Sacrificial Altar
Back - original east face
We view the back face of the sacrificial altar through the doorway of the public approach front of the Ara Pacis, which faced the Via Flaminia, the main avenue on which the monument fronted. We may be sure that these surfaces were covered with important figural reliefs. Many scholars accept the type of suggested reconstruction in Kähler's drawing below.
TO ZOOM IN ON THE LARGE IMAGES, USE THE BUTTONS AT TOP-LEFT.
Tips for using this website
"Fig. 2 The Eastfront of the Ara Pacis". Through comparison of the sizes of broken fragments, Kähler was able to suggest the size of friezes originally on this public face (original east) of the altar. Scanned from Heinz Kähler, "Die Front der Ara Pacis", Neue Beiträge zur Klassischen Altertumswissenschaft, ed. Reinhard Lullies; Stuttgart, 1954, fig.2. Reproduced with appreciation.
|
Blank surfaces of sacrificial altar, seen within surrounding precinct wall, thought originally to have been covered in figures, as in the reconstructions in the drawings at left and right. photo Oct. 2008
|
Suggested identification of figures on the public facade (original east) of the Ara Pacis and surfaces of sacrificial altar seen through doorway: Frieze, Sacral-landscape, Apollo, Sea, Personifications of Auspicious Conditions and Virtues. Scanned from Erika Simon, Augustus: Kunst und Leben in Rom um der Zeitenwende; Munich, 1987, p.32 top. Courtesy Hirmer Verlag, München. Reproduced with appreciation.
|
Lion-griffin supporting leafed scroll, with small relief of figure moving right. photo May 2010 |
View through doorway of original east front. In the reconstructioin of the sacrificial altar, only some of these surfaces have been roughened to indicate that they were originally carved. photo May 2010
|
Lion-griffin supporting leafed scroll, with small relief of standing figure, head turned to the left. photo May 2010 |
Lion-griffin with open maw, leafed scroll above. photo May 2010 |
 "Plate 7 - Cross section of the reconstructed monument" Scanned from Giiuseppe Moretti, L'Ara Pacis Augustae; Rome, 2005 (1st ed. 1948), vol.2, pl.7, with appreciation.
|
Lion-griffin with open maw, leafed scroll above. photo Oct. 2008
|
1 of only 2 surviving figures from the "back", original east face, both wearing togas, this one moving to the right. photo Oct. 2008
|
1 of only 2 surviving figures from the "back", original east face, both wearing togas, this one erect, head turned to the left. photo Oct. 2008 |
Looking into the open maw of the lion-griffin, leafed scroll above, figure at left. photo Oct. 2008
|