Ancient Roman Marble votive phallus - 6.5 cm

This Roman votive phallus, carved in marble and dating from between the 1st and 2nd centuries BC, is a powerful testament to the religious, symbolic, and apotropaic practices of the ancient Roman world. Small in size (6.5 × 5.4 × 4 cm), this sculptural fragment synthetically but recognizably represents a male penis, crafted with a degree of anatomical modeling and naturalistic volume, albeit with schematic and functional features.

In ancient Rome, votive phalluses were not obscene objects, but symbols deeply linked to fertility, protection, health, and good fortune. These small sculptures were frequently offered in sanctuaries as votive offerings, in gratitude for favors received, or as supplications for illnesses, especially those related to virility, the reproductive system, or offspring. They could also serve a protective role, functioning as amulets against the evil eye or negative influences, according to beliefs widely held in the Mediterranean since Etruscan times.

The carving is made of marble, a material valued not only for its durability but also for its connection to the world of the sacred and prestigious. In this case, the surface displays a light ochre patina with areas of superficial wear, indicating its age and possible traces of prolonged display or burial. Despite its fragmentary nature—with the base of the torso barely suggested and without limbs or architectural support—the piece maintains a powerful artistic presence. The shape of the glans, the curvature of the body, and the rotundity of the scrotum have been defined with economy of means but with remarkable expressiveness.

The original function of this object may have been linked to its placement in ritual or domestic spaces, inserted into niches, altars, or walls as an element of invocation to generative power. In other cases, its use is documented in public contexts, as part of architectural reliefs, portals, or fountains, where the phallus acted as a symbolic guarantor of collective well-being.

This type of piece is not uncommon in archaeological collections from the classical world: similar examples are preserved in the Museo Nazionale Romano, the Museum of Capua, and even the British Museum, where they are among the most representative votive objects of popular religiosity in Republican and Imperial Rome. The simplicity of this sculpture harks back to early Italic art, before the full influence of the Hellenistic canon, and preserves the language of magic and ritual above any formal idealization.

Acquired from a Spanish private collection, F.C.C in the 80's.

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