Portonaccio sarcophagus
Portonaccio sarcophagus | |
---|---|
Material | Marble |
Height | 114 cm[1] |
Width | 239 cm |
Depth | 116 cm |
Created | late 2nd century AD[1] |
Present location | National Roman Museum of Palazzo Massimo, Rome |
Registration | inv. 112.327 |
The Portonaccio sarcophagus is a 2nd-century
History
The sarcophagus is one of a group of about twenty-five late Roman battle sarcophagi, with one exception all apparently dating to 170–210, made in Rome or in some cases
Description
The chest is very high, with all the front covered in high reliefs of combat between Romans and barbarians. The complex battle is divided into four sections: two above with Roman cavalry, one with Roman infantry, and the last and lowest with the overwhelmed barbarians. At the center, forceful lines converge on the one figure, the cavalry general charging and who does not have a carved face.
The face of the general is unfinished, either because the sculptors awaited a model to work from, or they had produced the work speculatively with no specific commission. There might either have been time to finish it before the burial or the sculptor might not have been able to learn the buyer's face. Some modern studies believe that the sculptors would create biographical scenes that would serve as illustration for anyone's life.[3] The general and his wife are also each shown twice on the lid frieze, together holding each other's hands at the centre, and singly at the ends, again with unfinished faces.[4]
Pairs of figures of an older man and a woman stand beneath trophies at either end of the main face, uninvolved in the battle. The barbarian at right is probably
The cover of the sarcophagus has two large acroterions depicting gargoyles and is decorated with a low-relief frieze that depicts a life story (the presentation of a baby to its mother, his education, marriage, and a dedication to Clementia). The face, as on the main sarcophagus, is not depicted.[5] The sarcophagus inscription suggests that it houses a general named Aulo Giulio Pompilio Tito Vivio Levillo Pisone Bereniciano .
Style
From the
The Portonaccio sarcophagus, compared to earlier works like the
Gallery
Bibliography
- Huskinson, J. (1998). "Unfinished Portrait Heads' on Later Roman Sarcophagi: Some New Perspectives". PBSR. 66: 129–158.
- Adreae, Bernard (1968). "Imitazione ed originalità nei sarcofagi romani". RendPontAcc (in Italian). 41: 145–166.
- Pardyová, Marié (2006). "La représentation de bataille sur le sarcophage de Portonaccio et sa composition". Eirene (42): 135–151.
References
- ^ ISBN 9780500051931.
- ISBN 0300052936
- ^ ISBN 978-88-370-5148-8.
- ISBN 0714822140
- ^ ISBN 978-88-435-6609-9.