Sculpture

Caution is advised in assigning sculpture, like inscriptions, to Centumcellae, even if an object was found in or has been assigned to Civitavecchia, or is displayed in the local museum. Many objects from nearby cities ended up here somehow.

In 1834 a bronze arm was found in the inner harbour, together with what must be a trident and the tail of a dolphin. They were part of a colossal statue of Neptune.

Remains of the statue of Neptune.
Vatican, Museo Gregoriano Etrusco. Arachne 20619.
Image: civitavecchia.portmobility.it. Cf. Annovazzi 1853, 94 with fig.

During construction work on the Palazzo Alibrandi-Valentini on Largo Cavour a statue of Mercurius was found, a copy from the 2nd century AD of an original from the middle of the 4th century BC (the head on the statue does not belong to it).

The statue of Mercurius.
Vatican, Museo Pio Clementino. Arachne 21153.
Photo: Arachne.

In 1993 an emergency excavation took place in the centre of Civitavecchia, near the Museo Nazionale, on Largo del Plebiscito. Three marble busts were found that had apparently already emerged during the hasty reconstruction of the city in the 1940's, following the bombing of 1943, and were then buried below the road with modern rubble. The head of one bust is lost, the other two have portraits of Marcus Aurelius and Septimius Severus. They are specimens of types created in 161 and 197-198 AD.

Left. Portrait of Marcus Aurelius in the museum of Civitavecchia. Photo: civitavecchia.portmobility.it. Top. Portrait of Septimius Severus in the museum of Civitavecchia. Photo: Caruso 2001, fig. 4.

---