LOT 0339

Large Marble Relief with Roman-Era Scene of a Boy Presenting a Scroll

18TH-19TH CENTURY A.D.

34 1/2 in. (127 kg total including stand, 87.5 cm high).

Rectangular scene with ledge to lower edge; high-relief carved scene depicting a standing male in loosely draped toga, holding the upper edge of a papyrus scroll; beside him, a small boy in similar attire holding the lower two corners of the document; legend in seriffed Roman capitals 'VICTORIAE / AVGVSTO / RE[...]' (to Victoria, to Augustus, ...).

Private collection, UK.

This lot has been checked against the Interpol Database of stolen works of art and is accompanied by search certificate number no.13393-259011.

Cf. for an original image of a boy with a scroll, see the Walters Art Museum, accession no.71.54; a fresco of a Roman pupil reading a scroll, in Naples, Archaeological Museum, ID AKG300539.

The relief recalls the images of the Propaganda Augusti, diffused by Julius Caesar Octavian after his victory over Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra at Actium. The aged man and the boy represent the old and new Roman world meeting in the Principate created by Augustus.