The model of the Forum of Augustus in the Iberian peninsula
The central niche of the exedra in the northern section of the Forum was home to a group of sculptures featuring Aeneas as he flees from Troy, saving not only his father Anchises and his young son Ascanius, founder of the gens Iulia (the Julian dynasty) but also the Lares and Penates, the statues of the household gods of Troy, which he took to Rome. It was Romulus who featured in the southern exedra however, to whom Augustus, as the new founder of the city and its empire, looked to for inspiration.
Sadly few of the many relics from the Forum, still safeguarded in the Museum's store-rooms, appear to come from either of these groups, although luckily, there are some exceptional pieces found during excavations in the old Hispanic provinces that have helped determine how they looked. In fact, the statuary from the Forum of Augustus in Rome provided “models” that were exported to other cities in the Empire, the Iberian peninsula in particular, where entire monumental complexes inspired by the Capital began to appear, although the need to feature other figures more appropriate to their location, meant that inevitably there were some differences.
A reconstruction of the group statue featuring Aeneas was possible however, as it also appeared in the “Marble Forum” in Mérida, (Spain), the ancient city of Emerita Augusta, capital of the Roman province of Lusitania, using moulds of pieces preserved in the city's Museum of Roman Art and the National Archaeological Museum in Madrid. Another mould, donated by Cordoba's City Council is also exhibited in this room. Part of the statuary from the Forum in Cordoba (capital of the Roman province of Betica) and donated by the City council there, it features a man wearing Roman body armour (lorica).
Reconstruction of the group sculpture featuring Aeneas, Anchises and Ascanius made from resin moulds taken from original pieces found in the Marble Forum in Mérida, Spain.
Moulds:
- Mould of Anchises draped head and arm, a piece from the group sculpture
Taken from the original held by the National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida
(inv. MNAR 33675 & MNAR 34597 )
FA2489
- Mould of Aeneas' pelvis, a piece from the group sculpture
Taken from the original held by the National Museum of Roman Art in Mérida
(inv. MNAR 33676)
FA 2490
- Mould of the statue of Ascanius
Taken from the original held by the National Museum of Roman Art in Madrid
(inv. MAN 34432)
FA 2488
