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Restoration of Caligula's Barge - The Nemi Ship

The Nemi Ships were huge and exceedingly luxurious ships built by the Roman emperor Caligula in the first century CE at Lake Nemi a few kilometers south of Rome. one of the ships was designed as a temple that was dedicated to Diana (the Roman equivalent of Artemis). However, the larger ship was essentially an elaborate floating palace, which counted marble floors and plumbing among its amenities, the sole role of which was to satisfy Caligula's increasingly self-indulgent behavior. It has been stated that the emperor was influenced by the lavish lifestyles of the Hellenistic rulers of Syracuse and Ptolemaic Egypt. - source Wikipedia.

Below is the original Lake Nemi ship illustration of the "floating palace" from the July 1906 issue of American Scientific Magazine:

Here is the full text from the Scientific American, JULY 1906.

IMPERIAL ROMAN GALLEY-"Buried under the waters of Lake Nemi lie two pleasure galleys, which belonged to the Emperors Tiberius and Caligula, and which contain art treasures that have been coveted for five hundred years. It is because of their unusual size (war galleys were much smaller) that the vessels, it is inferred, must have been used as pleasure barges. From the investigations of the divers we may glean much of the construction of the vessels, even though we may not be able to present an absolutely accurate restoration [see illustration)."

The illustrator attribution appears to be C.H.Knight-Smith, about whom we have no information. We have confirmed that he is not the artist Hugh Knight Smith, via his relatives.

The Nemi ship picture below is our restoration. We would charge $US 150 for a similar restoration. Our range is from $US 100 to $US 250, depending on the condition of the original photograph and the complexities of colorization.

Caligula's Barge (one of two Nemi ships) - Color Version Copyright © 2006 Pixel Paradox. We license the use of this picture under the Creative Commons agreement. You must leave the picture credit text, in place, on the image. Host the picture on your own site.