Sculpture of Diana Discovered

om english.blic.rs
Archeologists found sculpture of Diana, Goddess of hunt
S. Božinović | 21. 07. 2010. - 00:02h | Foto: S. Božinović

At the site of the ‘Felix Romuliana’, an imperial palace near the Town of Zajecar, German experts of the Archeology Institute in Frankfurt, together with the colleagues of the Archeology Institute in Belgrade have discovered a sensational sculpture, unique in this area of the Balkans. This marble statue originates from the first half of the third century.

As ‘Blic’ learns unofficially, it is most likely a sculpture of Diana, the Goddess of the hunt. At the National Museum in Zajecar we were told that this discovery has been the most significant one since finding of archvault in 1984 with the inscription ‘Felix Romuliana’ and a head of Galerius in 1993.

It is supposed that the sculpture symbolizes victory by Rome over barberians. Unfortunately a fragment of the sculpture (a horse and a rider) is missing. The rider is believed to be Diana.

Experts claim that this discovery is absolutely precious for studying of the ‘Romuliana’, but for the world culture as well.

Huge interest of experts from all over the world is expected.

The German archeologists using geomagnetic and geophysics method of search outside the imperial palace have discovered about fifty objects. Recently a new three-year agreement on cooperation has been signed with the Institute in Frankfurt.

The ‘Felix Romuliana’ contains numerous floor mosaics and remains of monumental temples and buildings. The Portrait of Emperor Galerius, heads of Hercules and Jupiter, mosaic presentations of Dionis, Labyrinth and Venator are the very best of the Roman art of that time.

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They can tell that the rider from the missing horse/rider duo was the Goddess Diana?  How do they know the horse had any rider at all?  And how do they actually know it was a horse, since it looks like the entire thing is missing!  Based on what's shown - which looks like some kind of very large dog bringing down a miniature horse - this is hardly what I would call a sculpture of Diana the Huntress!  Guess I expect too much from my antiquities, heh?

Added July 22, 2010:

Here is a photo of the sculpture from a different perspective - it is a boar that the dog is bringing down, as was pointed out by Anthony in his comment, thank you.  A boar makes much more sense than a small horse, LOL, but I just did not see "boar" in the first photograph - it looked like a small horse with a mane, I did not see the tusks at all!  (Photo credit: Tanjug)


This article has some more information about the sculpture:

Rare Roman sculpture found near eastern town
21 July 2010 | 10:31 -> 13:54 | Source: Blic
Zaječar -- A 3rd century AD sculpture was discovered in Serbia's Felix Romuliana archaeological site in the east of the country.

The sculpture is believed to be representing Diana, the Roman goddess of the hunt.

Serbian archaeologists and their German colleagues worked on the dig near the town of Zaječar, daily Blic reports, and adds the discovery is nothing short of "sensational", and unique in the Balkans.

The marble statue was found north of the Emperor's Palace location - a settlement that was built before Romuliana itself.

The Zaječar National Museum said that the find ranks among the most important since the 1984 discovery of a tabled with the words Felix Romuliana inscribed on it.

The Roman palace on that location was built from 297 until 311 AD.

The sculpture, believed to have been made to celebrate Roman victories over barbarians, shows a wild boar pierced with a spear, a hunting dog at one of its legs, and two horse hoofs. However, the horse itself and the rider - that archaeologists believe would have been Diana - are missing.