DIGITAL COLLECTIONS
Home
Collections
Browse
Search
About
Ordering reproductions
Citing sources
RSS feeds
Help
Search
Advanced Search
Find results with:
error div
Add another field
Search by date
from
after
before
on
to
Searching collections:
Visual Resources Center Digital Image Collection
Add or remove collections
Home
Sarcophagus of a consul(?), from Acilia, Italy, detail, figures on left.
Reference URL
Share
Add tags
Comment
Rate
To link to this object, paste this link in email, IM or document
To embed this object, paste this HTML in website
Sarcophagus of a consul(?), from Acilia, Italy, detail, figures on left.
View Description
Loading content ...
Description
Larger Image
Larger image may be viewed by UofL faculty, staff, and students only (log-in required using ULink username/password) at:
http://echo.louisville.edu/login?url=http://vrc-web.louisville.edu/Jpegs/360/366-158.jpg
Title
Sarcophagus
of a
consul(?)
, from
Acilia
,
Italy
,
detail
,
figures
on
left
.
Date
Mid-3rd century
Cultural Context
Ancient Roman
Roman
Italian
European
Western European
Style/Period
Roman (ancient Italian style)
Imperial (Roman)
Late Antique
Theme
Sculpture (visual work)
Sarcophagi (coffins)
Coffins
Ceremonial containers
Funerary art
Funerary objects
Funerary sculpture
Memorials
Fragments
Scenes (depictions)
Processions
Ceremonies
Figures (representations)
Figurative art
Men (male humans)
Boys
Youth
Adolescents
Costume (mode of fashion)
Drapery (representations)
Togas
Hairstyles
Headbands (headgear)
Headgear
Gesture
Standing
Front views
Three-quarter views
Oblique views
Profiles (figures)
Detail views
Subject
Sculpture
Sarcophagi
Coffins
Containers
Monuments & memorials
Ceremonial objects
Parades & processions
Rites & ceremonies
Men
Boys
Youth
Teenagers
Clothing & dress
Hairstyles
Headbands (Headgear)
Headgear
Baldness
Beards
Gestures
Standing
Details
Description
“One
of the
finest
–
and
most
controversial
–
works
of
third-century
relief
sculpture
is
the
fragmentary
sarcophagus
found
at
Acilia
,
near
Rome
.
It
is
an
example
of a
later
form
of
Roman
coffin
that
art
historians
call
the
lenos
(bathtub)
sarcophagus
type
because
of its
rounded
corners
. The
decoration
of the
body
of the
sarcophagus
(fragments
of the
lid
are also
preserved)
places
it
in the
biographical
category
, and
many
scholars
believe
the
coffin
was
made
for a
member
of the
imperial
family
.
[…]
Dominating
the
front
of the
Acilia
sarcophagus
are a
man
and a
woman
accompanied
by
other
men
and
women
. The
central
couple
does
not
clasp
hands
,
however
, and this
is
not a
marriage
scene
but a
procession
of the
type
long
part
of the
Roman
sculptural
repertory
, for
example
, on the
Ara
Pacis
Augustae
. The
event
depicted
seems
to be a
processus
consularis
, the
procession
honoring
the
appointment
of a
new
consul
in
which
he
marched
with his
senatorial
colleagues
and
members
of his
family
. The
identification
of the
consul
in the
absence
of his
portrait
depends
on the
identification
of the
youthful
togatus
on the
left
side
of the
sarcophagus
. His
head
stands
out
sharply
from those of the
bearded
senators
around
him,
who
are
portrayed
with
outdated
Antonine
coiffures
and
beards
carved
in
large
part
with a
drill
. The
style
of the
boy’s
portrait
and his
distinctive
features
have
led
many
to
identify
him as
Gordian
III
. If the
identification
is
correct
, the
consul
on the
Acilia
sarcophagus
would be
Gordian’s
father
,
Julius
Balbus
, and the
woman
beside
him would be
Maecia
Faustina
,
Gordian’s
mother
and the
daughter
of
Gordian
I
.
[…]
This
attractive
theory
is
not
without
problems
.
Most
important
is
the
fact
that
“Gordian
III”
has the
large
hands
with
prominent
veins
of an
older
man
. The
boy’s
head
must
have been
recut
from a
larger
head
of
another
bearded
senator
.
Since
an
imperial
commission
would
certainly
have
called
for a
custom-made
sarcophagus
, not a
stock
piece
recut
at the
time
of
purchase
, this was
probably
a
private
sarcophagus
,
purchased
for a
Roman
whose
son
bore
an
uncanny
resemblance
to the
boy-emperor
.
Whether
the
deceased
was
ever
a
consul
is
debatable
,
given
the
role-playing
rampant
on
Roman
sarcophagi
and in
Roman
art
in
general.”
(p.272)
Material
Marble (rock)
Rock
Stone (rock)
Measurements
4' 10 1/2" high
Technique
Sculpting
Carving (processes)
Drillwork (sculpture technique)
Work Type
Sculpture
Sarcophagi
Coffins
Funerary objects
Ceremonial objects
Details
Repository
Museo Nazionale Romano - Palazzo Massimo alle Terme (Rome, Italy)
Museo Nazionale Romano (Rome, Italy)
Source
Kleiner, Fred S. A History of Roman Art. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2007. (fig.18-1, p.[262])
Rights
Photo/illustration credit/reproduced in Kleiner courtesy: © Araldo de Luca.
Digital Publisher
University of Louisville Department of Fine Arts/Allen R. Hite Art Institute Visual Resources Center
Format
image/jpeg
Digital File Name
VRC
366-158.jpg
Rating
Tags
Add tags
for Sarcophagus of a consul(?), from Acilia, Italy, detail, figures on left.
View as list
|
View as tag cloud
|
report abuse
Comments
Post a Comment
for
Sarcophagus of a consul(?), from Acilia, Italy, detail, figures on left.
Your rating was saved.
you wish to report:
Your comment:
Your Name:
Submit
Cancel
...
Back to top
Select the collections to add or remove from your search
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
Select All Collections
A
African American Oral History Collection
Ainslie Hewett Bookplate Collection
André Jeunet Collection
Arthur Younger Ford (1861-1926) photograph albums
August 2009 Flood Collection
C
Caufield & Shook Collection
Claude C. Matlack Collection
Collection List
D
Dwight Anderson Music Library Collection
F
Furnas Family Album Collection (ca. 1887-1910)
G
General Orlando M. Poe Collection, 1836-1890
Ghost Signs of Louisville
H
Herald-Post Collection
Hite Institute Exhibition Catalogs
Howard Steamboat Museum Collection
I
Images of Kentucky and Environs
J
Jean Thomas, The Traipsin' Woman, Collection
John P. Morton & Co. Woodblock Collection
K
Kate Matthews (1870-1956) Collection
Kentucky Maps
Kornhauser Health Sciences Library History Collections
L
Law Library Collection
Leonard Brecher Tobacco & Chewing Gum Card Collection
Louisville Leader Collection
Louisville Storefronts & Saloons Album
M
Macauley's Theatre Collection
Manuscript Leaves
Metropolitan Sewer District Collection
O
Owen postcard collection
R
R. G. Potter Collection
Romano L. Mazzoli Oral History Collection
Royal Photo Company Collection
S
Simmons College of Kentucky Collection
Stereographic views of Louisville and beyond, 1850s - 1930
U
University of Louisville Electronic Theses & Dissertations
University of Louisville Yearbooks
U of L Images
V
Visual Resources Center Digital Image Collection
500
You have selected:
1
OK
Cancel