Relief Plaque

Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Early 1st century

Roman

During the early Roman Empire, terra-cotta relief plaques were a popular form of interior decoration for houses, public baths, and tombs. The mold-made reliefs, which could be rapidly reproduced to create a decorative frieze, reflect an interest in older Greek styles. Here female temple attendants, whose costumes and hairstyles recall fashions worn at least 200 years earlier by the Greek occupants of southern Italy and Sicily, kneel before a tall incense burner, upon which they place an offering. The scene is bordered by an egg-and-dart pattern above and a lotus pattern below. The presence of four nailholes indicates that these panels
were likely affixed to a wall.

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of Greece, Rome, and Byzantium

Culture: Ancient Roman
Title: Relief Plaque
Place: Rome (Object found 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.: 1 CE–50 CE
Medium: terracotta
Dimensions: 58.8 × 46.9 × 5 cm (23 1/4 × 18 3/8 × 2 in.)
Credit Line: Katherine K. Adler Memorial Fund; purchased with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Bro, the Classical Art Society, and Mr. and Mrs. Walter Alexander
Reference Number: 1990.87
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/109509/manifest.json

Art Institute of Chicago, Annual Report: 1989-90 (Art Institute of Chicago, 1990), p. 46, p. 25 (ill.).
Cornelius C. Vermeule, Ancient Art at The Art Institute of Chicago, in Museum Studies, vol. 20, no. 1 (1994), pp. 67, 68 (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. 39.
Sandra E. Knudsen, with contributions by Rachel C. Sabino, “Cat. 159 Relief Plaque: Curatorial Entry,” in Roman Art at the Art Institute of Chicago (Art Institute of Chicago, 2016).

Art Institute of Chicago, Ancient Art Galleries, Gallery 156, July 17, 2002 - February 14, 2012.
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 1, 2018.

Said to have been found in Italy in the 19th century [this and the following according to documentation in curatorial object file]; from there reportedly held in a German private collection. McAlpine Ancient Art, London, England, by 1990; sold to the Art Institute, 1990.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.

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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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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.

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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.