The Boscoreale Treasure is a large collection of exquisite silver and gold
Roman objects discovered in the ruins of the ancient Villa della Pisanella at
Boscoreale, near
Pompeii,
southern Italy. Consisting of over a hundred pieces of
silverware, as well as gold coins and jewellery, it is now mostly kept at the
Louvre Museum in Paris, although parts of the treasure can also be found at the
British Museum.[1]
History
Located northwest of
Pompeii, Boscoreale was the location of a large Roman villa, the Villa della Pisanella, that was buried by volcanic ash following the
eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The villa was unearthed during several archaeological seasons, confirming the hypothesis of a
villarustica covering 1000 m2 with clearly defined residential sector and farm buildings. The villa was discovered in 1876, but it was only on April 13, 1895 that the remains of a vaulted box containing the treasure was discovered in the
wine-pressing room of the villa. The box contained
silver tableware consisting of 109 items and a leather bag full of coins to the value of a thousand gold
aurei. Many items of precious metal were abandoned in Pompeii and its surrounding area by their owners as they attempted to flee the destruction.
Most of the Boscoreale Treasure was illicitly trafficked out of
Italy and was later purchased by
Baron Edmond de Rothschild who donated it to the Louvre Museum in 1896. Baron de Rothschild (19 August 1845 – 2 November 1934) was a French member of the
Rothschild banking family. Given the number of the items, their weight over 30 kg, their technical quality and aesthetic value, the silver set from Boscoreale is among the most important and most prestigious sets of this period.
It is assumed that the objects were intentionally hidden in the storehouse before the eruption of
Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79. The last owner of the silver set was probably a woman named Maxima – a name written on many of the vessels. A woman was found nearby but there is no definitive answer to the question of whether she is Maxima. It is assumed that the owner of the villa and the entire property is L. Caecilius lucundus, a banker from
Pompeii, who inherited the wealth of the
Julio-Claudian dynasty in
Campania, and that he was the father of Maxima.[2]
Description
The treasure consists of 109 pieces of silverware, as well as gold
jewellery (necklaces, bracelets and earrings) and over 1000 gold coins. Items from the hoard vary in date from the 4th century BC to the 1st century AD. Many of the silver items from the treasure are considered
masterpieces of Roman art that could only have belonged to the very elite sections of society. A few objects also seem to be family
heirlooms passed down the generations. Parts of the hoard are inscribed with the name Maxima who were perhaps the original owner. Some of the most well-known items in the treasure include:
Skyphos cup of
Augustus on a military campaign, seated and surrounded by his
lictors and lieutenants as he grants clemency to suppliant
barbarians. The alternate side of the Skyphos depicts
Augustus among Gods such as
Venus,
Cupid and
Mars, who represent four conquered provinces.
Skyphos cup of
Tiberius on a triumphal procession through the streets of Rome. The emperor-to-be rides in a horse-drawn chariot holding a
laurel branch and an eagle-tipped
sceptre. The alternate side of the Skyphos depicts
Tiberius sacrificing a bull in front of a temple to Jupiter.[5]
Two silver cups decorated with
skeletons.[6] The two silver cups have similar and complementary
repoussé decoration depicting the skeletons of tragic and comic poets and famous Greek philosophers, beneath a garland of roses.[7]
Pair of dishes with relief medallions of the busts of a man and women (although only the bust of the latter survives)[8]
Plate with the central
medallion showing the personification of
Africa.[9] In the center is a bust of a young woman wearing an elephant hide cap, holding an
asp/cobra in her right hand and a
cornucopia of plenty full of fruit in her left. The symbolism of the objects around the woman and her facial features strongly suggest that it is a posthumous portrait of
Cleopatra Selene II,
Queen of Mauretania, wife of
Juba II, and daughter of
Cleopatra VII of Egypt, and most likely commissioned by
Ptolemy of Mauretania, son of Cleopatra Selene II (shortly after her death in 6/5 BC).[4][3]
A polished toiletry mirror with a brilliant reflection, practically this was used to view oneself, the decoration represents the meeting of
Leda and
Jupiter, turned into a swan, and is a hymn to femininity and sensuality.[10]
No formal study of the coins was made before they were dispersed into the market and, as is often the case, it is very possible that a list published in 1909 includes material from other finds.
The most recent coin of the Boscoreale hoard dates to
AD 79, the date of the eruption. The intense heat from
Mount Vesuvius imbued all the gold coins (aurei) with the beautiful red toning that we now see.
Baratte, François /
Musée du Louvre. Le trésor d’orfèvrerie romaine de Boscoreale. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, 1986, p. 35, 65-67 & 91, ISBN 978-2-7118-2048-1
^
abWalker, Susan (2001), "Gilded silver dish, decorated with a bust perhaps representing Cleopatra Selene", in Walker, Susan; Higgs, Peter (eds.),
Cleopatra of Egypt: from History to Myth, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press (British Museum Press), pp.
312–313,
ISBN9780691088358.
^
abRoller, Duane W. (2003). The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene: Royal Scholarship on Rome's African Frontier. New York: Routledge.
ISBN9780415305969, pp. 141–142
^S. Kleiner, Fred (2007). A History of Roman Art: Enhanced Edition. Clark Baxter.