An Italian lumachella di Canova and carved rosso antico relief panel, Rome, circa 1800

Embodying the taste for neoclassicism and for carving stones characterizing the late 18^th century and early 19^th century, the present panel is designed after a roundel on the Arch on Constantine, located just near the Coliseum and the Roman Forum in Rome.

One of three surviving ancient Roman triumphal arches in Rome, the Arch of Constantine was erected to celebrate the victory of Constantine (272-337 AD) over Maxentius (278-312 AD). Although the main structure of the Arch was built during Constantine’s reign, the Arch incorporates sculptures from many earlier buildings dating back to the reigns of the Emperors Trajan (53-117 AD), Hadrian (76-138 AD) and Marcus Aurelius (121-180 AD).

The present panel depicting the sacrifice to the God Silvanus takes after one of the tondi (roundels) carved in Carrara marble dating back to Hadrian’s reign. Interestingly, the reliefs of the Arch including their illustrations and descriptions were recorded in publications in the 17^th century, notably in Giovanni Pietro Bellori’s Icones Et Segmenta Illvstrivm E Marmore Tabvlarvm Qvae Romae Adhvc Extant (1645), illustrated by François Perrier, followed in 1690 by Bellori’s Veteres arcus Augustorum triumphis insignes, ex reliquiis quae Romae adhuc supersunt : cum imaginibus triumphalibus restituti. In 1645, Bellori writes that the tondo depicts a sacrifice to Hercules and the statue of the god, fragmentary in the original arch, is integrated with a mace in the statue's hand and a lion skin above in the tree branch, therefore suiting the figure of Hercules. Years later in 1690, Bellori describes the tondo as Sylvano Sacrum, or Sacrifice to Silvanus, referring to the Ancient Roman tutelary deity of woods, yet the statue in front of which the figures sacrifice still bears the attributes of Hercules.

While the subject matter of this scene is still open for debate, it seems the carver of this relief was aware of Bellori’s publication as he reproduces the whole scene devoid of missing parts like the Ancient Roman tondo. As in the original marble tondo, the relief of this panel features four figures grouped around a sacrificial altar, which stands below the statue of a male god and a tree, upon which a lion’s head and a syrinx are perched. Additions include the lower section of the composition with the various neoclassical elements, namely, the grotesque masks flanked by semi-columns and paterae and framed by foliate wreaths.