Detail View: ADJUNCT MODULE B: ITALIAN ART: Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus

Collection: 
ADJUNCT MODULE B: ITALIAN ART
Preferred Title: 
Ludovisi Battle Sarcophagus
Alternate Title: 
Sarcophagus with battle between Romans and Barbarians
Image View: 
Detail, head of the Roman general, from the right in profile
Creator: 
unknown (Roman (ancient) sculptor)
Location: 
repository: Museo Nazionale Romano (Rome, Lazio, Italy) inv. 8574
Location Note: 
via Sant’Apollinare, 46 (Palazzo Altemps)
GPS: 
+41.901169+12.473062
Date: 
ca. 250 CE (creation)
Cultural Context: 
Roman (ancient)
Style Period: 
Imperial (Roman)
Work Type 1: 
sarcophagus
Work Type 2: 
relief (sculpture)
Classification: 
Sculpture and Installations
Material: 
Proconnesus marble
Technique: 
carving (processes)
Measurements: 
137 cm (height) x 53 cm (width) x 273 cm (length)
Subjects: 
death or burial; funerary art; military or war; rulers and leaders; Roman Empire
Description: 
Also known as the Via Tiburtina sarcophagus, from the location of its discovery, from a tomb near the Porta Tiburtina. Discovered in 1621 and named for its first modern owner, Ludovico Ludovisi. At the beginning of the 3rd century the excesses of the Antonine stylistic shift, the elongation of figures, giant scale and overcrowding, were abandoned for more conventional proportions and somewhat less mobile forms. This was rapidly followed, up to the middle of the century, by a heightening of expressive mobility in figures and detail (flame-style hair, for example). As in portrait sculpture, a Classical trend was dominant between AD 250 and 280. The barbarians in the work are usually identified as Goths. (Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/)
Image Description: 
The figure is sometimes identified as the younger son of the emperor Decius, Hostilian, who reigned briefly in the year 251.
Collection: 
Adjunct Module B: Italian Art
Identifier: 
7A3-R-PAL-LBS-A06
Rights: 
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.