Vulcan (mythology) the Capitoline Hill. The Volcanalia sacrifice was offered here to Vulcan, on August 23. Vulcan also had a temple on the Campus Martius, which was in existence by 214 BC. The Romans identified Vulcan with the Greek smith-god Hephaestus. Vulcan became associated like his Greek counterpart with the constructive use of fire in metalworking. A fragment of a Greek pot showing Hephaestus found at the Volcanal has been dated to the 6th century BC, suggesting that the two gods were already associated at this date. However, Vulcan had a stronger association than Hephaestus with fire's destructive capacity, and a major
The Artist as Hephaestus 1987: an high bronze figure entitled "Selfportrait with a Strange Machine" (bought by the National Portrait Gallery in 1987, with a second version on display at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art from 1989 to 2010), and a bronze figure entitled "Portrait of the Artist as Vulcan" (sold at Christie's in London in 2006). Paolozzi donated a full-sized plaster and polystyrene version of "The Artist as Hephaestus" to the National Portrait Gallery in 1990. The Artist as Hephaestus The Artist as Hephaestus is a bronze statue by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, created in 1987. It depicts a standing human figure,