Category Archives: Sculpture

Realistic Renderings of Papyrus Rolls in Stone

Posted on August 8, 2026 by Brent Nongbri

I’m always very interested to see renderings of papyrus rolls in ancient art, whether it is in fresco, manuscript illumination, or carved stone. When it comes to stone reliefs or statues, one needs to be careful to make sure that … Continue reading →

Posted in Book covers, Papyrus Making, Sculpture, Voluminology | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

A Roman Library in Spain and the “declamatio sarcophagus”

Posted on July 31, 2026 by Brent Nongbri

I’ve been thinking quite a bit in recent years about the places where Roman books were stored and used. So I was interested to see several news stories in the last couple days with headlines like “One of the Best … Continue reading →

Posted in Sculpture | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

The So-called Bust of Josephus

Posted on April 25, 2025 by Brent Nongbri

I recently had occasion to spend some time revisiting the works of the Jewish historian Josephus, which was a real pleasure. When working on Josephus, I occasionally come across the “bust of Josephus” that so often serves as an illustration … Continue reading →

Posted in Josephus, Judaism, Sculpture | 7 Comments

The Trojan Horse in Pakistan and Questions of Provenance

Posted on October 8, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

In the process of preparing to teach a course on ancient trade networks, I encountered a very informative chapter by Rachel Mairs in The Routledge Handbook of Archaeology and Globalization (2017), which introduced me to a fascinating artifact of which … Continue reading →

Posted in British Museum, Find Stories, Sculpture | Leave a comment

The Capitoline Sappho

Posted on July 6, 2020 by Brent Nongbri

In the wake of the controversy over the “Newest Sappho” papyrus in the last few years , I’ve read more about the Greek poetess Sappho than I ever thought I would. In doing so, I realized that I have a … Continue reading →

Posted in Capitoline Museum, Fakes and Forgeries, Inscriptions, P.Sapph. Obbink, Sculpture | 4 Comments

A Marble Relief of a Priest of Cybele

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Brent Nongbri

It’s always a pleasant surprise to visit a familiar museum and find a “new” piece. It happened to me the other day at the Capitoline Museum. Earlier this year, there was an exhibition on Johann Joachim Winckelmann (actually, it was mainly … Continue reading →

Posted in Capitoline Museum, Find Stories, Sculpture | 5 Comments