In Greco-Roman culture, the eagle was commonly associated with the imperial office. A symbol of the power and deification of the emperor, it appeared in imperial coinage and sculpture. This eagle, made from terra-cotta, may have been a workshop model used for sculptures in marble or bronze.
Provenance
- Said to have come from Constantinople. Acquired by Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, Washington, DC, September 1959.
Selected Bibliography
- M. C. Ross, Metalwork, Ceramics, Glass, Glyptics, Painting, vol. 1 of Catalogue of the Byzantine and Early Mediaeval Antiquities in the Dumbarton Oaks Collection (Washington, DC, 1962), 77, no. 93, plate 51.
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