Ara Pacis Augustae

Side with Augustus
original south side

Scrolling Acanthus Frieze
Swans

The engraving reproduced at left below is valuable proof that portions of the Ara Pacis reliefs had been discovered and appreciated by 1535 (though not yet associated with the Ara Pacis Augustae). This engraving is especially valuable in depicting in careful detail an important missing section of the monument, possibly one entire slab. If so, the slab is cut along its left side in nearly the same position as the corresponding slab on the north side, not where indicated in Moretti's Plate 10 in the image below.

Swans: Throughout the scrolling acanthus friezes on the 2 fronts and 2 sides of the enclosing precinct wall, swans rhymically punctuate the design. There were originally 20 swans, 2 on each of the scrolling acanthus panels flanking the 2 front doorways, and 6 on each of the scrolling acanthus friezes on the 2 sides.

"Poised on the apex of each [tendril] is a swan with extended wings. The birds appear weightless like blossoms, and their twisted necks, turned towards each other, are analogous with the convolutions of the volutes. It is seldom in visual art that animals and plants are so closly related. In contrast to the apparent aimlessness of the creatures crawling in the depth, the swans are participating in the dynamic growth, the effortless symmetry of this miraculous plant. They also emphasize its growth toward the light. The volutes too become increasingly lighter and more delicate with height. Finally, they bear half-palmettes, which follow the movement of the swans" (Simon, 1968, p.12).

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Because the central section of the south side scrolling acanthus frieze is largely missing (see Plate 10 below), and because this image approximates the overall design of the original scrolling acanthus frieze on the north side, and because of this artist's normal practice of careful documentation, this print is almost certainly a reasonably accurate depiction of this original portion of the south side frieze.

Agostino dei Musi, called Veneziano.
Panel of Ornament with Acanthus and a Swan, cica 1530-1535. Engraving: sheet 33.4 cm x
22 cm. (13 1/8 in. x 8 11/16 in.).
Blanton Museum of Art, The University of Texas at Austin, Archer M. Huntngton Museum Fund, by exchange, 1999.43. Image courtesy of the Blanton Museum of Art.
A high quality zoomable image is available on the Blanton Musuem website.

Central section of the scrolling acanthus frieze. As seen in the print below, very little of the original marble in the central section has survived. As reconstructed in 1938 and seen today, this central section is largely a cast from the central section of the original north side frieze.

photo Oct. 2008

Looking from the Public Approach Front along the south side with Augustus toward the Ceremonial Front.
The scrolling acanthus frieze is taller than the processional frieze.

photo Oct. 2008

"Plate 12 - Figurative and floral frieze on the south side".

Photographs of the friezes on the original south side with Augsutus, as reconstructed in 1938.

Scanned from Giuseppe Moretti, L'Ara Pacis Augustae; Rome, 2005 (1st ed. 1948), vol.2, pl.12. Courtesy of the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Rome. Reproduced with appreciation.

"Plate 10 - Original parts of the floral frieze north and south".
Inscribed "in. lonserini".
South frieze is at the bottom of this print.
This important print indentifies the original portions of the original north and south side scrolling acanthus friezes, as incorporated in the 1938 reconstruction. Missing portions were recreated primarily with casts from the opposite frieze, but also with consistent newly carved areas.

Scanned from Giuseppe Moretti, L'Ara Pacis Augustae; Rome, 2005 (1st ed. 1948), vol.2, pl.10; inscribed "m. bonserini".
Courtesy of the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato, Rome.
Reproduced with appreciation.