CIRCA MID 3RD CENTURY A.D.

Details

A ROMAN MARBLE STRIGILATED SARCOPHAGUS
CIRCA MID 3RD CENTURY A.D.
79 ¾ in. (202.5 cm.) long

Provenance

Private Collection, Boston, acquired by 1924; thence by descent.
Private Collection, Massachusetts, acquired from the above.
Gifted to the current owner from the above, 1986 (Inv. no. 1986.1.2).

Literature

K.A. Mortimer and C.C. Vermeule, "Ancient Marbles from the Italian Garden at Green Hill," in Fenway Court: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston, 1986, p. 60, fig. 11.

Conditions of sale

Brought to you by

Hannah Solomon Head of Department, Specialist

hsolomon@christies.com +1 212 636 2256

Lot Essay

The front panel of this sarcophagus features a bust of a draped man holding a scroll in his left hand above two crossed cornucopia. On either end is a winged sleeping Eros. For a similar example but with the bust of a woman, see the one from the Praetextatus Catacombs, pl. 69 in P. Kranz, Jahreszeiten-Sarkophage (Arachne Online Database no. 1130722).

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