Sarcophagus of Cornelius Statius, front panel.
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Title
Sarcophagus of Cornelius Statius , front panel .
Date
150 - 160
Cultural Context
Ancient Roman Roman Italian European Western European
Style/Period
Roman (ancient Italian style) Imperial (Roman)
Subject
Sculpture Sarcophagi Coffins Death & burial Containers Monuments & memorials Memorial works Inscriptions Human life cycle Childhood & youth Domestic life Child rearing Breast feeding Feeding Lifting & carrying Riding Sitting Gestures Boys Infants Children Men Women Mothers Fathers Families Clothing & dress Boots Footwear Hairstyles Beards Chairs Seating furniture Furniture Scrolls (Visual works) Chariots Vehicles Wheels Goats Animals Bridles Harnesses
Description
"[…] this child's sarcophagus has been reassembled from many fragments . The front panel is , however , in fairly good condition , with a few missing pieces reconstructed from Carrara marble . […] This sarcophagus is among the earliest of the few examples that show various stages in the life of a child . Above the epitaph are four scenes from the young boy's life . First he appears as an infant , wearing a short tunic bound at the waist with several cloth bands and being nursed by his mother . She sits in a large armchair wearing a stola and has a waved hairstyle gathered into a chignon . A man with a beard and moustache , dressed in a toga over a long tunic , with calcei on his feet , rests his elbow on a pillar and tenderly contemplates this domestic scene , leaning his head on his right hand and holding a scroll in his left . […] In the second scene , the same man is shown full face , holding the slightly older baby in his arms : this time the child is wearing a long tunic and playing with an object . Next the child is represented as a little boy , wearing a short toga over his tunic and driving a child-sized chariot drawn by a goat . In the final scene , he stands reciting his lesson in front of his father , who is seated , legs crossed , on a chair with a curved back . Both father and son hold a volumen , a papyrus or parchment roll . […] It has been suggested that the woman may be a hired nurse and the bearded man a tutor , but the realism of the representation suggests these are actual people rather than standardized prototypes . It is more likely that these are the parents of the young Cornelius Statius and that they wanted the sarcophagus to evoke memories of the daily life they shared with their departed son. " (Excerpt from catalogue entry by Pascale Carpentier , p . 136) . Discovered in Ostia (Italy) (?).Purchased in 1861 , formerly in the Campana collection (MA 659-INV . CP 6547) . Restorer : V . Picur , 2006 .
Location Depicted
Italy
Material
Fine-grained white marble (Luna?) Fine-grained white marble Carrara marble Marble (rock) Rock Stone (rock)
Measurements
H: 18 3/4 in (47.5 cm); W: 58 3/4 in. (149 cm)
Technique
Sculpting Carving (processes) Relief (sculpture techniques)
Inscription
Epitaph on lower plinth: M(ARCO)-CORNELIO-M(ARCI)-F(ILI)-PAL(ATINA TRIBU)-STATIO-P[ARENTES]-FECER(UNT)
Work Type
Sculpture Sarcophagi Coffins Reliefs (sculptures)
Repository
Musee du Louvre (Paris, France)
Source
Giroire, Cecile, and Daniel Roger. Roman Art from the Louvre. New York: American Federation of Arts in assoc. with Hudson Hills Press, 2007. (p.[137], cat.76).
Rights
Photographs of the works in the exhibition reproduced in Giroire courtesy: Copyright © 2007 Musee du Louvre and the American Federation of Arts/Anne Chauvet, Daniel Lebee, and Carine De Ambrosis.
Digital Publisher
University of Louisville Department of Fine Arts/Allen R. Hite Art Institute Visual Resources Center
Format
image/jpeg
Digital File Name
VRC 762-15.jpg
Rating
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