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Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
Vertumnus
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
© Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami. All rights reserved.

Vertumnus

Artist/Maker (Artist Unknown)
Dateca. 200-250
Mediummarble
DimensionsOverall: 18 7/8 x 10 3/4 x 6 in. (47.9 x 27.3 x 15.2 cm)
ClassificationsVisual Works
Credit LineMuseum purchase through funds from Colonel C. Michael Paul
Terms
    Object number92.0031
    DescriptionVertumnus, one of the numerous agricultural deities of the Roman world, stands proudly in his lion's skin, revealing the harvested bounty of the fields. The good harvest is the hoped for result of worshipers' prayers and sacrifices before this small, cult statue. The pruning knife in the figure's right hand is the particular attribute of this god and the tool used to cut the apple, the cluster of grapes, and other fruit that he bears. The tree trunk and companionable dog are appropriate attributes for a god of the fields, but the tree trunk as well as the struts between his calves and between his left hip and the lion's skin are unnecessary for the support of such a small figure. These extraneous supports may indicate that this is a reduced copy of a life-size or larger marble, whose stability would have required such additions. As with grander cult statues placed in temples, the god faces the petitioner to receive prayers and hopes. Originally, the Vertumnus figure may have stood on the back of, or above, an altar in a private house or villa or possibly in a town shrine. Since a probable 90% or more of the annual tax revenues of the Roman state under the emperor came from farms and agricultural estates, the pagan gods controlling agriculture were considered very powerful, regardless of the size of their images.
    On View
    Not on view
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Artist Unknown
    1934-1936 (printed 1992)
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Fon people
    not dated
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Artist Unknown
    ca. 525-500 BCE
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Edouard Félicien Alexis Pépin
    not dated
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Aztec
    ca. 1350-1521
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Colima
    ca. 300 BCE-300 CE
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Artist Unknown
    late 19th to early 20th century (printed 1992)
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Artist Unknown
    2nd to 3rd century
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Artist Unknown
    late 19th to early 20th century (printed 1992)
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Maya (archaeological culture)
    ca. 600-900
    Collection of the Lowe Art Museum, University of Miami
    Antonio Argenti
    ca. 1895