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Chapps

@chapps.bsky.social

3.4K followers 350 following 4.4K posts

Former tech drone, living in L.A. I now create digital reconstructions of ancient Greek and Roman sculpture. No, really. 🏳️‍🌈 Flickr account (museum photos, mainly, free to use and high res): https://www.flickr.com/photos/125386285@N02/

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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · Nov 11

FYI, to anyone interested, I upload all of my high res photos to my Flickr account where they’re organized into albums and tagged with keywords, so they’re easy to search. All free to use, with credit. www.flickr.com/photos/chapp...

I’ll eventually upload my reconstructions! 🏺

Screen cap of my Flickr Photostream. Labeled ‘Stephen Chappell (aka Chapps)’, at the moment I took the pic, it included things like a terracotta figurine of two girls playing ephedrismos, a bronze Roman cavalry parade helmet, a gold Ptolemaic coin, an Egyptian faience vase, etc.

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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 56m

I did come across this one at the Met, which has Eros on one side (perhaps alluding to how knucklebones could divine one’s future love), and it has a handle, indicating carrying it was part of its function. But other than that … 🤷‍♂️

www.metmuseum.org/art/collecti...

Attributed to an artist recalling the Painter of London D 12 - Terracotta vase in the form of an astragal (knucklebone) - Greek, Attic - Classical - The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Richter, Gisela M. A. 1941. "An Athenian Astragalos." Bulletin of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 36(5): pp. 122–23. Richter, Gisela M. A. 1953. Handbook of the Greek Collection

www.metmuseum.org

Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1h

It would certainly be an amazing prize - so it’s always a possibility. I still can’t understand how Aeolus and the floating ladies relate to the knucklebone theme, if they do at all. I was trying to find the other large pottery knucklebone I’d seen before, but came up with nothing.

Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 16h

No, let’s not tell him.

Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 21h

Yeah, Nero made the big mistake of scooping up homes and land and razing it all to build his luxury palace in the middle of the city. If he had been like Hadrian, and built it well awy from Romans' eyes, it wouldn't have been so hated. Vespasian built something for the people.

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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 21h

So would I!

Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 23h

Gems like this - set into finger rings and other jewelry - were often given by the imperial household as gifts to political supporters. Classier than 'MRGA' (Make Rome Great Again) hats. 🏺 2/

Dated to 69-79 CE, the years Vespasian ruled as a solo emperor. #BritishMuseum

flic.kr/p/2rxZE3k

Sard engraved with a portrait head of the Roman emperor Vespasian wearing a laurel wreath

A sard gem engraved with a portrait head of the Roman Emperor Vaspasian in profile, wearing a laurel wreath. Set into a gold finger ring. Vespasian was the last emperor to reign in the Year of the Fo...

flic.kr

Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 23h

A lovely colored engraved sard gem, with the laureate portrait head of a Roman emperor. Which one? With a face only a mother could love and that thick neck, there's really only one choice: Vespasian. The last man standing from the Year of the Four Emperor, founder of the Flavian dynasty. 🏺 1/

📸 me

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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1d

I have so many questions …

Reposted by Chapps

Nina Willburger @drnwillburger.bsky.social · 2d

An amazing miniature portrait of the #Roman empress Agrippina Minor (15-59 AD), made from chalcedony. Agrippina was the mother of Nero, and married to her uncle, emperor Claudius. It was rumoured that she poisoned her husband with a dish of mushrooms.

📷me

On display at British Museum

🏺

A green stone bust of a woman displayed in a museum. The sculpture features an elaborate hairdo and a solemn expression. The bust is mounted on a clear stand, with a blurred background showcasing other artifacts in the exhibition.

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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1d

One of my favorite small objects at the BM. I just visited her a couple of weeks ago.

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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1d

Aww, thanks.

Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 1d

Hephaestion? That would be very interesting.

Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 2d

Yep! Rather famous little guy - he’s absolutely gorgeous. It’s always a bit of a shock to people when they realize who he is, since they’re used to portraits of him towards the end of his reign (or the Hollywood versions, never flattering).

Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 2d

Well, yes, there is that detail. 😁

Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks! Slowly but surely …

Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 2d

Thanks, Peter. No surgery this time, but slow recovery. Bleh.

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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 2d

Although idealized, the facial features on this statuette do resemble those of the Emperor Nero (AD 54-68), seen from earlier portrait coins and official portraiture. The upward gaze and stance is modeled after sculpture of Alexander the Great. 🏺 3/

Link for more. #BritishMuseum

flic.kr/p/2rwyaWW

Detail of a statuette of Nero

Copper alloy statuette of Nero in the guise of Alexander. Silver and copper-plating and deliberately patinated black bronze detail. The figure, which is hollow cast, stands with the weight on the righ...

flic.kr

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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 2d

This guy! To be fair, the bust is almost entirely a modern creation, the original piece being a small portion of the face and hair, made to look like Nero’s coin portraits. But the coin is 100% legit. It still may not look like him, but be stylized to impress. 🏺 2/

📸 me (ALT txt for details)

Beginning with the first emperor, Augustus (ruled 27 BCE-14 CE), the Romans regularly issued coins displaying a portrait of the ruler or one of his family members on the obverse (front). The reverse bore an image of a deity, mythological figure, building, or historical event. The imperial portraits are finely modeled and often represent individuals not seen in surviving sculpture.

This small gold aureas depicts a bust of the emperor Nero, facing right, laureate (he wears a laurel crown). His trademark hairstyle is gelled up in the front and long in the back. He’s presented with an enormously thick neck and grotesquely fat chin. But is this how he looked, or was it felt that this looked massive and impressive? We can actually see the resemblance with the statuette in the features of the face.

Roman, 65-65 CE, gold.

Getty Villa Museum, on loan from Dr. Keith M. Barron

What has long been held up as a valid portrait of the Roman emperor Nero - which shows the ugliness in his soul reflected on his face - is about 80% 17th century. In other words, he’s Baroque. Only the front fringe of hair, the forehead, the eyes, most of the nose, and his left cheek (not shown) are ancient. You can see how the ancient portion is older and slightly orangish-brown. The ancient portion can be comfortably dated to around Nero’s or Claudius’ reign, due to the unique hairstyle. Was it once Nero? Possibly.

The artist who made the Baroque portion was undoubtedly very talented, and used coin portraits from late in Nero’s reign as a guide, but pushed the oddity, the neckbeard, the double chin, as a way to show the nature of this emperor.

So, it’s both 17th century and 1st century CE.

Musei Capitolini (inv. MC0427)

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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 2d

Hey, there, what a handsome fella you are. This guy is wearing a gorgeous cuirass with inlaid silver and niello patterns, and copper inlaid lips. Beautiful swoopy hair, too. Soft features and superb craftsmanship, probably made in Gaul and imported into Britain.

Can you guess who he is? 🏺 1/

📸 me

Copper alloy statuette of an emperor in the guise of Alexander. Silver and copper-plating and deliberately patinated black bronze detail. The figure, which is hollow cast, stands with the weight on the right leg whilst the left foot is raised and may have originally rested on a globe or helmet (now missing). The right hand originally held a spear or sceptre (now missing) and the left arm is also missing. The figure wears imperial dress of decorated boots, a short tunic and a cuirass which is richly adorned with inlaid silver and niello patterns. The face is full and plump and the hair upstanding above the brow; the lips are slightly parted and the eyes, originally inlaid with colours (now missing) gaze upwards.

British Museum

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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 4d

Fantastic! Thanks for sharing this, Stephen. What an amazing reference. All we need now is a book about the history of naval rams, including the battles which provided so many for us to find.

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Reposted by Chapps

Stephen DeCasien, Ph.D. @sdecasien.bsky.social · 4d

I’ve put together a quick overview of all naval rams and related artifacts on my personal website, along with some relevant publications. It’s meant to serve as a handy reference and a “current count” table. Will updated will more info later!

stephendecasien.com/naval-rams/

Naval Rams

Archaeologically Attested Three-Bladed Waterline Rams: Current Count: 33 Name:Publication: Acqualadroni RamBuccellato, C. A., & Tusa, S. 2013. The Acqualadroni Ram Recovered Near the Strait of …

stephendecasien.com

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Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 4d

Traditionally, here in L.A., our multi-day outages are in the hottest part of the summer, so there’s plenty of sun every day to charge up the battery for us to use non-stop, day and night. In the winter, if a tree downs the lines, it’s usually a quick fix.

Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 4d

We can automatically tap into the grid if the system needs power. I wouldn’t even know it was happening, if I didn’t look at my app. We don’t actually need a battery that can hold multiple days of power, because even on overcast days, it’ll charge up in the daytime.

Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 5d

Thanks, Arthur. 🤞

Chapps @chapps.bsky.social · 5d

Oh, me too. Thanks, Pat.