Media Information

 
 
 
Collection:
ADJUNCT MODULE B: ITALIAN ART
Preferred Title:
Portonaccio Sarcophagus
Image View:
Detail, Romans in armor and helmets, some on horseback, attack barbarians
Creator:
unknown (Roman (ancient))
Location:
repository: Museo Nazionale Romano (Rome, Lazio, Italy) inv. 112327
Location Note:
Palazzo Massimo alle Terme; Largo di Villa Peretti, 2
GPS:
41.901359 12.498249
Date:
ca. 180 CE (creation)
Cultural Context:
Roman (ancient)
Style Period:
Imperial (Roman)
Work Type 1:
sarcophagus
Work Type 2:
relief (sculpture)
Classification:
Sculpture and Installations
Material:
marble
Technique:
carving (processes)
Measurements:
153 cm (height) x 273 (width) x 137 cm (depth)
Subjects:
death or burial; funerary art; military or war; Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome, 121-180; Roman Empire; Antonine; Marcomanni
Description:
Found in the Portonaccio quarter of Rome in 1931, near Via Tiburtina. The front long side of the grand sarcophagus represents a battle scene staged on several planes and focused on the haughty advance of a Roman victor. Roman battle sarcophagi derive from Hellenistic monuments from Pergamon showing Pergamene victories over the Gauls, and were all presumably commissioned for military commanders. The frieze on the lid, between two corner mascarons, celebrates the deceased and his spouse, portrayed in the center in the act of the dextrarum iunctio (clasping of right hands). The faces of the main personages were left unfinished, awaiting the features of the deceased to be sculpted. The decoration of the sarcophagus, inspired by many scenes of the Column of Marcus Aurelius, is dateable to about 180 CE. The military insignia on the upper rim of the case, the eagle of the Legio IIII Flavia (Fourth Flavian Legion) and the boar of the Legio I Italica (First Italic Legion), allow the identification of the deceased as Aulus Iulius Pompilius, official of Marcus Aurelius, in command of two cavalry squadrons drafted to these two legions during the Marcomannic Wars (172-175 CE). (Source: Museo Nazionale Romano; http://archeoroma.be niculturali.it/en/no de/482)
Collection:
Adjunct Module B: Italian Art
Identifier:
7A3-R-PM-PSA-A28
Rights:
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.

Portonaccio Sarcophagus