The Reuse of ancient Sculptures
1.
This draped female statue, carved in Lunense marble, was uncovered during 19th-century excavations of Parma’s Roman theatre and dates to the 1st century AD. The face shows the features of an elderly woman—deep wrinkles, hollow cheeks, thin lips, and long side curls styled after Livia, wife of Emperor Augustus.
This realistic portrait was set—in antiquity or at the time of its discovery—onto a bust with Junoesque proportions, originally belonging to a much younger woman. These mixed assemblages were quite common in Roman art, thanks to a sculptural technique that allowed different specialists to create separate parts which were later assembled.
2.
This male figure, sculpted in Greek marble, was found in Piazza Garibaldi, the same area where the Centaur mosaic was discovered. During the 1948 excavation, the torso and head were unearthed about three meters apart. As with the female statue, the torso features a youthful, athletic figure, while the head portrays a more mature-looking deity—possibly Jupiter, Neptune, or Silvanus. The two parts may have been joined together in the 2nd century AD. Traces of metal casting on the left shoulder suggest the figure once held a trident or spear. These signs, along with others, indicate that the sculpture was likely damaged in a fire, like the mosaic found nearby.
3.
The tombstone of Postumia Felicitas dates to the late 2nd or early 3rd century AD. It was later reused as a fountain spout, with specific decorative purposes. The inscription, which entered the museum collections in the 18th century after being reused in various buildings, carries a heartfelt dedication from her husband to “the dearest and sweetest” Postumia.
4.
This small marble altar, made from stone quarried in the Apuan Alps, dates to the 1st–2nd century AD, and is the only known sacred inscription from ancient Parma. It was found in the 19th century during construction work for the city’s courthouse, in the southwestern part of the city. Decorated with ritual objects—a jug and a dish with a central boss—on its sides, the altar was dedicated to the goddess Minerva by Lucius Ennius Callistus, a freedman of Lucius, de pecunia sua—that is, at his own expense.
5.
This fragment of a round marble frame (clipeus), made of white Luni marble and dating to the 1st century AD, was found during 19th-century excavations in Via Farini. Although found out of context, this type of decorative element (clipeus) was typically placed on Roman city gates to frame honorific portraits. The five-petalled rosettes entwined with vegetal spirals are symbols of the goddess Venus, divine ancestor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
6.
This round funerary cippus, made of Luni marble, commemorates Gaius Fannius Frater. Richly decorated, its surface is divided into eight sections, possibly mimicking a trellis structure, with a male portrait at the center. Dating to the 1st century AD, the piece has a long and layered history. In the 15th century, it was kept in the home of the Cathedral’s archpriest, before being reused as a wellhead in a house owned by the Confraternity of the Blessed Virgin of Capo di Ponte, in Borgo Piccinini. Traces of this later use are still clearly visible today.