Koen,
That image is of the 'handfast' ceremony as it was called in earlier English. It's a ceremony of marriage or (less likely) of manumission.
The object held by the male is the legal document.
The object which stands before them a specialist in early Roman iconography could answer more certainly (or I could if I did a bit more work) but it's either the sacred fire, or a type of container where you cast your vote (the die is cast) and so symbolic of the risks and intended permanence of marriage.
* * * * (pause)...
haha - I went to check wiki to get details (which I should know but have forgotten) of exactly how the ritual went... and found the source of your picture.
tut-tut. Shouldn't tease!
That image is of the 'handfast' ceremony as it was called in earlier English. It's a ceremony of marriage or (less likely) of manumission.
The object held by the male is the legal document.
The object which stands before them a specialist in early Roman iconography could answer more certainly (or I could if I did a bit more work) but it's either the sacred fire, or a type of container where you cast your vote (the die is cast) and so symbolic of the risks and intended permanence of marriage.
* * * * (pause)...
haha - I went to check wiki to get details (which I should know but have forgotten) of exactly how the ritual went... and found the source of your picture.
tut-tut. Shouldn't tease!