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Niobid from the Gardens of Sallust

Niobid from the Gardens of Sallust, also known as the Wounded Niobid, is a Greek marble sculpture 149 cm high. It was discovered in 1906 in the Horti Sallustiani, in a cubiculum 11 meters below ground, perhaps hidden there for protection during barbarian invasions. The figure shows one of Niobe’s daughters falling to the ground after being struck by an arrow lodged between her shoulder blades, which she vainly tries to remove. The work is kept in the National Roman Museum, at Palazzo Massimo alle Terme in Rome. It is considered an original work attributable to the 4th century BC and is linked to Greek sculptures transferred to Rome in antiquity.

The Niobid from the Gardens of Sallust, a pale marble sculpture of a kneeling female figure with one arm raised behind her head.
Niobid from the Gardens of Sallust, shown as a kneeling marble figure with draped fabric and an upward gaze.
February 2013 © · CC BY-SA 2.0
Niobid from the Gardens of Sallust, a white marble statue of a kneeling semi-nude woman with one arm raised behind her head.
The Niobid from the Gardens of Sallust shown as a white marble figure against a dark background.
October 2011 © · CC BY 4.0
Niobid from the Gardens of Sallust, a marble sculpture of a kneeling female figure with one arm raised above her head.
The Niobid from the Gardens of Sallust shown as a kneeling marble figure with one arm raised.
November 2024 © · CC0
Niobid sculpture in marble, shown kneeling with one arm raised and her head tilted back.
The Niobid from the Gardens of Sallust, a marble sculpture of a wounded figure shown kneeling with an arm raised.
· CC BY-SA 3.0
Niobid from the Gardens of Sallust, showing the sculpture’s head and upper torso with an anguished upward gaze.
Close-up of the Niobid from the Gardens of Sallust, with the head tilted upward and one arm raised behind it.
April 2012 © · CC BY-SA 4.0

Identification

TitleNiobid from the Gardens of Sallust
Alternative namesNiobid of the Horti Sallustiani; Wounded Niobid; La Niobide degli Horti Sallustiani
TypeStatue

Historical context

Date5th century BC (attributed)
Original statusOriginal work

Creator

Attribution basisConsidered part of, or at least analogous to, the figures from the pediment of the Temple of Apollo at Eretria
Historical transfer from GreeceProbably from a group transferred to Rome by order of Augustus from the Temple of Apollo at Eretria

Discovery and provenance

Discovery locationGardens of Sallust (Horti Sallustiani), Rome; also described as found in Via Sallustio, Rome
Discovery date1906
Discovery contextFound during excavations in a cubiculum about 11 meters below ground level
Possible concealment historyMay have been hidden to protect it from destructive barbarian invasions in the 5th century AD
Provenance hypothesisLikely one of many works brought to Rome from Greece as war booty
Related worksProbably shares the same origin as the Dying Niobid and the Running Niobid in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen
Comparison and distinctionNot comparable to the Niobe in the Uffizi Gallery, which is a copy of a Hellenistic original found in Rome in 1582 in the garden of Villa Medici and later taken to the Uffizi

Physical characteristics

Height149 cm

Materials

MaterialMarble

Appearance

SubjectOne of the daughters of Niobe (a Niobid)
Pose / actionFalling to the ground after being wounded by an arrow lodged between her shoulder blades, trying in vain to remove it

Iconography and meaning

Mythological contextThe scene refers to the myth in which Apollo or Artemis shot the arrow to avenge Leto after Niobe mocked her for having only two children while boasting of her own fertility and twelve children; by Leto's order, all the Niobids were killed by Apollo and Artemis

Location and ownership

Current locationNational Roman Museum, Palazzo Massimo delle Terme, Rome, Italy

History and restoration

Recovery and legal historyFound on building land purchased by Banca Commerciale Italiana; after the bank took possession, Francesco Di Carlo reported that the sculpture was being organized for transfer to Germany
Legal actionJudge Mauro Del Giudice ordered the seizure of the sculpture and appointed Rome’s mayor, Ernesto Nathan, as judicial custodian
Transport incidentThe planned shipment was stopped at Milan station
Public controversyThe bank’s allied press campaign claimed the seizure had been ordered by a southern, regionalist judge to offend Milan’s dignity and sow discord with Rome
Public reaction to Ernesto NathanWhen he went to Milan to take custody of the statue, Nathan was met by a hostile crowd that whistled at him and threw snowballs
Political reactionFilippo Turati sharply attacked Del Giudice during a Milan municipal council meeting
Defense of Del GiudiceFilomusi Guelfi, a scholar at the Roman university, defended Del Giudice in a letter to Giornale d'Italia
Municipal supportThe Rome city council approved the handling of the operation
Outcome of seizureDel Giudice said the seizure prevented the clandestine transfer of a valuable work of art from Italy to Germany

Significance

Art-historical significanceImported Greek works played an important role in the evolution of taste and style in Roman artistic production