Punic · Greek · Roman · Madrid

Objects in motion

A critical guide to how Mediterranean artifacts were made, moved, reused, collected, restored, and displayed at the Museo Arqueológico Nacional and Museo del Prado.

Explore 12 case studies Browse all 44 entries

Two museums, different evidence

MAN

Archaeology of entanglement

Strongest for production, use, deposition, exchange in Iberia, law, extraction, civic association, domestic display, and death.

Ask: What changed when an object moved?

Prado

Afterlives of antiquity

Strongest for Roman reception of Greek art, royal ownership, reclassification, restoration, composite bodies, and museum visibility.

Ask: Which historical layer created the title?

Seven findings that control the whole dossier

Punic material is visible at MAN—and real but mostly invisible at the Prado.

MAN’s funerary, ritual, ceramic, and numismatic evidence can be placed in Iberian contexts. The Prado’s Gadir, Ebusus, Carthage, and Leptis Magna coins are catalogued but not displayed.

Greek manufacture never proves a Greek user, resident, or settlement.

The Centaur of Royos and Ariadne krater document circulation and local selection. Their western find or burial contexts are not ethnic certificates.

The Prado’s Greek-original corpus is small and context-poor.

The small kouros, horse head, and probable Demetrios portrait are exceptional, but their archaeological find contexts are absent or incomplete.

Roman copies are Roman artifacts with Greek visual genealogies.

The Diadumenus, Muses, Sleeping Ariadne, and Hermes-Sakkon illuminate Roman selection, display, and transformation—not the survival of Greek originals.

Restoration is evidence, not cosmetic noise.

Added heads, limbs, attributes, mounts, and de-restorations changed identities and generated enduring titles.

“Romanization” is a question about uneven systems.

Law, language, extraction, cult, status, labour, domestic display, and funerary practice changed at different rates and under unequal power.

Museum formation determines what can now be known.

Excavation, state transfer, royal collection, antiquities trade, donation, bequest, conservation, and current display produce different degrees of contextual certainty.

Critical register

Start with twelve. Keep all forty-four.

The short view foregrounds panel case studies; the full view preserves every grouped entry from the audited register. Each record distinguishes secure documentation from attribution, interpretation, and unresolved legacy claims.

Showing 12 panel case studies from a 44-entry research register.

MAN31920 “Priest of Cádiz” 7th c. BCE Phoenician/PunicExchange and mobilityRitual and funerary practice Display not verified—check with museum A: material/date/found city. B: eastern manufacture, supported by alloy. C: “priest”; deity or protective figure remains possible.

“Priest of Cádiz”

Lost-wax bronze with hammered gold face; probably eastern/Phoenician manufacture, 7th c. BCE. Found at Cádiz/Gadir, but exact circumstances, accession route, and current case are not published in the indexed record.

Photo: Arantxa Boyero Lirón. Museo Arqueológico Nacional / CER.es. Official record. Encrypted private-research preview. Password required to view; publication requires separate museum permission.

MAN2025 Reshef statuette 9th–7th c. BCE Phoenician/PunicExchange and mobility Published locator: Room 10, case 7. A: catalogue identity and locator. B/C: armed Levantine god Reshef; transfer of cult and iconography can be discussed, but not an Iberian find context.

Reshef statuette

Eastern Mediterranean bronze, 9th–7th c. BCE; specific findspot and accession history not supplied. Room 10, case 7.

Image not reproduced. MAN study

MAN33438 Lady of Galera c.425–401 BCE · 7th c. BCE Phoenician/PunicExchange and mobilityRitual and funerary practice Published locator: Room 11, case 15. A: separated production and burial dates, tomb, collection route. B/C: libation/unction mechanism and goddess. Astarte is plausible, not certain. Older “4th c.” summaries conflict with CERES’s late-5th-c. amortization.

Lady of Galera

Carved, hollow, perforated alabaster; Phoenician production, 7th c. BCE; deposited c.425–401 BCE in tomb 20, Tútugi, Galera. Looted after the 1916 discovery; acquired by a Siret collaborator; Siret donation, 24 Apr. 1928. Room 11, case 15.

Photo: Santiago Relanzón. Museo Arqueológico Nacional / CER.es. Official record. Encrypted private-research preview. Password required to view; publication requires separate museum permission.

MAN1923/60/541 Lady of Ibiza 4th–3rd c. BCE Phoenician/PunicExchange and mobilityRitual and funerary practice Published locator: Room 15, case 15.3. A: workshop, context, dimensions. C: Tanit, divinized deceased, or funerary offering all remain possible. Inventory prefix is not proof of 1923 accession.

Lady of Ibiza

Local Ebusitan/Punic mould-made terracotta, 4th–3rd c. BCE, from Puig des Molins. Vives collection; an older guide reports acquisition in 1928. Room 15, case 15.3.

MAN1923/60/502 Tanit votive bust 4th–2nd c. BCE Phoenician/PunicExchange and mobility Display not verified—check with museum A: sanctuary context and broad date. B: association with Tanit is stronger here than for the Lady of Ibiza because of the sanctuary assemblage, but the individual icon still requires typological argument.

Tanit votive bust

Moulded Punic terracotta, 4th–2nd c. BCE, from the sanctuary of Es Culleram, Ibiza. Probably Vives corpus; individual accession method and display unverified.

Image not reproduced. CERES result

MAN1923/60/1416 Punic razor 6th c. BCE Phoenician/PunicRitual and funerary practice Display not verified—check with museum A/B: object, imagery, context, broad production. C: ritual/apotropaic force beyond practical grooming.

Punic razor

Cast and engraved eastern Mediterranean bronze, 6th c. BCE, from a Puig des Molins funerary context; figures, animals, instruments, and a duck-shaped handle. Vives association probable; precise accession and display unverified.

Image not reproduced. CERES result

MAN1935/4VILL/T609/7 painted ostrich egg 6th–5th c. BCE Phoenician/PunicExchange and mobilityRitual and funerary practice Display not verified—check with museum A: tomb, material, use as container. B/C: vegetal imagery and ideas of life/death; do not infer a fixed “Punic belief” from one object.

painted ostrich egg

Painted ostrich eggshell, 6th–5th c. BCE, emptied for use as a funerary container in tomb 609, Villaricos. Siret collection/donation; display unverified.

Image not reproduced. CERES result

MAN1923/60/256 Punic male mask 4th–3rd c. BCE Phoenician/PunicRitual and funerary practiceCollecting and provenance Display not verified—check with museum A: context/date/material. C: funerary or apotropaic function. “Mask” does not by itself establish whether it was worn, displayed, or deposited.

Punic male mask

Mould-made oxidizing-fired clay, 4th–3rd c. BCE, from Puig des Molins. Probably Vives corpus; exact acquisition and display unverified.

Image not reproduced. CERES result

MAN1935/4VILL/T52-I/1 and /4 Ariadne krater and Iberian lid c.375–351 BCE Phoenician/PunicExchange and mobilityRitual and funerary practice Display not verified—check with museum A: object pairing and tomb assemblage. B: Attic workshop and date. The “Greek object = Greek person” inference is rejected; Greek production, Iberian adaptation, and Punic-context deposition are separate facts.

Ariadne krater and Iberian lid

Attic red-figure krater, c.375–351 BCE, fitted with an Iberian lid and reused as the urn for a woman and child in tomb 52-I, Villaricos. Siret collection/donation; display status not established.

MAN1993/67/1551 Hispano-Carthaginian trishekel 237–227 BCE Phoenician/PunicExchange and mobility Display not verified—check with museum A: inventory, denomination, metal, issuer, date, and reported provenience. B: connection to Barcid military/fiscal mobilization. Coin movement prevents treating findspot as a simple border of political control.

Hispano-Carthaginian trishekel

Silver issue of Carthage, 237–227 BCE; reported provenience Mazarrón. The current thematic route displays a trishekel in room 16, case 1, but its public page does not expose the inventory match, so this registered coin’s display status is unverified.

Photo: Raúl Fernández Ruiz. Museo Arqueológico Nacional / CER.es. Official record. Encrypted private-research preview. Password required to view; publication requires separate museum permission.

MAN1999/99/26 neck amphora with prothesis 730–720 BCE Greek/HellenisticExchange and mobilityRitual and funerary practice Display not verified—check with museum A: object/date/collection entry. B: funerary iconography. It informs Athenian funerary representation, not its own lost assemblage.

neck amphora with prothesis

Attic Geometric clay vessel, 730–720 BCE, depicting a deceased person on a bier and mourners. Original findspot and grave context unrecorded. Várez Fisa collection; entered MAN in 1999, exact legal form not stated in indexed text.

Image not reproduced. CERES result

MAN11008 bilingual amphora, Andokides/Psiax c.510 BCE Greek/HellenisticExchange and mobilityCollecting and provenance Display not verified—check with museum A: signature and collection entry. B: Psiax attribution. Conflict: MAN highlight says 530 BCE; live CERES says c.510 BCE. Preserve both pending review.

bilingual amphora, Andokides/Psiax

Attic black- and red-figure, signed ANDOKIDES EPOIESEN; CERES c.510 BCE. Ancient findspot not established. Marqués de Salamanca collection; State purchase, 1874.

Photo: Ángel Martínez Levas. Museo Arqueológico Nacional / CER.es. Official record. Encrypted private-research preview. Password required to view; publication requires separate museum permission.

MAN11010 Perseus and Medusa bell krater 460–450 BCE Greek/HellenisticExchange and mobilityCollecting and provenance Display not verified—check with museum B: workshop and reported provenience. A: named collection. Exact transfer chain should be verified in object files before asserting each step.

Perseus and Medusa bell krater

Attic red figure, Painter of Villa Giulia, 460–450 BCE. Reported provenience/findspot: Capua. Royal Collection; passed through Bourbon/royal antiquities holdings and foundational MAN collections.

Image not reproduced. CERES result

MAN11265 Aison cup c.420 BCE Greek/HellenisticCivic life, law, and powerCollecting and provenance Published locator: Room 36, case 36.28. A: signature, object and modern provenance. B: symposium and civic self-fashioning interpretation. Ancient excavation context is absent.

Aison cup

Attic red-figure kylix signed AISON EGRAPSEN, c.420 BCE; provenience recorded only as “Italy.” Salamanca collection; State purchase, 1874. Room 36, case 36.28.

Photo: Fernando Velasco Mora. Museo Arqueológico Nacional / CER.es. Official record. Encrypted private-research preview. Password required to view; publication requires separate museum permission.

MAN11094 Asteas krater, Madness of Herakles 350–320 BCE Greek/HellenisticRitual and funerary practiceCollecting and provenance Display not verified—check with museum A: signature and collection history. B: theatrical staging and South Italian funerary/display context. Do not call it “Attic Greek.”

Asteas krater, Madness of Herakles

Signed Paestan red-figure calyx krater, 350–320 BCE, from Paestum; staged Herakles/Mania myth and Dionysiac reverse. Salamanca collection; State purchase, 1874.

MAN2015/97/1 Orpheus amphora 330–320 BCE Greek/HellenisticExchange and mobilityRitual and funerary practice Display not verified—check with museum A: accession/date/object. B: painter attribution. B/C: Orphic salvation or soul guidance; not simply the Eurydice story. Provenance research is a priority.

Orpheus amphora

Apulian red figure, Baltimore Painter, 330–320 BCE; Orpheus before Hades and Persephone with a funerary naiskos. Ancient findspot not published. State acquisition for MAN, 2015; pre-market chain and acquisition formula absent from public record.

Image not reproduced. MAN acquisition; CERES result

MAN18536 Centaur of Royos first half of 6th c. BCE · 6th c. BCE Greek/HellenisticCollecting and provenance Display not verified—check with museum A: find region/donation. B: Greek manufacture and attachment function. It is evidence of object mobility and local reception, not a Greek settlement at Royos.

Centaur of Royos

Greek lost-wax bronze, first half of 6th c. BCE; found at Royos, Murcia, precise position uncertain; probably a luxury-utensil attachment. Donated by Eulogio Saavedra, 1897; in Protohistory sequence, exact case not published.

Photo: Fabián Álvarez Martín. Museo Arqueológico Nacional / CER.es. Official record. Encrypted private-research preview. Password required to view; publication requires separate museum permission.

MAN16736 Lex Coloniae Genetivae Iuliae, tablet second half 1st c. CE · 1st c. CE Roman/Graeco-RomanCivic life, law, and powerCopying, restoration, and reception Display not verified—check with museum A: inscription/find city. Conflict: MAN highlight dates the object 20–24 CE; CERES dates the surviving tablets Flavian. Separate legal archetype, later annotation, and extant copy.

Lex Coloniae Genetivae Iuliae, tablet

Incised bronze copy, found at Urso/Osuna in 1870; preserves chapters on calendar, priesthoods and administration from an earlier statute. Current CERES: Flavian, second half 1st c. CE. Accession records conflict between late 1870s and 1898; display locator unconfirmed.

MAN20332 Livia as Fortuna/Abundantia c.15–20 CE Roman/Graeco-RomanExchange and mobility Display not verified—check with museum A/B: findspot, date, portrait identification. B/C: assimilation to Fortuna/Abundantia through cornucopia and pose. Do not confuse with MAN 2737 from Paestum.

Livia as Fortuna/Abundantia

Marble, c.15–20 CE, from Cerro del Minguillar/Iponuba, Baena. Accession method and current case not stated publicly.

Photo: Enrique Sáenz de San Pedro. Museo Arqueológico Nacional / CER.es. Official record. Encrypted private-research preview. Password required to view; publication requires separate museum permission.

MAN1927/64/7 Standard of Pollentia 176–225 CE Roman/Graeco-RomanCivic life, law, and power Published locator: Room 18, case 18.8. A: context, association, imagery and locator. Older “2nd c.” summary is less precise than current late-2nd/early-3rd range.

Standard of Pollentia

Cast, moulded and hammered bronze, 176–225 CE, from Pollentia; standard of a collegium iuvenum with protective deities and spaces probably once holding imperial portraits. Room 18, case 18.8.

MAN3600 and 3601 gladiator mosaics 4th c. CE Roman/Graeco-RomanCollecting and provenance Display not verified—check with museum A: find history and collection route. These are Italian Roman works within Hispania Romana, not excavated evidence from Spain.

gladiator mosaics

Roman opus tessellatum, 3rd–early 4th c. CE, found on the Caelian in Rome in 1670. Cardinal Camillo Massimo → Charles III, 1760 → royal holdings → foundational MAN lot, 1867.

Image not reproduced. CERES 3600; MAN

MAN38315BIS Twelve Labours of Hercules mosaic 3rd c. CE Roman/Graeco-RomanExchange and mobility Published locator: Room 22 A: findspot/date/transfer. B: elite domestic display. Sources alternate between villa and domus. Herakles/Omphale supports a gender-performance reading, not a claim about the owner.

Twelve Labours of Hercules mosaic

Limestone/glass tesserae, first third 3rd c. CE, from Pla dels Arens/Ca Porcar, Llíria-Edeta; discovered 1917 and transferred in 1942. Room 22.

Photo: José Barea. Museo Arqueológico Nacional / CER.es. Official record. Encrypted private-research preview. Password required to view; publication requires separate museum permission.

MAN2839 Orestes/Husillos sarcophagus 126–175 CE Roman/Graeco-RomanExchange and mobility Display not verified—check with museum A: later location and transfer. B: workshop/date/iconography. Imported Roman luxury sculpture with a Spanish use-history, not necessarily a Hispano-Roman workshop product.

Orestes/Husillos sarcophagus

Roman marble workshop, 126–175 CE; later preserved/reused at Santa María de Dehesa Brava, Husillos. Documented there since 16th c.; state transfer, accession file 1870/9.

Image not reproduced. MAN study; MAN route

MAN2691 Puteal de la Moncloa 1st c. CE Roman/Graeco-RomanExchange and mobilityCollecting and provenance Display not verified—check with museum A: royal ownership route after Christina. B: date/function. A minor documentary note conflicts with the detailed royal-palace chain; flag it.

Puteal de la Moncloa

Neo-Attic Roman marble wellhead, 1st c. CE, with Athena’s birth; original ancient findspot unstated. Christina → Azzolino → Odescalchi/Erba → Felipe V → royal sites → MAN, 1868.

Image not reproduced. CERES

MAN2014/107/1 pedestal for L. Valerius Propinquus 2nd c. CE Roman/Graeco-RomanCivic life, law, and powerCollecting and provenance Display not verified—check with museum A: inscription/find city/collection. Strong evidence for municipal networks, priesthood and public commemoration; do not reconstruct the lost statue beyond the base.

pedestal for L. Valerius Propinquus

Marble honorific base, 2nd c. CE, from Dianium/Dénia; public monument honouring a provincial flamen. Casa Loring collection; entered MAN 2014; current case and legal formula unstated.

Image not reproduced. MAN acquisition

MAN1936/39/1 Ctesibius-type hydraulic pump 1st–2nd c. CE Roman/Graeco-RomanCivic life, law, and power Display not verified—check with museum A/B: mining context, type, material. Interpret engineering with extraction, maintenance, labour status and fiscal beneficiaries—not as decontextualized “Roman ingenuity.”

Ctesibius-type hydraulic pump

Bronze, 1st–2nd c. CE, from Sotiel-Coronada mine, Calañas. Display status unverified.

Image not reproduced. CERES query

PradoO001834 Melqart / tuna 237–206 BCE Phoenician/PunicExchange and mobilityCivic life, law, and power Catalogued not on display Secure colonial coin; useful for Gadir during the Barcid/Roman-war horizon. Without findspot, it is not an archaeological map.

Melqart / tuna

Gadir/Gades, 237–206 BCE; bronze; Melqart in lion skin with club, tuna, Phoenician mem and aleph.

© Madrid, Museo Nacional del Prado. Official record. Encrypted private-research preview. Password required to view; publication requires separate museum permission.

PradoO002699 Heracles / horse 4th–3rd c. BCE Phoenician/PunicExchange and mobility Catalogued not on display Exemplary Greek iconographic vocabulary plus Punic script. Catalogue’s expansion of the legend is tentative.

Heracles / horse

Carthage, 4th–3rd c. BCE; silver tetradrachm, 16.17 g; Heracles, horse, palm, Punic legend.

PradoO001835 Bes / bull 2nd c. BCE Phoenician/PunicExchange and mobilityRitual and funerary practice Catalogued not on display Secure Ebusitan/Punic object. Divine identity is typologically strong; particular ritual meaning is not recoverable from type alone.

Bes / bull

Ebusus/Ibiza, 2nd c. BCE; bronze; Bes with feathered headdress, club and serpent; charging bull.

PradoO002706 Ceres / horse 3rd c. BCE Phoenician/PunicExchange and mobilityRitual and funerary practice Catalogued not on display “Ceres” is an interpretatio/classical catalogue label; separate visible type from certainty about the Punic deity.

Ceres / horse

Carthage, 3rd c. BCE; bronze; female head labelled Ceres, horse, palm, Phoenician tet.

Image not reproduced. Prado

PradoO002721 Bacchus / club in wreath 1st c. BCE Phoenician/PunicExchange and mobilityCivic life, law, and power Catalogued not on display Secure Neo-Punic civic issue; “Bacchus” may translate a locally understood god through Greco-Roman naming.

Bacchus / club in wreath

Leptis Magna, 1st c. BCE; bronze; divine head, club, laurel wreath, Neo-Punic legend.

Image not reproduced. Prado

PradoE000437 small kouros c.545 BCE Greek/HellenisticExchange and mobilityCollecting and provenance Published locator: Room 72 B: workshop/date/votive role. A: donation. One of the Prado’s two recognized Archaic Greek originals, but context-poor.

small kouros

Naxian marble, c.545 BCE, probably votive; ancient findspot undocumented. Marius de Zayas donation, 1944. Room 72.

PradoE000438 horse head c.515 BCE Greek/HellenisticExchange and mobilityCopying, restoration, and reception Published locator: Room 72 B: workshop and scale. C: architectural setting or team. Secure Greek carving cannot restore a lost assemblage.

horse head

Attic marble, c.515 BCE, from a c.2.2 m horse; ancient findspot and original setting unknown. De Zayas donation, 1944. Room 72.

Image not reproduced. Prado

PradoE000099 colossal ruler head, probably Demetrios I 307–300 BCE Greek/HellenisticCollecting and provenance Published locator: Room 72 A/B: ancient bronze and royal chain. C: Demetrios I identification; museum reviews alternatives. Use “probably.”

colossal ruler head, probably Demetrios I

Hellenistic cast/chased bronze, 307–300 BCE; ancient context unknown. Christina → Azzolino → Odescalchi → Felipe V/La Granja. Room 72.

PradoO000043 sardonyx eagle-head cup 323–321 BCE? Greek/HellenisticCopying, restoration, and receptionCollecting and provenance Published locator: Room 79B A: early-modern mounts/provenance. C: date and Hellenistic attribution of the stone body explicitly carry a question mark. Composite, not wholly ancient.

sardonyx eagle-head cup

Stone body tentatively Hellenistic, 323–321 BCE?; French mounts after 1689. Dauphin’s Treasure → Felipe V → Royal Cabinet of Natural History → Prado; dragon handle stolen 1918. Room 79B.

Image not reproduced. Prado

PradoE000028 San Ildefonso Group c.10 BCE Roman/Graeco-RomanCopying, restoration, and reception Published locator: Room 71 A/B: Roman date/model relations and chain. C: “Orestes and Pylades.” Assign “ancient” component by component.

San Ildefonso Group

Pasiteles school, c.10 BCE, Carrara marble; Augustan combination of Greek models. Ludovisi → Massimo → Christina → Odescalchi → Isabel de Farnesio. Added limbs; one head replaced with ancient Antinous portrait. Room 71.

PradoE000037/38/40/41/61/62/68/69 eight Muses c.130–150 CE Roman/Graeco-RomanCopying, restoration, and reception Published locator: Ábside A/B: group history and Urania intervention. Ancient/Baroque proportions vary object by object; do not infer an exact count from one group record.

eight Muses

Roman, c.130–150 CE, after Hellenistic models. Ligorio’s reported Hadrian’s Villa origin is highly probable, not certain. Villa Madama → Christina → Odescalchi → Isabel de Farnesio. Attributes were completed mostly in the 17th c.; Urania received a new head and attributes; Ferrata completed the group. Urania: Ábside.

PradoE000117 woman with Flavian coiffure c.90–110 CE Roman/Graeco-RomanCollecting and provenance Published locator: North Ionic Gallery A/B: portrait/date/history. Hairstyle relates to Julia daughter of Titus; it does not identify this sitter as Julia.

woman with Flavian coiffure

Roman marble portrait, c.90–110 CE. Royal collection by Felipe II; later Felipe V/La Granja. Comparatively intact apart from minor repairs. North Ionic Gallery.

Image not reproduced. Prado

PradoE000088 Diadumenus c.140–150 CE · c.420 BCE Roman/Graeco-RomanCopying, restoration, and reception Published locator: Room 73 A/B: Roman copy and model. Restoration generated identification. Never label the surviving marble a Greek original.

Diadumenus

Roman, c.140–150 CE, after Polykleitos’s Greek bronze c.420 BCE. Christina → Odescalchi → Isabel de Farnesio; major 17th-c. completion generated several past identities. Room 73.

PradoE000167 Sleeping Ariadne c.150–175 CE Roman/Graeco-RomanCopying, restoration, and reception Published locator: Room 74 A/B: production/model/restoration. C: Ariadne versus exhausted maenad. Verify after the summer-2026 rehang.

Sleeping Ariadne

Roman, c.150–175 CE, after a 2nd-c. BCE Greek model; restored in Bernini’s workshop. Christina → Odescalchi → Felipe V; Prado 1830. Catalogue Room 74.

PradoE000225 so-called Apotheosis of Claudius c.10–20 CE Roman/Graeco-RomanExchange and mobilityRitual and funerary practice Published locator: Room 25 A: intervention/removal chronology. Current research rejects the Messalla Corvinus funerary theory. The title records Boselli’s interpretation, not the ancient subject.

so-called Apotheosis of Claudius

Augustan victory group, c.10–20 CE, found near Bovillae on land linked to the gens Claudia. Boselli created the Claudian apotheosis in the 17th c.; c.1560 pedestal associated by 1686; Michel supplied a replacement bust in 1785. Colonna gift to Felipe IV, 1664. Bust removed in 1999 and catalogued E000643; remaining group in Room 25.

PradoE000118 plus E000120/180/182 Achilles/Polyxena sarcophagus fragments c.250 CE Roman/Graeco-RomanExchange and mobilityRitual and funerary practice Published locator: Room 72 A/B: material/style/date/myth. C/D: exact findspot and early owner. Greek myth in Roman funerary manufacture.

Achilles/Polyxena sarcophagus fragments

Neo-Attic Roman workshop, c.250 CE, Afyon-Docimium marble. Reportedly found near Bay of Naples before 1776; Carlos III attribution questioned. Room 72.

PradoE000125 Constantine the Great 312–325 CE Roman/Graeco-RomanCollecting and provenance Catalogued not on display B: date/portrait type. Absence from gallery limits comparison with MAN’s late Roman sequence.

Constantine the Great

Roman Carrara-marble portrait replica, 312–325 CE; Felipe V collection. Not displayed.

Image not reproduced. Prado

PradoE000098 Hermes-Sakkon c.100–110 CE Roman/Graeco-RomanExchange and mobility Published locator: Room 73 B: Roman/Graeco-Roman. A Piraeus sanctuary parallel informs religious translation; it does not make this object Punic.

Hermes-Sakkon

Roman herma, c.100–110 CE, after early-4th-c. BCE Greek prototype. Marqués del Carpio → Casa de Alba → Felipe V/La Granja. Room 73.

Image not reproduced. Prado

Historical frame

Overlap, not cultural succession

Phoenician/Punic, Greek, Iberian, and Roman histories overlap. Imports record circulation and selection; they do not draw ethnic or political borders.

Phoenician / Punic

settlement · western cities · Punic networks · Barcid horizon

Lady of Galera Villaricos Gadir coin

Greek networks

contact · intensified exchange · western selection and reuse

Centaur of Royos Bilingual amphora Ariadne krater

Roman systems

conquest · law · extraction · civic and domestic life

Lex Pollentia Roman copying

Museum afterlives

collect · restore · classify · display

Apotheosis Panel method

9th–8th c. BCE: sustained western Phoenician settlement develops within existing Iberian exchange worlds.
7th–6th: Phoenician expansion and western restructuring overlap with intensified Greek contact.
5th–4th: Greek exchange consolidates while Punic networks continue and expand.
3rd: Barcid power and the Second Punic War reshape—but do not originate—western connections.
2nd–1st: Roman conquest and administration proceed unevenly.
1st–3rd CE: law, extraction, portraiture, cult, domestic display, and funerary practice articulate Roman rule.
16th–21st: restoration, royal collecting, national museums, conservation, and digital catalogues create new object lives.

The seven-stage object biography

Lady of Galera

MAN 33438

7th c. BCEPhoenician manufacture
Liquid-flow vesselRitual use probable
425–401 BCEIberian tomb 20, Tútugi
1916 onwardDiscovery, looting, dispersal
1928Siret donation to MAN
ResearchMechanism reconstructed
Room 11Published case 15

Ariadne krater

MAN 1935/4VILL/T52-I/1 + /4

375–351 BCEAttic red figure
Western selectionImported vessel
Tomb 52-IIberian lid; woman + child
VillaricosPunic-context excavation
Siret collectionDonation to MAN
CompositeKrater and lid stay distinct
UnverifiedCheck current display

Field route

One day, two different questions

Display information is a dated operational snapshot. Recheck rooms, closures, temporary exhibitions, and hours immediately before travel.

09:30–12:45

Museo Arqueológico Nacional

09:30
Orientation
Read the museum-history framing before treating displays as transparent windows onto the past.
09:45
Protohistory · rooms 10–17
Confirmed: Reshef room 10/case 7; Lady of Galera room 11/case 15; Lady of Ibiza room 15/case 15.3. Ask the desk about the Priest of Cádiz. A route page places a trishekel in room 16/case 1 but does not expose its inventory.
10:55
Hispania Romana · rooms 18–22
Confirmed: Pollentia standard room 18/case 18.8 and Llíria mosaic room 22. The current cases for the Lex, pump, and Husillos sarcophagus were not verified.
11:50
Greece · room 36
Compare Attic, Paestan, and Apulian vessels; inspect signatures, reconstruction, and collecting history.

14:30–16:45

Museo Nacional del Prado

14:30
Rooms 71–72
San Ildefonso components, Greek originals, probable Demetrios, and Roman Neo-Attic sarcophagus fragments.
15:10
Rooms 73–74
Diadumenus, Hermes-Sakkon, and Sleeping Ariadne if the announced Room 74 installation is open.
15:50
Ábside and North Ionic Gallery
Use Urania and the Roman portrait to read restoration and royal display as part of the artifact.
16:20
Room 25
End with the Augustan victory group later made into the so-called Apotheosis of Claudius.

Method & panel

Grade claims, not objects

One object may have a secure inventory number, probable workshop attribution, possible divine identity, and undocumented early ownership. Those statements must not inherit one blanket confidence score.

A Direct or documented: Controlled context, inscription, analysis, or secure museum documentation.
B Strong attribution: Typology, workshop, close parallel, or documented early collecting record.
C Plausible interpretation: Iconographic or historical inference with credible alternatives.
D Legacy or gap: Unverified tradition, undocumented market history, or claim requiring archival testing.

Panel rules

Compare the museums asymmetrically.
Keep Phoenician, Punic, and Carthaginian distinct.
Give objects more than one date.
Separate archaeological provenience from ownership provenance.
Treat restoration and de-restoration as evidence.
Preserve catalogue disagreement.
Never infer ethnicity or political control from one mobile object.

Digital production controls

All 44 grouped entries remain reachable without JavaScript.
Curated scope reduces the first decision to 12 case studies.
Filters describe research frames, not fixed ethnic identities.
Images never crop coins, vessels, inscriptions, or composites.
Desktop, tablet, phone, keyboard, print, and reduced-motion states are tested.
Publication rights are kept separate from object copyright.

Proposed ten-seat live panel

The completed work was an AI-assisted, role-based desk panel. The named candidates in the full charter are suggestions only; no external person was contacted, participated, reviewed, or endorsed the findings.

Seat	Required competence	Primary output
Independent chair	Source criticism and conflicts of interest	Claim ledger and minority findings
Phoenician/Punic Iberia	Western cities, Barcid expansion, funerary archaeology	Chronology and terminology review
MAN Protohistory	Iberian contexts and collection historiography	Object-context corrections
Greek pottery and exchange	Attic, South Italian, and Iberian-context ceramics	Production/use/deposition matrix
Roman Hispania and epigraphy	Law, municipalities, language, provincial archaeology	Lex and Romanization review
Prado ancient sculpture	Roman copies, Greek models, royal collection	Component-level sculpture review
Numismatics	Phoenician scripts, mints, metrology, circulation	Coin readings and confidence notes
Conservation and archaeometry	Materials science, interventions, technical imaging	Component and analysis priorities
Provenance and heritage ethics	Ownership research, market archives, cultural-property law	Gap and due-diligence review
Web design and UI	Digital public humanities, responsive UX, accessibility	Task flows, interface audit, inclusive delivery

Image-use boundary

The 24 museum photographs are private research previews, not publication-cleared assets. The pushed review build contains encrypted payloads only; a password authorizes viewing, not publication. MAN/CER.es and Prado rights terms require separate authorization before any openly viewable or redistributed image use.

Sources & limits

Catalogue data is evidence—not an infallible interpretation

The research begins with official object records, tests museum framing against peer-reviewed scholarship, and records disagreement rather than silently harmonizing it.

Institutional anchors

Research anchors

Disagreement ledger

MAN bilingual amphora: 530 or c. 510 BCE?

The MAN highlight and current CERES catalogue diverge. This dossier preserves both and uses the current database dating provisionally.

Lex Coloniae: Caesarian law, early-imperial tablet, or Flavian copy?

Separate the legal archetype, amendments, and surviving bronze copy instead of assigning one date to every layer.

Lady of Galera: fourth century or 425–401 BCE deposition?

Use the current CERES amortization range while retaining the older wording as historiographic evidence.

Pollentia standard: second century or 176–225 CE?

The current catalogue range is more precise; the older short label is retained as a simplification.

Hellenistic ruler: Demetrios I?

The traditional identification is probable, not certain. Competing portrait identifications remain visible.

Sleeping Ariadne or exhausted maenad?

The type and Roman work are secure enough for discussion; the named mythic identity remains open.

Apotheosis of Claudius or Augustan victory monument?

The ancient group is a victory composition. “Claudius” records Boselli’s seventeenth-century intervention, not its original subject.

Prado coin totals: 946 Iberian coins or 943 coins overall?

Institutional summaries conflict. The dossier does not force a reconciliation without collection-level documentation.

Full research packet

The deep-research dossier, 44-entry register, image-rights ledger, panel charter, source notes, and production plan remain in the local research workspace. They are intentionally excluded from the public web deployment; this interface incorporates their audited findings.