Crepereia Tryphaena

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The sarcophagus of Tryphaena

Crepereia Tryphaena was a young Roman woman, presumably about 20 years old, whose sarcophagus was found during the excavation works started in 1889 for the foundations of the Palace of Justice and for the construction of the Umberto I bridge over the Tiber in Rome. Among the items found in her sarcophagus were pieces of a funeral outfit, including a sculpted doll.

Discovery

Excavation photograph of the doll's kit in Crepereia Tryphaena's sarcophagus, described by goldsmith and antiquarian Augusto Castellani[1][2]

During the excavation, several archaeological finds came to light, including a group of five sarcophagi buried between the middle of the 2nd and the 3rd centuries AD; of these, two still sealed were named after members from the

same family: Crepereia Tryphaena and Crepereius Euhodus.[3] The two sarcophagi had been buried at the bottom of a well later filled with earth, and they were placed side by side and decorated only on two sides, as if they had been tombe bisome or double burial.[3]

On the marble case of the sarcophagus dedicated to Crepereia Tryphaena was

bas relief alluding to the girl's death. She is depicted as dormant on the funeral bed, with the head resting on her left shoulder. On the bed's side, near her feet, a veiled matrona is seated, staring at the deceased. At the bedside, a virile figure wearing a chlamys is posed in deep pain.[4]

The funeral equipment, present only in the Tryphaena

Archaeologist Rodolfo Lanciani,[3]
present at the excavations, wrote:

Removing the lid, and glancing at the corpse through the crystal of the clear and fresh water, we were strangely surprised by the appearance of the skull, which still appeared to be covered by her thick and long hair waving on the water. The fame of such an admirable discovery quickly attracted crowds of onlookers from the nearby neighborhood, so that the exhumation of Crepereia Tryphaena was accomplished with most solemn honors, and the memory of it will remain long years in the Prati district. The hair phenomenon is easily explained: through the filtering water, bulbs of an aquatic plant that produced very long ebony filaments had penetrated the hollow of the sarcophagus, and these bulbs had preferably placed their barbicines on the skull. The skull was slightly turned towards the left shoulder and towards the kind doll figure ...[4]

The intact skeleton of the girl, which at the moment of her death was about 20 years old, was still adorned with several jewels and a crown of

barrette made with small silver flowers.[3] At the time of her burial, Crepereia wore gold and pearl pendant earrings and a gold necklace with pendants formed by small beryl crystals.[3] Her tunica was held by a gold brooch adorned with an engraved amethyst bezel.[3]

Among Tryphaena's jewels, a ring was found on the finger of the young girl engraved with the word "Filetus"; this made poet

protegee in Rome:[7][8]

Tryphaena's doll

The doll, 23 cm tall,[9] is not a common toy but rather a "prestigious" object,[10] a work of art, with a finely sculpted face, almost as if it were a portrait.[11]

The technical skill of the craftsman who created it also stands out in the body with movable

glass paste beads, plus remains of golden spirals belonging possibly to a necklace were also part of the doll's kit.[3][13][14]

Origin of the family

Tryphaena has been identified as a girl who lived in the mid-2nd century AD.

Faustina Minor (r. 161–75) (parted hair on the forehead descending with swollen and soft undulations framing the face and partially covering the ears).[3][11]
A more precise dating for the death of the girl can be deduced by the style of the bas-relief carved on the short side of her sarcophagus, typical of the coloristic style of Roman sculpture in the years around 170.[3]

The names of the deceased suggest a Greek origin of the family; it is unclear whether they were themselves

Crepereia - to whom these liberti belonged - were active in the eastern part of the Roman Empire.[3]

Exhibition

After the discovery, the two sarcophagi of Tryphaena and Euhodus were exhibited until 1928 in the room named "dei sarcofagi" in the Museum of the

Palazzo dei Conservatori, part of the Capitoline Museums.[3] In 1929 they were moved to the newly created Antiquarium Comunale on the Caelian Hill; the two sarcophagi were exhibited without the covers, allowing visitors to see the skeletons and the objects of the Crepereia furnishings arranged "in the same way as they had been placed at the beginning".[3]

In 1939, after the eviction and partial collapse of the Antiquarium, the two sarcophagi and the trousseau returned to the deposits of the Capitoline Museums and were exhibited only on special occasions; the jewels in

Palazzo Caffarelli from 1967 to 1971.[3] This was the first time when the funeral outfit was studied as a whole.[3]
The two sarcophagi with the outfit, together with the doll and its kit are now permanently displayed at the
via Ostiense in Rome.[16]

References

  1. ^ Castellani, A. (1889). "Descrizione degli oggetti trovati nel sarcofago di Crepereja Trifena". Bullettino della Commissione Archeologica Comunale di Roma. 3 (in Italian). Roma: Tip. della R. Accademia dei Lincei: 178–180.
  2. hdl:2027/uc1.31158011334488
    .
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Sommella, Anna Mura. "Crepereia Tryphaena" (in Italian). Rome: Corte Suprema di Cassazione. Retrieved 9 January 2020.
  4. ^ a b Lanciani (1889) p. 176
  5. ^ Lanciani (1889), p. 180.
  6. ^ Salza & Ricotti (1995), p. 51
  7. ^ Stancanelli, Elena (17 February 2005). "Crepereia e le altre bambole magiche" (in Italian). la Repubblica. Retrieved 9 January 2019.
  8. S2CID 202361251
    .
  9. ^ Dolansky, Fanny (October 2012). "Playing with Gender: Girls, Dolls, and Adult Ideals in the Roman World". Classical Antiquity. 32 (2): 261.
  10. ^
    ISBN 9781351127646
    . Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  11. ^ a b Fittà (1997), p. 57
  12. ^ Madenholm, Terry (14 December 2021). "Before Barbie: Why Girls Played With Dolls in the Roman Empire". Haaretz.
  13. ISBN 9781139991735
    .
  14. ^ Morris, Roderick Conway (11 January 2013). "Art, Propaganda and Death in Ancient Rome". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  15. ^ Lanciani (1889) p. 178
  16. ^ a b "Crepereia Tryphaena". Musei Capitolini - Centrale Montemartini (in Italian). Retrieved 9 January 2020.

Sources

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