Object details
Object number
SG7e2
Creator(s)
Roman
Title
Sarcophagus with Flying Erotes
Date
about 230
Medium
Crystalline Greek (Thrasian?) marble
Dimensions
50.8 x 195.6 x 57.2 cm (20 x 77 x 22 1/2 in.)
Provenance
Entered Isabella Stewart Gardner's collection by about 1900.
Commentary
This sarcophagus presents a common formula for memorializing the deceased during the 3rd century CE. Two nude erotes, or cupids, stretch along the front panel in flight. At center they hold a clipeus, or medallion, enclosing a portrait of the deceased—a female with a hairstyle dating to around 230 CE. Below the portrait are the personifications of the Earth and the Ocean, Tellus and Okeanos, whose presence on the sarcophagus invokes the cyclical nature of life.
Bibliography
Cornelius C. Vermeule III. "Roman Sarcophagi in America: A Short Inventory" in Philipp von Zabern (ed.). Festschrift für Friedrich Matz (Mainz, 1962), p. 101, no. 4.
Cornelius C. Vermeule III et al. Sculpture in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston, 1977), p. 46, no. 62. (as Roman, about 230 CE)
Cornelius C. Vermeule III. "Victory in Death: Roman Triumphal Art and Private Life." Fenway Court (1982), pp. 6-13, figs. 1, 4. (as Roman, about 250 CE)
Cornelius C. Vermeule III. "Classical Art" in James Thomas Herbert Baily (ed.). The Connoisseur: An Illustrated Magazine for Collectors, "Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum" (London, 1978), p. 48, no. 7. (as Roman, about 230 CE)
Gallery
Outside
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