Hellenistic original from Alexandria (3rd-2nd century BCE), which Pliny the Elder described as being within the Forum of Peace. (Source: Vatican Museums (Musei Vaticani) [website]; http://www.museivati cani.va/)
Collection:
Archivision Adjunct Module C: World Art
Identifier:
7A3-R-VM-COTN-A07
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Personification of the River Nile