The Boston Throne is an unusual marble sculpture, similar to the

Ludovisi Throne The Ludovisi Throne is an exceptional ancient sculpture from Locri, Southern Italy. Not an actual throne, the sculpture is white marble block intricately carved with bas-reliefs on its three visible sides, with its primary depiction considered by ...

. It probably dates from

classical antiquity Classical antiquity, also known as the classical era, classical period, classical age, or simply antiquity, is the period of cultural History of Europe, European history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD comprising the inter ...

, and first appeared in modern times in 1894, shortly after the

was found and sold at auction. It was purchased by Edward Perry Warren for the

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

in 1896.

Description

The Boston Throne is a cuboid block of marble, carved in relief on three sides. The main panel on one long side shows a central naked winged youth, holding

scales Scale or scales may refer to: Mathematics * Scale (descriptive set theory), an object defined on a set of points * Scale (ratio), the ratio of a linear dimension of a model to the corresponding dimension of the original * Scale factor, a number ...

(mostly now lost). The pans of the scales remain, each containing the small figure of a youth. The central figure stands between two figures of women dressed in

Ionian tunic Ionic or Ionian may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Ionic meter, a poetic metre in ancient Greek and Latin poetry * Ionian mode, a musical mode or a diatonic scale Places and peoples * Ionian, of or from Ionia, an ancient region in western A ...

s and mantles, seated on

palmette The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has a far-reaching history, originating in ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art o ...

s and

volute A volute is a spiral, scroll-like ornament that forms the basis of the Ionic order, found in the capital of the Ionic column. It was later incorporated into Corinthian order and Composite column capitals. Four are normally to be found on an ...

. The composition has been interpreted as a psychostasia (weighing of souls), and the figures have variously been identified as

Eros Eros (, ; ) is the Greek god of love and sex. The Romans referred to him as Cupid or Amor. In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is the child of Aphrodite. He is usually presented as a handsome young ma ...

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and Ancient Greek religion, religion, Persephone ( ; , classical pronunciation: ), also called Kore ( ; ) or Cora, is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the Greek underworld, underworld afte ...

and

Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...

, or

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

and

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods * ''Juno'' (film), the 2007 film Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, a character in the book ''Juno of ...

. The two shorter side panels also show figures: one, an old woman mourning; the other, a boy playing a

lyre The lyre () (from Greek λύρα and Latin ''lyra)'' is a string instrument, stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the History of lute-family instruments, lute family of instruments. In organology, a ...

. The consensus is that the sculpture of the Boston Throne is lower in quality than that of the Ludovisi Throne, with less subtle and less figurative characterisation. The Ludovisi Throne is thought to be a 5th-century BC Greek original, but it seems likely that the Boston Throne has a substantially later date; perhaps it was a 1st-century BC Roman companion-piece to the Ludovisi Throne, created for that piece's assumed display-arrangement in the

Gardens of Sallust The Gardens of Sallust () was an ancient Roman estate including a landscaped pleasure garden developed by the historian Sallust in the 1st century BC. It occupied a large area in the northeastern sector of Rome, in what would become Region VI, b ...

, or it may even be a forgery.Archeology
article on

Praeneste Fibula The Praeneste fibula (the "brooch of Palestrina") is a golden ''fibula'' or brooch, today housed in the Pigorini National Museum of Prehistory and Ethnography in Rome. The fibula bears an inscription in Old Latin, claiming craftsmanship by ...

, another highly contested piece sold by Martinetti and Helbig.

References

External links

* {{commonscatinline 1894 archaeological discoveries Aphrodite Juno (mythology) Sculptures of Persephone Roman copies of 5th-century BC Greek sculptures Sculptures in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Sculptures of Hera Sculptures of Roman goddesses Sculptures of Venus

Description

References

Further reading

External links