Folia archeologica 45.
Beszédes József: Dioscuros ábrázolású sarokkő Alsóhetényből
162 MIHÁL.Y NAGY hanging objects, resembling to plaits of hair, independent from the figure's clothes. Muses were represented on the casket from Tordas too. 2 4 On one of the caskets from Kisárpás-Mórichida, four Muses, Melpomene, Clio, Euterpe and Thalia were represented; the latter two beside each other on the same sheet. The posture, wear and attributes of Thalia are identical with those on the casket of Felcsút 2 5 and Lovas. Euterpe and Thalia are portrayed similarly, beside each other on both caskets, and the folds on Euterpe's himation occur in a misinterpreted version beside the figure of the first Muse on the Lovas casket (Fig. 2 and 4). Euterpe and Thalia appear beside each other, with the same attributes and similar posture on the Muse casket of the Esquiline Treasure as well. This type of perfume caskets could serve as a prototype for the more simple provincial versions, during the second half of the 4th century A.D. 2 6 The above mentioned folds appear on a casket from Keszthely-Fenékpuszta too, 2 7 this time with a pearled boraer. On the panels of this casket the vine-branches and snakes consist of rows of pearls, the latter being similar to the snakes on the Lovas casket (Fig. 8). 2 8 On both caskets appears a figure playing tire lyre (Fig. 5). Bellerophon riding Pegasus, appears both on the casket of Dunapentele, 29 and on a third casket from Kisárpás-Mórichida, which Dorottya Gáspár lists among the closest typolgical parallels of the Lovas casket. 3 0 On the Dunapentele and Kisárpás caskets Pegasus has large wings, but on the Lovas panel the wings are atrophic (Figs. 5 and 7), similarly to the representation on the casket from Királyszentistván 3 1, dated by Dorottya Gáspár about 400 A.D. As already Radnóti noted, there are no traces of Christian symbols neither on the Dunapentele, nor on the Lovas casket. As the craftsman of the moulds of the mounts for the panels of the latter one obviously follows the tradition of the caskets distributed in the northeastern part of Pannónia, dated to the second half of the 4th century A.D., we can date the Lovas casket to the same period, or slightly after, when the closest analogous piece, the Dunapentele casket was made, i.e. to the reign of emperor Julian. Like in the case of all artefacts, the inherent genetic f eatures of the Lovas casket too, had been determined by historical circumstances. The deterioration in style, the mistakes made during copying provincial prototypes, the misinterpretations and reinterpretations are due to these historical circumstances. The craftsman was a more or less skilled one, but seemingly, some of the mythological symbols were unfamiliar for him, and he only partly understood the contents of the pictures he copied. Following Radnóti, we can assume, that the master of the moulds was of barbarian origin who settled down in Eastern Panno2 4 Bánki 1967-1968, 233-234. The author dates the burials to the last third of the 4th century, but before 375 A.D., and points out the foreign, barbarian elements in the cemetery, establishing their probable Sarmatian origin. Cf. Gáspár 1986, 273, cat. no. 1331 Pl. XLIV. TÍie following muses were portrayed on the "Tordas mounts: Melpomene, Erato, Clio and Polyhymnia; the latter being named as POLIOTMA. This misspelling correlates with the misinterpretation of the copied prototypes in the case of the Lovas casket, and is characteristic to this period. We find similar misinterpretations on barbarian copies of gold medallions, e.g. during tne reign of Valens, see: Alföldi 1929-1930, 14-15. 2 5 See note 23 above. 2 6Shelton 1981, 75-77. The author on p. 69 dates the treasure as a whole between 330 and 370 A.D. 2 7 Gáspár 1986, 211-212, cat. no. 791 Pis. XIV-XV. 2 8Similar motifs appear on a casket from Kisárpás-Mórichida: Gáspár 1986, 218, cat. no. 838 Pl. XIII. Sceptres, standards, lances and folds of garments usually appear as rows of pearls on imperial portraits, during the second half of the 4th century A.D.; see Delbrueck 1933, Pis. 12-14 and 16. 2 9 See note 11 above. 3 0Gáspár 1986, 218, cat. no. 837, Pl. IX. 5 1Gáspár 1986, 214-215, cat. no. 808, Pl. XXXIII. 3 2 See notes 11-13 above. 3 3Radnóti 1957, 277-278.
