Detail View: ADJUNCT MODULE C: WORLD ART: Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus [plaster cast]

Collection: 
ADJUNCT MODULE C: WORLD ART
Preferred Title: 
Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus [plaster cast]
Image View: 
Top of sarcophagus with fragments of two scenes (one a funerary meal) and inscription
Creator: 
unknown (Roman (ancient) sculptor)
Location: 
repository: Musei Vaticani (Rome (Vatican City), Santa Sede (Holy See), Italy) Inv. N. 31648
Location Note: 
Museo Pio Cristiano
GPS: 
+41.906389+12.454444
Date: 
cast 1911 (creation); original, 359 CE (creation)
Cultural Context: 
Roman (ancient)
Style Period: 
Early Christian; Imperial (Roman)
Work Type 1: 
sarcophagus
Work Type 2: 
relief (sculpture)
Classification: 
Sculpture and Installations
Material: 
patinated plaster
Technique: 
casting (process)
Measurements: 
1.4 m (height) x 2.4 (length) x 1.0 m (width)
Subjects: 
death or burial; funerary art; New Testament; Old Testament and Apocrypha; Constantine, Emperor of Rome
Description: 
Plaster cast of a marble Early Christian sarcophagus used for the burial of senator and city prefect Junius Bassus, who died in 359. Inscriptions say he was a neophyte ('neofitus', newly baptized). The sarcophagus was originally placed in or under Old St. Peter's Basilica (which had been recently built by Constantine), and rediscovered in 1597. The original is now located in the Treasury Museum of Saint Peter's; this cast is in Museo Pio Cristiano. It is a "column" style sarcophagus, with sculpted columns and pediments or entablatures dividing two registers of both New and Old Testament scenes. It is one of only two extant double-register columnar Early Christian sarcophagi, and shows a combination of carving styles and both Christian and Roman iconography. (Source: Grove Art Online; http://www.oxfordartonline.com/)
Collection: 
Archivision Adjunct Module C: World Art
Identifier: 
7A3-R-VM-GPM-SJB-A11
Rights: 
© Scott Gilchrist, Archivision, Inc.