Tintinnabulum in the Form of an Ithyphallic Gladiator
1st Century BC
Roman
The tintinnabulum, equipped with four little bells linked to four small chains, depicts a gladiator. He holds a dagger in one hand and a manica or arm-guard in the other. Portrayed with his arms raised and advancing, the gladiator fights against his own phallus which becomes a wild beast with a wide-open mouth, about to pounce on him. The ithyphallic tintinnabula had a heavily apotropaic value, stemming from the combination of the phallic symbol, bestower of good fortune and prosperity, with sound, which had always been used to ward off evil. They were sometimes used during sumptuous banquets to announce a new course; more frequently they were hung in private houses and especially in public buildings so that they chimed when visitors passed and warded off the evil eye.
(via decastromaia)
G. Lippsmeier and F. Reiser, German Pavilion at the Industrial Exhibition, Khartoum, Sudan
Jan Duiker. Cliostraat Openluchtschool voor het Gezonde Kind (Open-air school for the healthy child), Amsterdam. 1927-30
(Source: centuryofthechild, via uekou77)
