CIRCA 2ND CENTURY A.D.

According to A. Cioffarelli (pp. 95-97 in M.L. Anderson and L. Nista, eds., Radiance in Stone: Sculptures in Colored Marble from the Museo Nazionale Romano), rosso antico is a fine grained, highly compacted limestone, ranging in color from a light red to a dark purple, and can include white calcite marks and striations. The stone was quarried in Taenarum, modern day Cape Matapan in the Peloponnese. In Rome, rosso antico was first attested during the late Republic and was used as a decorative adjunct in walls, pavements and architectural ornaments; by the 2nd century, it was employed for decorative sculpture, such as herms, as demonstrated here. For the type, a Roman variation of Alkamenes' Hermes Propylaios from the 5th century B.C., see nos. 42-57b in G. Siebert, "Hermes," LIMC, vol. V.