Zeus : a study in ancient religion - Warburg Institute

Diana-Pillars 143
was the sky-god in feathered form, and that the birds perched on
the neighbouring roof betokened his presence in
the sacred building near at hand. Perhaps we
may venture a step further and identify this
feathered sky-god with Sardopator^ or Sardus
Pater, who appears in a feathered head-dress on
the copper coins of the island (fig. 85)-. Was it
he that sent the winter rains so vital to the life
of the Sardinian peasant^?
(A,) Diana-Pillars.
Similar constructions appear in the landscape-frescoes of Italy
and are susceptible of the same interpretation. A remarkable
painting in greenish monochrome from Herculaneum, now in the
Naples collection (fig. 86)^, shows a pillar-shrine set by the edge of
a lake or river. A short flight of steps leads up to a square plinth,
on which stands a pillar with moulded base, club-shaped shaft, and
shallow disk-like capital. The shaft is surrounded by several bands
and is marked here and there with patches^ probably denoting
votive objects affixed to it". Above the capital the shaft is continued
in the form of a tapering finial, round the lower part of which are
seen three ornaments (heads of deer }y. The pillar is half-encircled
by a wall carrying an Ionic colonnade, which is finished off with a
low cornice and a row of vases. Two side-walls, each supporting a
^ Ptol. 3. 3. 2 l.apoo-Ka.Topos iepdu with C. Miiller ad he.
^ Babelon Alonn. r^p. row. i. 223 f. fig., M. Bahrfeldt Nachtrdge und Berechtigiingen
zur Miinzkunde dcr rbmischcn Reptiblik Wien 1897 p. 45
f. fig., Hunter Cat. Coins
i. 262, Head Hist, num.'- p. 191, A. Boutkowski Dietionnaire nuniisinatique Leipzig
1884 ii. 831 nos. 1601, 1602, E. Klebs in Pauly Wissoviz. Real-Ene. ii. 2253 f., O. Hofer
in Roscher Lex. Myth. iv. 384 ff., R. Pettazzoni La religio7te priinitiva in Sardegiia
Piacenza 1912 p. 62 ff. fig. 17. I figure a specimen in the Fitzwilliam Museum. For the
feathered coiffure see further Sir A. J. Evans Scripta Minoa Oxford 1909
\\b[c), lie, 275
i. 24 f. figs.
f. fig. T26 (no. 2), H. R. Hall in the Ann. Brit. Sch. Ath. 1901-1902
viii. 185 fig. 9, id. in Xhejozirn. Hell. Stud. 1911 xxxi. 119— 123 figs. 3— 7.
* Solin. 4. 5 hibernae pluviae in aestivam penuriam reservantur, nam homo Sardus
opem plurimam de imbrido caelo habet. Cp. R. Pettazzoni op. cit. p. 105 ff.
•* Le pitiure antiche cCErcolaiio Napoli 1762 iii. 273 ff. pi. 52, H. Roux— M. L. Barre
Herculanum et Pompii Paris 1870 iii. 2. 16 ff. pi. 7, Helbig Wandgem. Camp. p. 71
no. 252'', M. Rostowzew 'Die hellenistisch-romische Architekturlandschaft ' in the Rbvi.
Alitth. 191 1 xxvi. 42 fig. 21 (here used to correct the earliest publication). Inventory
no. 9413. Height 0'65'". Breadth o'45"'. The painting is assigned to the third or ' ornate '
style of mural decoration (c. 25 B.C.— 50 A. D.).
'•'
' Le alquante fasee, o giri, e
pittuie antiche d'Ercolano Napoli 1762 iii. 274 f.
macchie di varie figure, che il color della pittura, ch' e tutta a chiaroscuro, sbiadato
ancora pel tempo, non lascia ben distinguere, nella superficie del corpo cottico.'
'' Cp. infra p. 146.
"'
Cp. infra p. 146 f.