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Source Description
Sucellus (possibly meaning "The Good Striker") was a major Gaulish deity associated with the underworld, whose attributes include his wolf-skin garment, a mallet or hammer (now missing from his upraised hand), and a small jar called an "olla." This statuette is the earliest and finest of any known Sucellus image. The portrayal is reminiscent of Classical Greek style, and he resembles the Greek hero Heracles. Behind him, like a symbol of worship, appears an oversized mallet with five smaller mallets radiating from it. The statuette was excavated along with three other statuettes (a second Sucellus and two statuettes of Mercury) as well as a bronze panther, a group of lamps, and numerous metal implements in the city center of Vienne (Roman Vienna), Isere, France.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
20962
label
Sucellus
core
obj
dtoType
object
citationUrl
pageCount
7
Source metadata
id
20962
sourceUrl
contentType
object
stage
normalized
title
Sucellus
description
Sucellus (possibly meaning "The Good Striker") was a major Gaulish deity associated with the underworld, whose attributes include his wolf-skin garment, a mallet or hammer (now missing from his upraised hand), and a small jar called an "olla." This statuette is the earliest and finest of any known Sucellus image. The portrayal is reminiscent of Classical Greek style, and he resembles the Greek hero Heracles. Behind him, like a symbol of worship, appears an oversized mallet with five smaller mallets radiating from it. The statuette was excavated along with three other statuettes (a second Sucellus and two statuettes of Mercury) as well as a bronze panther, a group of lamps, and numerous metal implements in the city center of Vienne (Roman Vienna), Isere, France.
provenance
M. Brouse, Vienne, 1866, by excavation. Wills Collection Sale, by 1894; John Edward Taylor, 1894, by purchase; John Edward Taylor Collection sale, Christie, Manson, and Woods, London, July 1912, no. 364 [illus.]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1912, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
date
1st-2nd century CE (Roman Imperial)
citationUrl
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
genreSpecific
Metal
sculpture (visual works)
figurines
imageCount
7
pageCount
7
source
import
dimensions
units
cm
width
42.2
height
18.1
depth
13.9
dimensionsRaw
Overall H: 16 5/8 × W: 7 1/8 × D: 5 1/2 in. (42.2 × 18.1 × 13.9 cm); H of figure and base: 12 5/8 × W: 6 5/16 × D: 5 11/16 in. (32 × 16 × 14.5 cm); H of mallet: 13 9/16 × 7 1/8 × 2 3/8 in. (34.5 × 18.1 × 6 cm)
Source extras
cul
Gallo-Roman
med
bronze
creator_ids
6191
collection_ids
ROM
exhibition_ids
316
3164
Page inventory
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1
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photo
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seq
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photo
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photo
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photo
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photo
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photo
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type
photo
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no
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no