Relief of an African Elephant in the Getty Villa, July 2008

Relief of an African Elephant
Roman, 79-96 AD
Marble

Inventory # 71.AA.463.2

Elephants were known throughout the ancient Mediterranean. They were imported from North Africa and the Near East. From the end of the fourth century BC, they were used by Greek armies in the eastern Mediterranean. Hannibal, leader of Carthage, brought elephants across the Alps with his army when he invaded Italy in 218-217 BC. At the funeral of the Roman emperor Vespasian (ruled 69-79 AD), a team of elephants pulled a chariot. The tasseled blankets of the pair carved on the reliefs here suggest that they are trained animals, perhaps part of a military parade.

Text from the Getty Villa museum label.