TOR PATERNO - WORKS OF ART

Works of art were found especially in the area of the baths of Filippo Neri. In 1777-1780 an owner of Castelfusano, Prince Sigismondo Chigi, got permission from his neighbour, the Baron del Nero of Castelporziano, to excavate at Tor Paterno. Carlo Fea lists many finds from these "scavi Chigi" (Fea 1836, 213-226). He speaks of the "Cava a Porcigliano" or "Cava di Torre Paterno". Finds are also mentioned by Giuseppe Antonio Guattani in the Monumenti antichi inediti (Lanciani 1903 says: volume I, nrs. 14, 15, 34, 60, 62; volume II, nr. 7). In 1783 Pope Pius VI ordered more excavations at Tor Paterno, again leading to finds of marble objects.

The list is impressive, consisting of portraits, statues, columns, capitals, marble vases, reliefs and paintings, furthermore small finds, such as coins and cameos, and a vast quantity of lead (obviously water pipes). We are told of portraits of Hadrian, Lucius Aelius, Antoninus Pius and his wife Faustina, Philippus Arabs, Minerva or Roma, and Homer, statues of Diana, Apollo, and Muses, the so-called Chigi relief of Alexander the Great (representing the battle of Gaugamela in 331 BC, Europa and Asia, with Greek inscriptions). Ennio Quirino Visconti added some comments to the list of Fea. He says that some of the objects are "in Campidoglio" (the Capitoline Museums), while others are still with the Chigi family. The Laurentine Shore Project mentions two imperial heads in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.

It would be quite a challenge to trace these objects. Unfortunately the study of these "excavations" and related trade by the late Ilaria Bignamini has not been published (it should appear in the volume Castelporziano IV). See however her review of a catalogue of sculptures in the Journal of Hellenic Studies 118 (1998), 198-204 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/632245). Below are photos and drawings of some of the objects.

Statue of Apollo ("Apollo Chigi").
Museo Nazionale Romano (Palazzo Massimo alle Terme), inv. 75675.
Photo: Wikimedia.

Head of Athena. From Tor Paterno.
Musei Vaticani, inv. 197.
Photo: ancient.eu.

Bust of Vespasianus. From Castel Porziano.
Museo Nazionale Romano, inv. 38795.
Photo: DAI / Arachne.

Bust of Faustina the Elder, wife of Antoninus Pius. From Laurentum.
Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto.
Photo: Wikimedia.

Bust of Philippus Arabs (Emperor 244-249 AD). From Castelporziano.
Musei Vaticani (Museo Chiaramonti - Braccio Nuovo), inv. 2216.
Photo: Wikimedia.

The Chigi crater. From Porcigliano (Tor Paterno).
Palazzo Chigi Ariccia, Sala da pranzo d'estate.
Photo: palazzochigiariccia.com/sala-da-pranzo-destate.

Bust of Didia Clara. From Porcigliano.
Image: Guattanni, Monumenti antichi inediti.

The Chigi relief. Palazzo Chigi, Rome.
Image: Wikimedia.

Marble sundial. From Tor Paterno. H. 48.4 cm, w. 36.5 cm, d. 28.8 cm.
Sir John Soane's Museum, London, M1254. Image: Alain Truong (with provenance).

Two "Celtic hounds".
From the collection of Thomas Hope. Excavated in 1795-1796 at Tor Paterno.
C.M. Westmacott, British galleries of painting and sculpture, London 1824.
Sold at a Bonhams auction to a private person in the UK, 3 July 2019, lot 151.
Photo: gov.uk.