Oceanus-Saturn of Santa Prisca
TNMM 716 ↔ CIMRM 478
Statue in stucco in the cult-niche.
Reclining Oceanus-Saturnus, the lower part of whose body is covered by a red-blue cloak. The naked breast has a red colour. Behind his shoulders the remnants of a blue velum are visible, which he has wrapped over his head. The right guilded hand hold a part of a stick, probably an oar. Both arms are lacking. In his left shoulder a leaden tube is visible, which probably leads to the upraised left hand in which he held a patera.
A more detailed description of this statue and its significance has been given in M. J. Vermaseren — C. C. van Essen, The Aventine Mithraeum Adjoining the Church of St. Prisca in Antiquity and Survival I, 1955,3–36; especially 15–18.
CIMRM II 478
The statue has now been restored. I do not believe Ferrua's theory any longer, that there was a leaden tube in the l. shoulder and that the l.h. held a patera.
References
Ferrua 12f. See fig. 131.
Comments