CC0 · no rights reserved
Janiform Head Flask
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Called Janiform after Janus, the two-faced Roman god associated with doorways and beginnings, two-faced head flasks like this were popular across the Roman Empire. The faces themselves, quite similar to one another, could both represent Janus, although he is typically bearded and here the gender is unclear. Some other two-faced head flasks clearly differentiate between the two sides, showing one serious, the other smiling.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineJaniform Head Flask, 100–400 CE. Roman, probably Eastern Mediterranean. Glass, mold-blown; diameter: 4.6 cm (1 13/16 in.); overall: 6.4 cm (2 1/2 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of J. H. Wade, 1923.945
