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Source Description
Many religions were syncretistic, meaning that as they grew and came into contact with other religions, they adopted new beliefs and modified their practices to reflect their changing environment. Both Greek and Roman religious beliefs were deeply influenced by the so-called mystery religions of the East, including the Egyptian cult of Isis, which revealed beliefs and practices to the initiated that remained unexplained, or mysterious, to the uninitiated. Most popular Roman cults had associations with these mystery religions and included the prospect of an afterlife. The bust of the earth-goddess Gaia, suckling a child at her breast, would have decorated a vessel.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
9292
label
Gaia
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
9292
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Gaia
description
Many religions were syncretistic, meaning that as they grew and came into contact with other religions, they adopted new beliefs and modified their practices to reflect their changing environment. Both Greek and Roman religious beliefs were deeply influenced by the so-called mystery religions of the East, including the Egyptian cult of Isis, which revealed beliefs and practices to the initiated that remained unexplained, or mysterious, to the uninitiated. Most popular Roman cults had associations with these mystery religions and included the prospect of an afterlife. The bust of the earth-goddess Gaia, suckling a child at her breast, would have decorated a vessel.
provenance
[From Baliana, Egypt]; Dikran Kelekian, New York and Paris; purchased by Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1914; by bequest to Walters Art Museum, 1931.
date
1st century CE
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Metal
sculpture (visual works)
imageCount
1
pageCount
1
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
11
height
10
depth
4.5
dimensionsRaw
H: 4 5/16 x W: 3 15/16 x D: 1 3/4 in. (11 x 10 x 4.5 cm)
Source extras
cul
Roman
med
bronze, silver inlay
creator_ids
6191
collection_ids
ROM
EGY
exhibition_ids
2189
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
aa8fee85e5b0b101