Extra Content

Discussion

Fragments of colossal porphyry statue of Diocletian in cuirass (lost ). From Alexandria. 297-302.

DESCRIPTION (object)
Two fragments of upper thighs with parts of the leather straps. H (of largest fragment): 160 cm. Total reconstructed H: 700 cm (Delbrueck). Porphyry.

PROVENANCE
In the second half of the 18th century the fragments lay at the foot of the column LSA-874. Later the French threw them into the sea. Still later they were brought to Paris and bought by the Comte Choiseul-Gouffier. In 1818 they went to a collection of a prince Bourbon-Conti and were last seen before 1870 in the garden of the Dukes de la Rochefoucauld-Doudeauville at Passy. In 1932 S.Reinach tried to find them for R. Delbrueck, but learned that their whereabouts were unknown.

HONORAND/DATE
The inscription of the column shows, that the statue represented Diocletian and was erected between 297 and 302 (see discussion onLSA-874)

Marianne Bergmann

Main Reference

Delbrueck, R., Antike Porphyrwerke. Studien zur spätantiken Kunstgeschichte, vol. 6, Berlin 1932, 100-101

Tkaczow, B., The topography of ancient Alexandria (An archaeological map), Warsaw 1993, 285-6 no. 269A