Prótomos de mulas en camas en Volubilis / Mule Head beds in Volubilis

Resumen

En Volubilis, segunda ciudad en importancia de Mauritania en tiempos del rey Iuba II (23 a.C.-23), monarca muy culto, han aparecido varios bronces de arte helenístico fino. Se estudian tres cabezas de mulas que decoraban las cabeceras de camas. Las tres cabezas van decoradas con hojas de vid, o de hiedra y con una piel de pantera. Son de excelente arte de finales del helenismo. Sus paralelos se encuentran en Grecia, Priene, Pella y en la Walters Art Gallery de Baltimore. No decoran las camas romanas.

In Volubilis, the second largest city of Mauritania in the times of King Juba (23 BC-23), a  highly educated and sophisticated monarch, bronzes representative of the finest Hellenic art have been discovered. This article studies three mule heads that presided over the royal sleeping quarters, decorating the headboards. The three heads are decorated with what would appear to be vine leaves or ivy and a panther skin. They are excellent samples of the best in late Hellenic art. Their parallels are to be found in Greece, Priene, Pella and in the the Walters Art Gallery in Baltimore. They were not used to adorn Roman beds.