An Italian sculpted alabaster model of the Temple of Castor and Pollux

The Temple of Castor and Pollux dates from the early days of the Republic, having been dedicated to the Dioscuri in 484 B.C. in memory of their aid, which was believed to have enabled the Romans to defeat the Tarquins and their Latin allies at the Battle of Lake Regillus in 496 B.C. The existing columns on which the model in this lot is based belong to a restoration of the Hadrianic or Trajanic period.