TheBoscoreale Treasure is a large collection of exquisite silver and goldRoman objects discovered in the ruins of the ancient Villa della Pisanella atBoscoreale, nearPompeii,southern Italy. Consisting of over a hundred pieces ofsilverware, as well as gold coins and jewellery, it is now mostly kept at theLouvre Museum in Paris, although parts of the treasure can also be found at theBritish Museum.[1]
Located northwest ofPompeii, Boscoreale was the location of a large Roman villa, theVilla della Pisanella, that was buried by volcanic ash following theeruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The villa was unearthed during several archaeological seasons, confirming the hypothesis of avillarustica 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 thewine-pressing room of the villa. The box containedsilver tableware consisting of 109 items and a leather bag full of coins to the value of a thousand goldaurei. 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 legally sold in 1895 to several European dealers and collectors as Italy's first major law regulating the export of cultural goods was Law No. 185 of 1902. Even then, the state had first right of refusal; being offered the coins and artifacts, the Director of the Naples'Museo Archeologica Nazionale deemed the price asked too high and declined the offer. Part of it was later purchased byBaron 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 theRothschild 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 ofMt. 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 fromPompeii, who inherited the wealth of theJulio-Claudian dynasty inCampania, and that he was the father of Maxima.[2]
The treasure consists of 109 pieces of silverware, as well as goldjewellery (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 consideredmasterpieces of Roman art that could only have belonged to the very elite sections of society. A few objects also seem to be familyheirlooms 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 ofAugustus on a military campaign, seated and surrounded by hislictors and lieutenants as he grants clemency to suppliantbarbarians. The alternate side of theSkyphos depictsAugustus among Gods such asVenus,Cupid andMars, who represent four conquered provinces.
Skyphos cup ofTiberius on a triumphal procession through the streets of Rome. The emperor-to-be rides in a horse-drawn chariot holding alaurel branch and an eagle-tippedsceptre. The alternate side of theSkyphos depictsTiberius sacrificing a bull in front of a temple to Jupiter.[5]
Two silver cups decorated withskeletons.[6] The two silver cups have similar and complementaryrepoussé 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 centralmedallion showing the personification ofAfrica.[9] In the center is a bust of a young woman wearing an elephant hide cap, holding anasp/cobra in her right hand and acornucopia 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 ofCleopatra Selene II,Queen of Mauretania, wife ofJuba II, and daughter ofCleopatra VII of Egypt, and most likely commissioned byPtolemy 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 ofLeda andJupiter, turned into a swan, and is a hymn to femininity and sensuality.[10]
Aureus ofNero (54-68 AD), Rome mint, struck circa 65-66 AD
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 toAD 79, the date of the eruption. The intense heat fromMount 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.
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