Sarcophagus frontal. Rome, 2nd century AD.
White marble.
Some faults. Good state of preservation.
Measurements: 81.5 x 204 x 25 cm (with base); 63 x 213 x 13 cm (without base).
Important Roman sarcophagus frontal, in white marble. It is a high relief with the figures worked practically in the round, which gives sinuous movements to each of the bodies, which adopt studied counter-poses. The quality of the turning of the limbs, the drapery of the drapery and the trephine applied to the curls is remarkable. Among the types of sarcophagi that prevailed in the Imperial period, the so-called "Imago clipeata" was particularly noteworthy. Here we are dealing with a derivation of this model: the scene is arranged symmetrically on either side of a central medallion. In this case, the "imago-shield" does not reproduce the effigy of the deceased but the legend associated with him, in the manner of an epitaph. In terms of composition, the relief is characterised by this symmetry, resolved in the manner of a mirror image. That is to say, on each side of the shield, the erotes adopt opposite counter-posts (for example, if one tilts his hips and head to the left, the other tilts his head to the right). These minimal permutations give a singular rhythm to the whole. As for the iconography, we can see two winged allegories or nikés wrapped in chitons, which support the medallion. On each side, three erotes surround a figure standing on a scalloped plinth, carrying fruit offerings. This was a period, the 2nd century AD, when sarcophagus sculpture was particularly popular, as the custom of cremation (burial in an urn) was abandoned in favour of the inhumation system. The aristocratic classes commissioned sarcophagi in Carrara marble, of great artistic value, such as the one in question. The themes represented will vary, but in any case they will be linked to Roman funerary practices (iconography that will change with the arrival of Christianity, in Paleochristian sarcophagi). The frontal shown here can be iconographically linked to the representation of the seasons of the year, with their corresponding fruits, a theme that became popular in this period. This corresponds to the Greco-Roman view that all living things are integrated into the eternal cycle of nature.