Clipeus with Bust of Nike

Nike, the winged goddess of victory, reaches out from this shield-shaped roundel. The bust was cast separately and attached to the round backing. Nike wears a peplos over a button-sleeved chiton. Her hair, rolled back over the ears, falls in long tresses on her shoulders. The irises of her eyes are hollowed out, and were originally inlaid with a contrasting material. The items she once held in her outstretched are now missing, but were probably a victor’s palm branch and a wreath. This decorative appliqué may have been reused in antiquity. The four holes drilled through the roundel once held nails or rivets, attaching it to another object. A blob of lead on the back, however, suggests that at a later date the attachment was soldered on. Whether this was a repair to the original roundel, or a reuse on a different item is unclear.Figures in high relief were popular decorative attachments on many Roman household items, such as furniture, chests, and even chariots. Similar examples discovered at Pompeii suggest that such bronzes served as luxurious decoration for wooden furniture. In the late first century, high-relief figures, especially human busts and animal protomes, were set against a round background called a clipeus, or shield, because of its shape. These small-scale images echo much larger versions used to adorn Roman buildings, and they ultimately derive from the votive shields once hung on Greek temples.