Lamp with Erotic Scene
Lamp with Erotic Scene
An orange ware oil lamp of medium size. The shoulder is slightly tilted and decorated with diagonal lines.
2nd century A.D., 3rd century A.D.
L: 11.5 cm
Out of stock
Product Description
An orange ware oil Terracotta Lamp with Erotic Scene of medium size. The shoulder is slightly tilted and decorated with diagonal lines. Handmade lug handle at the rear. Round nozzle, delineated by a straight groove. Flat, slightly hollow base. Wick hole pierced at the center of the tondo.
The concave discus shows a symplegma erotic scene with two figures: a man, and a woman kneeling on all fours in front of him. The man, his head leaning backwards, appears to be reciting verses written on a rectangular tablet that he holds in his hands. Some letters of the inscription are still legible: EXO …
The figures are seen in right profile; the ground line is not indicated. Though the image is perfectly visible, the details are slightly faded, as if the scene had been molded several times.
Erotic scenes were a favorite subject in the iconography of Roman lamps: despite their miniaturized size, they are characterized by a great variation and by their generally joyful atmosphere.
