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Steelyard with weight configured as a sovereign holding a celestial sphere

    • Provenienza:
      Pergamon, Turkey
    • Data:
      5th century AD
    • Materiali:
      Bronze
    • Dimensioni:
      beam length 37.2 cm
    • Collocazione:
      Berlin, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Antikensammlung
    • Inventario:
      inv. Misc. 10817
  • Steelyard with weight configured as a sovereign holding a celestial sphere

The sliding weight configured as a king seated on a throne has been identified as the Emperor Constantine and the attributes date from a specific time in his life. The Emperor is portrayed as Zeus and has one leg uncovered, a detail alluding to the story of Dionysus' birth. The celestial globe in his right hand symbolises the new religion of Christianity which supplanted paganism.