The Ara Grimani
The so-called Ara Grimani (“Grimani’s Altar”) takes the name from its shape, because it looks like an altar. In fact, the two holes on its upper side suggest that this artwork was originally a base for a statue, likely a sculpture depicting the god Dionysus (“Bacchus” for the Romans): the Greek god of the grape harvest, wine and feast.
The scenes engraved on its four sides refer to a Dionysus’s feast. Two Satyrs and a Maenad are engraved on the front side: one Satyr is lying on a rock covered with a wild skin, holding a cup of wine; while the other one is approaching a Maenad. On the left side it is possible to see a Maenad playing the lyre and a Satyr wearing only a nebris (a kid or fawn skin that Dionysus and his followers used to wear over their shoulder or tied round their waist). The right side represents a Satyr kissing a Maenad. On the back a Satyr is lying on a panther skin, holding a cup and a thyrsus (the staff sacred to Dionysus), while a Maenad is playing the harp.
Between the two stands a small column with a wine-vase on it. Moreover, a small painting depicting a bacchic mask is hanging from the column. The style of the four sides suggests that the back side should have been created by a second sculptor. Indeed, the back side is very different from the other three, probably because originally it was not intended to be seen but, later on, the base was moved from its original site. The tall base and the upper crowning of the Ara Grimani are noteworthy: they are both decorated with a flower and geometrical pattern.
The style of the subjects in the main scenes (whose models come from the Hellenistic art) and the elegant decoration can be attributed to the Roman art of the early Augustan period (end of the 1st century B.C.). This artwork belonged to Giovanni Grimani’s collection and during the Renaissance it was used as base for statues in the Public Statuary where, according to the catalog by Anton Maria Zanetti the Younger, it was placed next to other five bases, so as to create a kind of corridor between the two doors of the Antechamber. Zanetti himself quotes the inscription HIC LOCUS SACER EST, meaning “This place is sacred”, engraved on the front side. The inscription probably was not authentic and, because of that, later removed. The artistic value of the Ara Grimani, nowadays considered as a fine example of Roman decorative art, was understood from the 1920s, when it began to be regarded as a masterpiece in its own way.
