The Cancelleria Reliefs

Text and photos by Bill Storage and Laura Maish

The Cancelleria Reliefs,  found under the Palazzo della Cancelleria in Rome in the late 1930s and now in the Vatican Museum, are a fine example of imperial Roman propaganda art. The setting where they were discovered indicates that they had been discarded in the late first century. Whether these works were ever publicly displayed is unknown; an argument against it is that there is no evidence that they have been painted. Both reliefs display a “classicizing” style, an obvious contrast to other art of the same period such as that on the Arch of Titus.

There are two large reliefs, each consisting of several panels. The larger of the two is almost completely intact, sometimes called Frieze A (below). While there is some disagreement on the exact event depicted here, most agree that it reflects Domitian’s departure (or profectio) for the war with Sarmatia in 92 AD. The fact that emperor Nerva, not emperor Domitian, is the central figure in the frieze will be discussed later.

Cancelleria Reliefs Frieze A

The figure at the left end of this relief is a lictor (fig. 7). Victory’s left wing is visible above above his head. The lictor carries a fasces in his left hand, an axe bound to a bundle of wooden rods. The lictor with his fasces was a symbol of the power of the emperor to impose punishment of any degree of severity. He probably held a laurel wreath in his right hand, missing in this relief. The fasces itself, being comprised of a bundle of rods, indicated strength as a consequence of unity.
 

Fig. 1 - Cancelleria Relief Frieze A

Next to the lictor stands Mars, the Roman god of war (fig. 11), with helmet and bulging bicep. Mars is the  The word Mars has no known Indo-European root, and may derive from Maris, the Etruscan god of agriculture. For Romans in the time that the Cancelleria reliefs were carved, Mars was equivalent to the Greek god of war, Ares. In Roman tradition, Mars was the father of Romulus, who founded Rome. The Campus Martius in Rome, near the place where the Pantheon still stands today, the training ground for Roman soldiers and athletes, gets its name form Mars.

Next to Mars, in third position, stands Minerva (fig. 12), who flirts with emperor Nerva (figs. 9, 10), wearing a long flowing gown beneath an aegis with gorgon visible below Nerva’s right arm. Note how Minerva’s right hand, at the back of her helmet, suggests the flirtation of a young girl, as does her gaze at Nerva (fig. 3).

Nerva, who stares directly into Minerva’s eyes, was chosen as emperor by the Senate upon the assassination of Domitian, his predecessor. Domitian was the third emperor of the Flavius family; preceded by his father Vespasian and his elder brother Titus. Vespasian and Titus were regarded as good emperors. History tells us that Domitian, however, was tyrannical. Members of the senate were involved in his murder. Nerva was picked as his successor partly because he had no family, and thus the risk of dynastic succession was small.

Behind Nerva stand two soldiers in low relief and then the scantily clad Roma, who nudges Nerva in Minerva’s direction, directing his left hand with her right. She carries a round shield with a gorgoneion, the image of a gorgon, at its center. Roma is the personification of the Roman state.

Behind Roma is the head of a soldier in low relief, and then a high relief carving of a bearded Genius Senatus, carrying a scepter in his left hand. The acronym you’ll often see on ancient Roman structures, SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanorum), indicates that the emperor gets his power from the senate and the people of Rome. The Genius Senatus, or genius of the Senate, then represents the Senate – not a specific set of people comprising the Senate – but the concept of a senate in its role in government. The Genius Senatus waves his right hand, symbolizing his concurrence with whatever is going on between Nerva, Mars, and Minerva.

To the right of the Genius Senatus (as you view the relief) stands another soldier in low relief, and then the bare-chested (as usual) Genius Populi Romani, a representation of the people of Rome, typically paired with the Genius Senatus. The remaining characters on the right end of the relief are soldiers. One of them, shown in high relief, gives the ‘gung-ho” sign with his left hand, showing his eagerness for battle. Among other components of the message, it is clear that the Senate and the People of Rome, along with "Rome" herself, urge the emperor to make a move toward war (Minerva and Mars).

When Domitian was assassinated in 96 AD he was officially damned by the Senate, with the issuance of a Damnatio Memoriae. This meant that all public images of him were destroyed. The head of Nerva in Frieze A is generally held to be the result of recarving Domitian's head, for whom the Frieze was originally carved. For the second sculptor, converting Domitian into Nerva presented technical challenges. Nerva has a longer nose and his forehead slopes back markedly. Aligning the tips of their noses, the second sculptor had to carve away a considerable amount of Domitian's forehead and chin. The end result is that Nerva’s head is far too small, his neck is too long, and his chin is too short. This creates the illusion that Nerva is pulling his head back, indicating rejection or revulsion, an effect that contrasts with the portrayal of flirtation intended by the original artist. Additional evidence of the difficulty experienced by the second sculptor can be seen in the frontal view of Nerva. His face is asymmetric, his nose curves to the right, and his right eye is much smaller than his left (fig. 9).

Cancelleria Reliefs Frieze B

The key figures in this relief are Emperor Vespasian and his son, Domitian, who later became emperor. The obvious interpretation of the scene is Vespasian’s victorious return from the Civil War in July 69 AD, the only occasion during his career for which this scene would make sense. At the left edge of Frieze B,  Panel 1 is a man dressed in a toga; probably a guard for the vestal virgins. The second figure is Roma, holding a spear in her right hand. Below her, in third position is a vestal virgin, one of six holy priestesses of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth. The feet of several vestals are visible around the large split in this relief. None of their heads are visible.

Fig. 2 - Frieze B

The next figure with a visible head (Frieze B, Panel 3) is a short lictor carrying a fasces in his left hand. Next to him stands a taller Genius Senatus followed by young Domitian, whose right arm hangs down, with his hand grasping his toga at his thigh. The Genius Populi stands between Domitian (figs. 14, 15) and his father, Vespasian (figs. 6, 13). Vespasian, the last figure whose head remains, greets Domitian and the crowd. Domitian is easily identifiable by his hairstyle. The apparent age difference between Vespasian and Domitian also ensures that the figure we are calling Domitian is not Titus, his older brother, who would have been over 30 at the time. A fragment of a laurel wreath is above Vespasian’s head. Two lictors (both missing heads) stand at the relief’s right edge.

Some scholars, including Hugh Last ^[1], have concluded that the heads of Vespasian and Domitian in this relief reveals are both recarved. He proposed that the character now shown as Vespasian was originally Domitian, and that the current Domitian was some other less important figure, such as a young priest. A possible reason for recarving in this manner is that Nerva (shown in Frieze A), while wanting to show some continuity of the empire, he sought to do so only indirectly, associated himself with Vespasian as head of the Flavian dynasty rather than his direct predecessor, Domitian. In this thoery Domitian’s appearance in the scene would have been deemed acceptable despite his damnation, since in the scene he is shown merely as the young son of Vespasian, rather than in an imperial role. An apparent flaw in this model is that Domitian would not need to be shown at all. Titus would have been a better choice. Other scholars have answered that Titus was in fact away from Rome during Vespasian’s return in 69 AD, and that those who choreographed this scene sought to make it more believable for those who knew recent history.

Eric Varner ^[2] finds little evidence that Vespasian and Domitian have been recarved in Frieze B. He suggests that the Domitian-like attributes of Vespasian in this frieze must have been intended by the artist to stress the family relationship. We agree with Varner that the facial features of neither Vespasian nor Domitian show the indisputable signs of being recut seen in Nerva's portrait. However, a very rough surface surface surrounds Vespasian's face (fig. 13), most obvious adjacent to his right temple. A similar rough surface completely surrounds the left side of Domitian's head (fig. 15). But, although to a slightly lesser degree, the same effect is seen around the head of the the lictor (fig. 19) of Frieze B and the guard of the vestals (fig. 17). It seems to us that despite these abnormalities around the heads of Domitian and Vespasian, Varner must be correct. on the grounds that the most important factor is the obvious defects in facial rendering that resulted from introducing Nerva into Frieze A. These defects aren't visible at all in the heads of Domitian and Vespasian on Frieze B. Further, given the roundness of Vespasian's head as seen from the front, it is obvious that any earlier head from which it could have been recarved would have been much too large for the body.

Figs. 3 - 19 (click for larger versions):

Fig. 3 - Detail of Minerva, Nerva, and Roma Fig. 4 - Panel 1 of Frieze B Fig. 5 - Detail of Vespasian and Domitian in Frieze B Fig. 6 - Vespasian frontal view Fig. 7 - A lictor, Mars and Minerva on Frieze A Fig. 8 - Nerva frontal view Fig. 9 - Evidence of reduction in size from original head Fig. 10 - Shortened chin resulting from Nerva's longer nose Fig. 11 - Mars detail Fig. 12 - Minerva Fig. 13 - Rough surface near Vespasian's right temple Fig. 14 - Domitian Fig. 15 - Rough surface behind Domitian's head Fig. 16 - Guard of vestals Fig. 17 - Guard of vestals detail Fig. 18 - Lictor from Frieze B Fig. 19 - Rough surface behind Frieze B lictor's head

For techniques used in recarving many other Roman portraits, see Re-Carving Roman Portraits: Background And Methods by Marina Prusac in the online Dec. 2004 AIAC News.

Keywords: Cancelleria Reliefs, Nerva, Domitian, Vespasianus, archaeology, perspective, art history, antiquity, marble, carving, damnatio.
Original photo resolution 4368 x 2912 pixels recorded 11/05 - 8/06 with Canon EOS 5D digital cameras with Canon 24-105mm f/4 and Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 IS lenses.
Copyright 2007 Bill Storage. All rights reserved.