Page:The history of silk, cotton, linen, wool, and other fibrous substances 2.djvu/317

The altar to Silvanus exhibits that divinity crowned with the cones and foliage of the pine. A pine grows moreover beside his terminal statue, bearing the large cones, which were used for food at entertainments and carried in bacchanalian processions. Faunus, or Pan, sits at the foot of the pine, the syrinx and the double pipe being placed at his feet. In his right hand he holds an olive branch, while a young winged genius advances towards him as if to receive it, and another genius of the same kind appears to be caressing him and whispering into his ear. On the other side of the terminal statue of Silvanus we see the caduceus of Mercury and the bale of wool, manifest indications of success in the wool trade. In this sculpture the bale is surrounded with cords, which are twisted round one another where they cross. In the former instance the compression of the wool appears to be effected by the use of thongs instead of cords^[1]. There is also introduced the figure of a shepherd of the same country. This statue was found in the vicinity of Rome and is now preserved in the Vatican^[2]. The extremities are in part restorations. A cameo in the Florentine Museum^[3] represents the shepherd Faustulus sitting upon a rock, and contemplating the she-wolf, which is suckling Romulus and Remus. It is of the Augustan age, and no doubt exhibits the costume and general appearance of a Roman shepherd of that period. He wears a tunica cucullata, i. e. a tunic of coarse woollen cloth with a cowl, which was designed to be drawn occasionally over the head and to protect it from the injuries of the weather. This garment has also sleeves, which Columella mentions (tunica manicata) as an additional comfort. On his feet the shepherd wears high shoes, or boots, which, as we may suppose, were made of leather.

The appearance of the shepherds, who are represented in these ancient works of art, is, doubtless, adapted to produce the

1. The bas-relief on the first altar is copied from Boissard by Montfaucon, Ant. Expliquée, tome i. p. 332. and that on the second, tome ii. p. 275. The latter is also represented by the Rev. Henry Moses, Collection of Antique Vases, &c. Plate 52.
2. Museo Pio-Clementino, tomo iii. tav. 34 and p. 44.
3. Museum Florentinum. Gemmæ Antiquæ a Gorio illustratæ, tav. ii. No. 10.