Yale University Art Gallery

Depinto Scene of Sacrifice ca. A.D. 256 Ink on Gypsum Object: 38.5 x 79 cm (15 3/16 x 31 1/8 in.) Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos 1932.1208 Culture: Dura-Europos (Syria). Period: Roman, 3rd century A.D. Classification: Paintings Bibliography: Michael I. Rostovtzeff, Professor Paul V. C. Baur, and Professor Alfred R. Bellinger, The Excavations at Dura-Europos, 9 vols. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 192944), pp. 15356, pls. 37.13, ill. Katherine M Kiefer and Susan B. Matheson, Life in an Eastern Province: The Roman Fortress at Dura-Europos, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1982), no. 15. Lucinda Dirven, The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos: A Study of Religious Interaction in Roman Syria (Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1999), 186, 316318, pl. 14. Lisa R. Brody and Gail Hoffman, eds., Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity (Boston: McMullen Museum of Art, 2011), 213, fig. 12.5. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/34186

Depinto Scene of Sacrifice ca. A.D. 256 Ink on Gypsum Object: 38.5 x 79 cm (15 3/16 x 31 1/8 in.) Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos 1932.1208 Culture: Dura-Europos (Syria). Period: Roman, 3rd century A.D. Classification: Paintings Bibliography: Michael I. Rostovtzeff, Professor Paul V. C. Baur, and Professor Alfred R. Bellinger, The Excavations at Dura-Europos, 9 vols. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 192944), pp. 15356, pls. 37.13, ill. Katherine M Kiefer and Susan B. Matheson, Life in an Eastern Province: The Roman Fortress at Dura-Europos, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1982), no. 15. Lucinda Dirven, The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos: A Study of Religious Interaction in Roman Syria (Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1999), 186, 316318, pl. 14. Lisa R. Brody and Gail Hoffman, eds., Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity (Boston: McMullen Museum of Art, 2011), 213, fig. 12.5. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/34186

Depinto Scene of Sacrifice ca. A.D. 256 Ink on Gypsum Object: 38.5 x 79 cm (15 3/16 x 31 1/8 in.) Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos 1932.1208 Culture: Dura-Europos (Syria). Period: Roman, 3rd century A.D. Classification: Paintings Bibliography: Michael I. Rostovtzeff, Professor Paul V. C. Baur, and Professor Alfred R. Bellinger, The Excavations at Dura-Europos, 9 vols. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 192944), pp. 15356, pls. 37.13, ill. Katherine M Kiefer and Susan B. Matheson, Life in an Eastern Province: The Roman Fortress at Dura-Europos, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1982), no. 15. Lucinda Dirven, The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos: A Study of Religious Interaction in Roman Syria (Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1999), 186, 316318, pl. 14. Lisa R. Brody and Gail Hoffman, eds., Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity (Boston: McMullen Museum of Art, 2011), 213, fig. 12.5. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/34186

Tyche Bottle 2nd-3rd century A.D. Transparent light purple glass with traces of yellow 16.51 x 4.445 x 5.715 cm (6 1/2 x 1 3/4 x 2 1/4 in.) Hobart and Edward Small Moore Memorial Collection, Bequest of Mrs. William H. Moore 1955.6.81 Culture: Roman, Eastern Mediterranean Period: Roman, 2nd-3rd century A.D. Classification: Containers - Glass Bibliography: Susan B. Matheson, Ancient Glass in the Yale University Art Gallery (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1980), 10203, no. 276, ill. “Catalogue of the Exhibition ‘An Obsession with Fortune: Tyche in Greek and Roman Art’,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1994): 115, no. 49, fig. 31. Mark D. Stansbury-O’Donnell, “Reflections of the Tyche of Antioch in Literary Sources and on Coins,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1994): 54, no. 49, fig. 31. Axel von Saldern, Antikes Glas (Munich: Verlag C. H. Beck, 2004), 292. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/52779

Roman copy of an original by: Eutychides, Greek, active ca. 295 BC Tyche of Antioch ca. 1st-2nd century A.D. Bronze, hollow cast; originally inlaid with silver at eyes; base cast separately and attached 15 x 8.4 x 7.7 cm (5 7/8 x 3 5/16 x 3 1/16 in.) Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Class of 1913, Fund 1986.65.1 This bronze statuette of the Roman period is modeled on one of the most influential statues of antiquity—the Tyche of Antioch by Eutychides, created in about 300 B.C. Tyche, the personification of Fortune, was held in great esteem in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Cities throughout the Graeco-Roman world attempted to improve their own fortunes by celebrating Tyche as a civic deity. Tyche is usually represented in art as a female figure, wearing a mural crown. Sometimes identifying attributes, such as landscape features, were incorporated into a particular city’s image of Tyche. Judging by surviving copies, Eutychides’s Tyche of Antioch was shown seated on a rock, with a personification of the river Orontes at her feet. It is unclear whether Yale’s statuette originally included the figure of Orontes. Culture: Roman, after a Greek original Classification: Sculpture Bibliography: Handbook of the Collections, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 266, ill. “Catalogue of the Exhibition ‘An Obsession with Fortune: Tyche in Greek and Roman Art’,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1994): 108, no. 2. Mark D. Stansbury-O’Donnell, “Reflections of the Tyche of Antioch in Literary Sources and on Coins,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1994): 54, no. 2, fig. 31. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/7257

Roman copy of an original by: Eutychides, Greek, active ca. 295 BC Tyche of Antioch ca. 1st-2nd century A.D. Bronze, hollow cast; originally inlaid with silver at eyes; base cast separately and attached 15 x 8.4 x 7.7 cm (5 7/8 x 3 5/16 x 3 1/16 in.) Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Class of 1913, Fund 1986.65.1 This bronze statuette of the Roman period is modeled on one of the most influential statues of antiquity—the Tyche of Antioch by Eutychides, created in about 300 B.C. Tyche, the personification of Fortune, was held in great esteem in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Cities throughout the Graeco-Roman world attempted to improve their own fortunes by celebrating Tyche as a civic deity. Tyche is usually represented in art as a female figure, wearing a mural crown. Sometimes identifying attributes, such as landscape features, were incorporated into a particular city’s image of Tyche. Judging by surviving copies, Eutychides’s Tyche of Antioch was shown seated on a rock, with a personification of the river Orontes at her feet. It is unclear whether Yale’s statuette originally included the figure of Orontes. Culture: Roman, after a Greek original Classification: Sculpture Bibliography: Handbook of the Collections, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 266, ill. “Catalogue of the Exhibition ‘An Obsession with Fortune: Tyche in Greek and Roman Art’,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1994): 108, no. 2. Mark D. Stansbury-O’Donnell, “Reflections of the Tyche of Antioch in Literary Sources and on Coins,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1994): 54, no. 2, fig. 31. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/7257

Roman copy of an original by: Eutychides, Greek, active ca. 295 BC Tyche of Antioch ca. 1st-2nd century A.D. Bronze, hollow cast; originally inlaid with silver at eyes; base cast separately and attached 15 x 8.4 x 7.7 cm (5 7/8 x 3 5/16 x 3 1/16 in.) Leonard C. Hanna, Jr., Class of 1913, Fund 1986.65.1 This bronze statuette of the Roman period is modeled on one of the most influential statues of antiquity—the Tyche of Antioch by Eutychides, created in about 300 B.C. Tyche, the personification of Fortune, was held in great esteem in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. Cities throughout the Graeco-Roman world attempted to improve their own fortunes by celebrating Tyche as a civic deity. Tyche is usually represented in art as a female figure, wearing a mural crown. Sometimes identifying attributes, such as landscape features, were incorporated into a particular city’s image of Tyche. Judging by surviving copies, Eutychides’s Tyche of Antioch was shown seated on a rock, with a personification of the river Orontes at her feet. It is unclear whether Yale’s statuette originally included the figure of Orontes. Culture: Roman, after a Greek original Classification: Sculpture Bibliography: Handbook of the Collections, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 266, ill. “Catalogue of the Exhibition ‘An Obsession with Fortune: Tyche in Greek and Roman Art’,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1994): 108, no. 2. Mark D. Stansbury-O’Donnell, “Reflections of the Tyche of Antioch in Literary Sources and on Coins,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1994): 54, no. 2, fig. 31. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/7257

Head and Bust of [probably] Empress Julia Domna ca. A.D. 190-256 Limestone Object (A: Head): 27 x 18.3 x 15 cm (10 5/8 x 7 3/16 x 5 7/8 in.) Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos, 1929-1930 1930.320 Culture: Dura-Europos (Syria) Period: Roman, late 2nd or 3rd century A.D. Classification: Sculpture Bibliography: Ann Perkins, The Art of Dura-Europos, 1st ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973), 111113, pl. 51, ill. Susan B. Downey, The Excavations at Dura-Europos, Final Report III (Los Angeles: Institute of Archaeology, University of California Los Angeles, 1977), 1034, no. 94, pl.25, fig. 94. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/77482

Head and Bust of [probably] Empress Julia Domna ca. A.D. 190-256 Limestone Object (A: Head): 27 x 18.3 x 15 cm (10 5/8 x 7 3/16 x 5 7/8 in.) Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos, 1929-1930 1930.320 Culture: Dura-Europos (Syria) Period: Roman, late 2nd or 3rd century A.D. Classification: Sculpture Bibliography: Ann Perkins, The Art of Dura-Europos, 1st ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973), 111113, pl. 51, ill. Susan B. Downey, The Excavations at Dura-Europos, Final Report III (Los Angeles: Institute of Archaeology, University of California Los Angeles, 1977), 1034, no. 94, pl.25, fig. 94. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/77482

Stele with Portrait of a Boy 3rd century A.D. Limestone 78.7 x 39.3 x 9.5 cm (31 x 15 1/2 x 3 3/4 in.) Gift of Ambasador and Mrs. William L. Eagleton, Jr., B.A. 1948 1985.61.1 This fragmentary limestone stele from the Roman province of Africa (modern Tunisia) preserves most of two (probably of three) registers of relief carving. In the center of the narrow upper register, the seated female figure, exposing her breast to nurse a baby on her lap, is Caelestis, the Romanized version of the principal goddess of the region, here conflated with the fertility goddess Dea Nutrix. To her right, a clothed attendant stands supporting a basket on her head and a bucket in her right hand, while to her left a nude woman strikes a pose evocative of the goddess Venus. In the larger zone below, beneath a scalloped niche, the figure of a standing boy survives from the knees up. Facing forward, he wears the toga and bulla—customary attire for a Roman child. He holds a sacrificial bowl by his side in his left hand, while under his (missing) right hand a second bowl rests atop an altar. Since the boy is shown in the act of making sacrifice, this stele may have served as a votive monument, though a funerary function is also possible. Culture: Roman, Tunisian Period: Roman, 3rd century A.D. Classification: Sculpture Bibliography: “Acquisitions 19851987,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin 40, no. 2 (Spring 1988): 60. Eric R. Varner, “Two Portrait Stelae and the Romanization of North Africa,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1990): 1019, fig. 2. Handbook of the Collections, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 267, ill. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/7220

Stele with Portrait of a Boy 3rd century A.D. Limestone 78.7 x 39.3 x 9.5 cm (31 x 15 1/2 x 3 3/4 in.) Gift of Ambasador and Mrs. William L. Eagleton, Jr., B.A. 1948 1985.61.1 This fragmentary limestone stele from the Roman province of Africa (modern Tunisia) preserves most of two (probably of three) registers of relief carving. In the center of the narrow upper register, the seated female figure, exposing her breast to nurse a baby on her lap, is Caelestis, the Romanized version of the principal goddess of the region, here conflated with the fertility goddess Dea Nutrix. To her right, a clothed attendant stands supporting a basket on her head and a bucket in her right hand, while to her left a nude woman strikes a pose evocative of the goddess Venus. In the larger zone below, beneath a scalloped niche, the figure of a standing boy survives from the knees up. Facing forward, he wears the toga and bulla—customary attire for a Roman child. He holds a sacrificial bowl by his side in his left hand, while under his (missing) right hand a second bowl rests atop an altar. Since the boy is shown in the act of making sacrifice, this stele may have served as a votive monument, though a funerary function is also possible. Culture: Roman, Tunisian Period: Roman, 3rd century A.D. Classification: Sculpture Bibliography: “Acquisitions 19851987,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin 40, no. 2 (Spring 1988): 60. Eric R. Varner, “Two Portrait Stelae and the Romanization of North Africa,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1990): 1019, fig. 2. Handbook of the Collections, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 267, ill. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/7220

Relief of Aphrodite in a niche ca. 200-256 A.D. Limestone Object: 52 x 27 x 7 cm (20 1/2 x 10 5/8 x 2 3/4 in.) Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos 1935.43 Culture: Dura-Europos (Syria) Period: Graeco-Roman or Parthian Classification:Sculpture Bibliography: Ann Perkins, The Art of Dura-Europos, 1st ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973), 103, pl. 43, ill. Susan B. Downey, The Excavations at Dura-Europos, Final Report III (Los Angeles: Institute of Archaeology, University of California Los Angeles, 1977), 401, 153169, no. 21, pl.7, fig. 21. Lisa R. Brody and Gail Hoffman, eds., Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity (Boston: McMullen Museum of Art, 2011), 367, no. 66, pl. 66. Jennifer Chi and Sebastian Heath, eds., Edge of Empires: Pagans, Jews, and Christians at Roman Dura-Europos, exh. cat. (New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 2011), 52, no. 38, fig. 221. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/6831

Relief of Aphrodite in a niche ca. 200-256 A.D. Limestone Object: 52 x 27 x 7 cm (20 1/2 x 10 5/8 x 2 3/4 in.) Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos 1935.43 Culture: Dura-Europos (Syria) Period: Graeco-Roman or Parthian Classification:Sculpture Bibliography: Ann Perkins, The Art of Dura-Europos, 1st ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973), 103, pl. 43, ill. Susan B. Downey, The Excavations at Dura-Europos, Final Report III (Los Angeles: Institute of Archaeology, University of California Los Angeles, 1977), 401, 153169, no. 21, pl.7, fig. 21. Lisa R. Brody and Gail Hoffman, eds., Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity (Boston: McMullen Museum of Art, 2011), 367, no. 66, pl. 66. Jennifer Chi and Sebastian Heath, eds., Edge of Empires: Pagans, Jews, and Christians at Roman Dura-Europos, exh. cat. (New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 2011), 52, no. 38, fig. 221. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/6831

Cult relief of the Gad (Fortune) of Dura, from the Temple of the Gadde 159 A.D. Palmyrene limestone 46 x 61.6 x 16.5 cm (18 1/8 x 24 1/4 x 6 1/2 in.) Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos 1938.5314 Culture: Syrian, Dura-Europos Period: Roman, 2nd century A.D. Classification: Sculpture Bibliography: Otto Eissfeldt, Tempel und kulte syrischer Städte in hellenistisch-römischer Zeit (Leipzig, Germany: J. C. Hinrichs, 1941), 126–27, 138, pl. 12, fig. 1. Helmut Theodor Bossert, Altsyrien: Kunst und Handwerk in Cypern, Syrien, Palästina, Transjordanien, und Arabien von den Anfängen bis zum völligen Aufgehen in der grieschisch-römischen Kultur (Tübingen, Germany: Wasmuth, 1951), 39, fig. 562. Ann Perkins, The Art of Dura-Europos, 1st ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973), 79–84, pl. 33, ill. Susan B. Downey, The Excavations at Dura-Europos, Final Report III (Los Angeles: Insititue of Archaeology, University of California Los Angeles, 1977), 14–17, 19, 203, 208–210, no. 4, pl. 3, fig. 4. Clark Hopkins, The Discovery of Dura-Europos, ed. Bernard Goldman (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1979), 220–221, ill. Christa Bauchenss-Thüriedl, Erika Simon, and Ingrid Krauskopf, Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, 8 vols. (Zurich: Artemis, 1981–97), vol. 3, p. 76, no. 4; vol. 3, p. 668, no. 2, pl. 531. Handbook of the Collections, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 271, ill. Jerome J. Pollitt, “An Obsession with Fortune,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1994): 27, no. 34, fig. 11. “Catalogue of the Exhibition ‘An Obsession with Fortune: Tyche in Greek and Roman Art’,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1994): 113, no. 34. Lucinda Dirven, The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos: A Study of Religious Interaction in Roman Syria (Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1999), 100–102, 230–231, 245–47, pl. 3. Lisa R. Brody and Gail Hoffman, eds., Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity (Boston: McMullen Museum of Art, 2011), 321, no. 1, pl. 1. Jennifer Chi and Sebastian Heath, eds., Edge of Empires: Pagans, Jews, and Christians at Roman Dura-Europos, exh. cat. (New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 2011), 79, no. 2, fig. 4.2. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/25209

Cult relief of the Gad (Fortune) of Dura, from the Temple of the Gadde 159 A.D. Palmyrene limestone 46 x 61.6 x 16.5 cm (18 1/8 x 24 1/4 x 6 1/2 in.) Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos 1938.5314 Culture: Syrian, Dura-Europos Period: Roman, 2nd century A.D. Classification: Sculpture Bibliography: Otto Eissfeldt, Tempel und kulte syrischer Städte in hellenistisch-römischer Zeit (Leipzig, Germany: J. C. Hinrichs, 1941), 126–27, 138, pl. 12, fig. 1. Helmut Theodor Bossert, Altsyrien: Kunst und Handwerk in Cypern, Syrien, Palästina, Transjordanien, und Arabien von den Anfängen bis zum völligen Aufgehen in der grieschisch-römischen Kultur (Tübingen, Germany: Wasmuth, 1951), 39, fig. 562. Ann Perkins, The Art of Dura-Europos, 1st ed. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1973), 79–84, pl. 33, ill. Susan B. Downey, The Excavations at Dura-Europos, Final Report III (Los Angeles: Insititue of Archaeology, University of California Los Angeles, 1977), 14–17, 19, 203, 208–210, no. 4, pl. 3, fig. 4. Clark Hopkins, The Discovery of Dura-Europos, ed. Bernard Goldman (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1979), 220–221, ill. Christa Bauchenss-Thüriedl, Erika Simon, and Ingrid Krauskopf, Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae, 8 vols. (Zurich: Artemis, 1981–97), vol. 3, p. 76, no. 4; vol. 3, p. 668, no. 2, pl. 531. Handbook of the Collections, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 271, ill. Jerome J. Pollitt, “An Obsession with Fortune,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1994): 27, no. 34, fig. 11. “Catalogue of the Exhibition ‘An Obsession with Fortune: Tyche in Greek and Roman Art’,” Yale University Art Gallery Bulletin (1994): 113, no. 34. Lucinda Dirven, The Palmyrenes of Dura-Europos: A Study of Religious Interaction in Roman Syria (Leiden, Netherlands: E. J. Brill, 1999), 100–102, 230–231, 245–47, pl. 3. Lisa R. Brody and Gail Hoffman, eds., Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity (Boston: McMullen Museum of Art, 2011), 321, no. 1, pl. 1. Jennifer Chi and Sebastian Heath, eds., Edge of Empires: Pagans, Jews, and Christians at Roman Dura-Europos, exh. cat. (New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 2011), 79, no. 2, fig. 4.2. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/25209

Scutum (Shield) mid-3rd century A.D. Painted wood and rawhide 105.5 × 41 × 30 cm (41 9/16 × 16 1/8 × 11 13/16 in.) Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos 1933.715 This is the only known surviving example of the semicylindrical shield known as a scutum, used by Roman legionaries and known from literary sources. Found flattened, in thirteen pieces, and missing its umbo (central boss), the shield was reconstructed by the Yale-French excavation team. The painted decoration reflects Roman iconography of victory, including an eagle with a laurel wreath, winged Victories, and a lion. Culture: Syrian, Dura-Europos Period: Roman Classification: Arms and Armor Provenance: Excavated by the Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos (Tower 19), present-day Syria, 1928–37; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn. Bibliography: Michael I. Rostovtzeff, Dura-Europos and Its Art, 1st (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1938), 4, pl. 3:1, ill. Clark Hopkins, The Discovery of Dura-Europos, ed. Bernard Goldman (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1979), 187, ill. Alan Shestack, ed., Yale University Art Gallery Selections (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1983), 16–17, ill. Handbook of the Collections, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 273, ill. Simon T. James, The Excavations at Dura-Europos,1928 to 1937: Final Report VII, 7 (London: The British Museum Press, 2004), xxix 182–83, no. 629, pl. 10, fig. 106, 107. Lisa R. Brody and Gail Hoffman, eds., Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity (Boston: McMullen Museum of Art, 2011), 325, pl. 5, fig. 2.2, 2.5. Jennifer Chi and Sebastian Heath, eds., Edge of Empires: Pagans, Jews, and Christians at Roman Dura-Europos, exh. cat. (New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 2011), 40, 56, no. 5, ill. cover detail , fig. 2–30. Simon T. James, Rome and the Sword: How Warriors and Weapons Shaped Roman Histoy (London: Thames and Hudson, 2011), 136, ill. Blair Fowlkes-Childs and Michael Seymour, The World Between Empires: Art and Identity in the Ancient Middle East, exh. cat. (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019), 188, no. 133. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/5959

Scutum (Shield) mid-3rd century A.D. Painted wood and rawhide 105.5 × 41 × 30 cm (41 9/16 × 16 1/8 × 11 13/16 in.) Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos 1933.715 This is the only known surviving example of the semicylindrical shield known as a scutum, used by Roman legionaries and known from literary sources. Found flattened, in thirteen pieces, and missing its umbo (central boss), the shield was reconstructed by the Yale-French excavation team. The painted decoration reflects Roman iconography of victory, including an eagle with a laurel wreath, winged Victories, and a lion. Culture: Syrian, Dura-Europos Period: Roman Classification: Arms and Armor Provenance: Excavated by the Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos (Tower 19), present-day Syria, 1928–37; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn. Bibliography: Michael I. Rostovtzeff, Dura-Europos and Its Art, 1st (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1938), 4, pl. 3:1, ill. Clark Hopkins, The Discovery of Dura-Europos, ed. Bernard Goldman (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1979), 187, ill. Alan Shestack, ed., Yale University Art Gallery Selections (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1983), 16–17, ill. Handbook of the Collections, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 273, ill. Simon T. James, The Excavations at Dura-Europos,1928 to 1937: Final Report VII, 7 (London: The British Museum Press, 2004), xxix 182–83, no. 629, pl. 10, fig. 106, 107. Lisa R. Brody and Gail Hoffman, eds., Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity (Boston: McMullen Museum of Art, 2011), 325, pl. 5, fig. 2.2, 2.5. Jennifer Chi and Sebastian Heath, eds., Edge of Empires: Pagans, Jews, and Christians at Roman Dura-Europos, exh. cat. (New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 2011), 40, 56, no. 5, ill. cover detail , fig. 2–30. Simon T. James, Rome and the Sword: How Warriors and Weapons Shaped Roman Histoy (London: Thames and Hudson, 2011), 136, ill. Blair Fowlkes-Childs and Michael Seymour, The World Between Empires: Art and Identity in the Ancient Middle East, exh. cat. (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019), 188, no. 133. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/5959

Scutum (Shield) mid-3rd century A.D. Painted wood and rawhide 105.5 × 41 × 30 cm (41 9/16 × 16 1/8 × 11 13/16 in.) Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos 1933.715 This is the only known surviving example of the semicylindrical shield known as a scutum, used by Roman legionaries and known from literary sources. Found flattened, in thirteen pieces, and missing its umbo (central boss), the shield was reconstructed by the Yale-French excavation team. The painted decoration reflects Roman iconography of victory, including an eagle with a laurel wreath, winged Victories, and a lion. Culture: Syrian, Dura-Europos Period: Roman Classification: Arms and Armor Provenance: Excavated by the Yale-French Excavations at Dura-Europos (Tower 19), present-day Syria, 1928–37; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, Conn. Bibliography: Michael I. Rostovtzeff, Dura-Europos and Its Art, 1st (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1938), 4, pl. 3:1, ill. Clark Hopkins, The Discovery of Dura-Europos, ed. Bernard Goldman (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1979), 187, ill. Alan Shestack, ed., Yale University Art Gallery Selections (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1983), 16–17, ill. Handbook of the Collections, exh. cat. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1992), 273, ill. Simon T. James, The Excavations at Dura-Europos,1928 to 1937: Final Report VII, 7 (London: The British Museum Press, 2004), xxix 182–83, no. 629, pl. 10, fig. 106, 107. Lisa R. Brody and Gail Hoffman, eds., Dura-Europos: Crossroads of Antiquity (Boston: McMullen Museum of Art, 2011), 325, pl. 5, fig. 2.2, 2.5. Jennifer Chi and Sebastian Heath, eds., Edge of Empires: Pagans, Jews, and Christians at Roman Dura-Europos, exh. cat. (New York: Institute for the Study of the Ancient World, 2011), 40, 56, no. 5, ill. cover detail , fig. 2–30. Simon T. James, Rome and the Sword: How Warriors and Weapons Shaped Roman Histoy (London: Thames and Hudson, 2011), 136, ill. Blair Fowlkes-Childs and Michael Seymour, The World Between Empires: Art and Identity in the Ancient Middle East, exh. cat. (New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2019), 188, no. 133. Text from: artgallery.yale.edu/collections/objects/5959