ClassificationsGreek and Roman Art

Relief with Ploughman

CultureRoman

PeriodImperial

Date200-250 CE

MediumMarble (Göktepe)

Credit LineCarlos Collection of Ancient Art. Gift of Mrs. Thalia Carlos in honor of President and Mrs. James W. Wagner

Dimensions16 x 23 x 2 1/2 in. (40.6 x 58.4 x 6.4 cm)

Object number2005.021.001

Label TextThis marble panel depicts a youthful ploughman carved in high relief driving two oxen across a field. He has short cropped hair and wears a short tunic secured by a broad belt. He steers the handle of the plough with his left hand, and probably prodded the oxen with a goad held in his extended right. Such agricultural scenes were common on votive reliefs dedicated to pastoral gods like Ceres and Silvanus in order to guarantee a successful harvest. They also appear in cycles depicting the primary occupations of the months. In the latter context, the motif celebrates the virtues of physical work and the importance of farming both to the Roman economy and to the Roman people, who maintained an image of themselves as rustic laborers despite the luxuries of empire. This relief is fitted with an iron pin at the top, suggesting that it was fixed to a wall or screen.

Exhibition HistoryFrom Pharaohs to Emperors: New Egyptian and Classical Antiquities at Emory, Michael C. Carlos Museum, January 14 - April 2, 2006
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, February 2009 - August 26, 2013
MCCM Permanent Collection Reinstallation, September 25, 2013 - Present
Confronting Slavery in the Classical World, Michael C. Carlos Museum (virtual exhibition), September 29, 2021 - December 19, 2021
Published ReferencesBeloved by Time: Four Millennia of Ancient Art (New York: Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., 2000), 80-81, number 131.
MCCM Newsletter, December 2005 - February 2006.
Peter Lacovara and Jasper Gaunt, "From Pharaohs to Emperors: Egyptian, Near Eastern & Classical Antiquities at Emory," Minerva 17 (January/February 2006): 9-16.
Michael C. Carlos Museum: Highlights of the Collections (Atlanta: Michael C. Carlos Museum, 2011), 61.
Robert H. Tykot, et al. "Analysis of Classical Marble Sculptures in the Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta," in ASMOSIA XI: Interdisciplinary Studies on Ancient Stone, ed. Daniela Matetic Poljak and Katja Marasovic (Split: University of Split, 2018), 502, figure 5.

ProvenanceWith Fortuna Fine Arts, Ltd., New York, New York, 2000. Purchased by MCCM from Robert Hecht (1919-2012) [Robert Hecht Gallery], New York, New York.

Status

On view

Collections