Boscoreale Treasure

Boscoreale Treasure

Mirror from the Boscoreale Treasure as displayed in the Louvre
Material	Silver
Created	1st Century AD (mostly)
Present location	Louvre, Paris and British Museum, London

The Boscoreale Treasure is the name for a large collection of luxury Roman objects discovered in the ruins of an ancient villa at Boscoreale, near Pompeii, southern Italy. Consisting of over a hundred pieces of silverware, as well as gold coins and jewellery, it is now mostly kept at the Louvre Museum in Paris, although parts of the hoard can also be found at the British Museum.^[1]

History

Located northwest of Pompeii, Boscoreale was the location of an important Roman villa that was destroyed and buried by volcanic ash following the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. In 1895, the remains of a vaulted box containing the treasure was discovered in the wine-pressing room of the villa, next to the body of a woman. 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 illicitly spirited out of Italy and was later purchased by Edmond de Rothschild, who donated it to the Louvre Museum in 1896.

Description

The treasure consists of 109 pieces of silverware, as well as gold jewellery (necklaces, bracelets and earrings) and over 1000 gold coins. Items from the hoard vary in date from 4th Century BC to 1st Century AD. Many of the silver items from the treasure are considered masterpieces of Roman art that could only have belonged to the very elite sections of society. A few objects also seem to be family heirlooms passed down the generations. Parts of the hoard are inscribed with the names of 'Max' and 'Maxi' who were perhaps the original owners. Some of the most well-known items in the treasure include:

• Skyphos cup of Augustus receiving the submission of the barbarians.
• Skyphos cup showing the Triumph of Tiberius and the sacrifice of a bull.
• Two silver cups decorated with skeletons^[2]
• Pair of kantharoi with squatting boar in relief
• Pair of dishes with relief medallions of the busts of a man and women (although only the bust of the latter survives)^[3]
• Plate with the central medallion showing the personification of Africa^[4]
• Mirror handle representing Leda and the swan^[5]
• Oenochoe of a goddess sacrificing a bull
• Stemless silver cup with gilded central boss and bands of lotus leaves dating from 300 BC^[6]

See also

• Berthouville Treasure
• Hildesheim Treasure

Gallery

• 

  Silver Oenochoe from the treasure on display at the Louvre

• 

  Skyphos with seated Augustus receiving vanquished barbarians

• 

  Skyphos with the Emperor Tiberius's triumph

• 

  Detail of the personification of Africa

• 

  Handle with image of a child's face from an oenochoe

• 

  Female bust from the silver plate (British Museum)

Bibliography

• D. Strong, Greek and Roman Silver Plate (British Museum Press, 1966)
• S. Walker, Roman Art (British Museum Press, 1991)
• L'argenterie et bijoux d'or du trésor de Boscoreale : description des pièces conservées au Musée du Louvre - Paris, Leroux éditeur, 1903
• Fr. Baratte, Le trésor d’orfèvrerie romaine de Boscoreale, Paris, Réunion des musées nationaux, 1986, p. 35, 65-67 et 91
• G. Richter, Portraits of the Greeks, Londron, 1965, I, p. 67, 132 et 138
• A. Héron de Villefosse, « Le trésor de Boscoreale », Monuments et Mémoires, Fondation Piot, 5, 1899, p. 58-68, n° 7-8

References