Top: “Lucerna” (oil lamp) in the shape of a crown, intersected by a handle with a faux-knot in the middle, by which it can be held, and on one end the “mouth”, or “ear” in which one puts the wick. It is painted in the Etruscan manner, with the usual black glaze on the reddish clay. Bottom: Pottery cockroaches, that were used as amulets to hang around the neck. Carafa dates them to the time of “Gnostics and Valentinian”, who altered the “ancient Egyptian doctrine” by mixing with other “new superstitions”.
Featured on PDR in the collection Curiosities from the Museum of Giovanni Carafa (1778)
These fantastic depictions of various Roman antiquities are sourced from Alcuni monumenti del Museo Carrafa (1778), a wonderful catalogue of objects once found in the private museum of 18th-century antiquities collector Giovanni Carafa, the Duke of Noja (now called Noicattaro, a town near Bari in southern Italy ). Born in 1715, Carafa studied grammar and literature but soon developed an interest in scientific subjects, mainly mathematics. Around 1738 he was appointed lecturer of Optics and Mathematics at the University of Naples, and there he continued to explore his interests in the natural sciences, especially geology and mineralogy. He soon began collecting archaeological and numismatic pieces concerning southern Italy and established a small museum (which would become part of the collection of Museo di Capodimonte in…
Also appearing in the collection…
Oil lamp in the shape of a crown and cockroach amulets.
Artist
Date
1778
From
Alcuni monumenti del Museo Carrafa
Source
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