PICTURES FROM ITALY (Est. 2001)
  • Private Tours
    • Private Tours of Rome
    • Private Tours of Florence
    • Private Tours of Venice
  • Contact
  • Rome
  • Vatican
  • Florence
  • Venice
  • Tuscany
  • Gallery
  • Year in Art
Private Tours of the Vatican Museums

Death on the Nile

10/7/2019

 
Private Tours of the Vatican Museums
The Braschi Antinous, Vatican Museums-Rome
The Braschi Antinous (det.)

The colossal ancient statue known as the 'Braschi Antinous' was discovered (1792-1793) at Palestrina and restored by Giovanni Pierantoni. The statue was exhibited in the Palazzo Braschi in Rome until 1844, hence its sobriquet. 

Antinous (c. 111-130) was a favourite and, perhaps, lover of the emperor Hadrian (r. 117-138), who drowned, under mysterious circumstances (accident, murder, sacrifice?), while travelling with the emperor along the river Nile in October 130. Hadrian was devastated by the loss and immediately deified the youth. He also founded the city of Antinopolis, close to the site of his death. The city became a centre for the worship of Osiris-Antinous. 

We see Antinous here  as a god, his head crowned with leaves, ivy berries and a diadem, which would originally have held a cobra (uraeus) or a lotus flower, not the curious object he now sports. The thyrsus (a staff topped with a pine cone), which Antinous holds in his left hand, is also a modern addition. 

The 'Braschi Antinous' is on display in the Sala Rotonda in the Museo Pio-Clementino. 

Braschi Antinous, Vatican Museums, Rome
The Braschi Antinous

Comments are closed.
    Blogging about the Vatican 

    My name is David Lown and I am an art historian from Cambridge, England.

    Since 200I I have been living in Italy, where I run
    ​ private tours of Florence, Rome &
    Venice.

    Search Pictures From Italy:

    Picture

    Picture

    Blog Posts

    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019


Follow Pictures From Italy on Facebook

Private Tours of Rome, Florence & Venice

Copyright © David Lown 2001-2019. All Rights Reserved. 
  • Private Tours
    • Private Tours of Rome
    • Private Tours of Florence
    • Private Tours of Venice
  • Contact
  • Rome
  • Vatican
  • Florence
  • Venice
  • Tuscany
  • Gallery
  • Year in Art