Details

LOT 0684

Stone Minerva Statuette House Altar

ROMAN, 2ND-4TH CENTURY A.D. OR LATER

8 3/8 in. (5.3 kg, 21.2 cm high).

Square-section with stepped base, gussetted collar and two parallel bars to the upper face; inscribed 'DEAE.MINERV[AE] / LVCIVS.PLAC[IDUS] / VITELLI.FIL[IVS].V[OTUM] / S[OLVIT].L[IBENS].M[ERITO]' (to the goddess Minerva, Lucius Plac[idus] son of Vitellius, discharges the vow freely, as is deserved); the inscription highlighted in crimson. [No Reserve]

Provenance

From a collection acquired on the UK art market from various auction houses and collections mostly before 2000.
From an important Cambridgeshire estate; thence by descent.

Literature

Cf. Graham, F., Hadrian's Wall in the days of the Romans, Newcastle upon Tyne, 1984, pp.71, 78, 187.

Footnotes

Votive inscriptions follow a set pattern, since they were dedicated to a god or goddess to thank them for something they had done in response to a prayer. The person dedicating the stone would have previously promised to do this if the god answered their prayer. The formulation V.S.L.M. (votum solvit libens [or libenter] merito = in willing fulfilment of a vow) is attested for example at Bath, or on the Arae of the Hadrian's Wall.