A ROMAN BRONZE ATTACHMENT IN THE FORM OF AION

CIRCA MID 2ND CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN BRONZE ATTACHMENT IN THE FORM OF AION
Circa Mid 2nd Century A.D.
The genius of time and eternity depicted winged and flying to his left, his muscular body featured horizontally, his right wing outstretched, his mantle billowing over his head, gripped in his left hand, draping over his right arm and falling open behind his legs, an orb held in his right hand, wearing a fillet in his long wavy hair
9½ in. (24.1 cm.) long

Provenance

Said to have been found in the ruins of the Imperial Palace in Thessaloniki, Greece, 1927.
Dr. Jacob Hirsch; Adolph Hess and William H. Schab, Lucerne, 7 December 1957, lot 62.
with Royal-Athena Galleries, New York, 1994.

Exhibited

From Olympus to the Underworld, Ancient Bronzes from the John W. Kluge Collection, Boston, Museum of Fine Arts, 26 March - 23 June 1996.

Lot Essay

As a genius or god of time, Aion was considered to be a representation of eternity and, therefore, a means of apotheosis. For an example with similar iconography, see the column base of Antoninus Pius, now in the Vatican Museums (no. 19 in le Glay, "Aion" in LIMC), on which he and Faustina are portrayed riding on the wings of Aion during their apotheosis.

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