Lamp

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Mid–1st century

Roman

The windowless rooms of Roman buildings required artificial illumination, which was frequently provided by oil lamps. While inexpensive terracotta lamps were widely used, bronze lamps were luxury items produced for wealthier people. The handle of this lamp is adorned with a crescent moon surmounted by a bust of Jupiter, king of the gods, and his companion animal, the eagle, which clutches a thunderbolt (a symbol of the god) in its talons. A knobbed lid tops the container, which would have been filled with olive oil.

Status: On View, Gallery 152
Department: Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium

Culture: Ancient Roman
Title: Lamp
Place: Roman Empire (Object made in)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 25 CE–75 CE
Medium: Bronze
Dimensions: 11.5 × 21.7 × 14 cm (4 1/2 × 8 1/2 × 5 1/2 in.)
Credit Line: James W. and Marilynn Alsdorf Collection
Reference Number: 1985.1041a-b
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/104998/manifest.json

Sotheby Parke Bernet, New York, Antiquities, sale cat. (Sotheby’s, Nov. 22, 1974), lot 272 (ill.).
Art Institute of Chicago, Annual Report: 1985-86 (Art Institute of Chicago, 1986), p. 72.
Karen B. Alexander and Mary Greuel. Private Taste in Ancient Rome: Selections from Chicago Collections. Exh. cat. (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago, 1990), cat. 23 (ill.).
Karen B. Alexander, “From Plaster to Stone: Ancient Art at the Art Institute of Chicago,” in Karen Manchester, Recasting the Past: Collecting and Presenting Antiquities at the Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago: Art Institute of Chicago; New Haven: Yale University Press, 2012), p. 33.
Sandra E. Knudsen, “Cat. 142 Lamp: Curatorial Entry,” in Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2016).
John Twilley, “Cat. 142 Lamp: Technical Report,” in Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2016).

Art Institute of Chicago, Private Taste in Ancient Rome: Selections from Chicago Collections, March 3–September 16, 1990, cat. 23.
Art Institute of Chicago, Of Gods and Glamour: The Mary and Michael Jaharis Galleries of Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Art, Gallery 152, November 11, 2012 - November 8, 2018.

Formerly in the collection of J.J. Klejman (d. 1995, owner of the J J Klejman Gallery which operated from 1950 - 1974), New York, NY [according to acquisition records in curatorial file]. James W. (1913-1990) and Marilynn (1925-2019) Alsdorf, given to the Art Institute of Chicago, 1985.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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Dimensions

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.