pilaster;
sarcophagus
- Museum number
- 1922,0504.29
- Description
-
Fragment of a columnar sarcophagus, probably of Docimaean marble: the upper part of a column and Corinthian capital with the right elbow of one of the Dioscuri (?)
- Production date
- 220-250
- Dimensions
-
Height: 21.50 centimetres
-
Curvature: 10.50 centimetres
-
Width: 13 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Walker, Susan, 1990, Catalogue of Roman Sarcophagi in the British Museum:
The elbow rests on the torus of the capital, with the forearm raised to obscure some of the leafy decoration. The projections over the inner side of the upper arm are most likely folds of drapery.
The elbow may be closely compared to those of the raised arms of the Dioscuri on a complete sarcophagus from Sidamaria, now in Istanbul.(1) The position of the fragmentary arm and the direction of the flutes on the column shaft suggest that this is part of the right niche on the long side of a sarcophagus.(2) The architectural decoration is less ornate than that of the sarcophagus in Istanbul, which is dated by Wiegartz to c. AD 250 and by Strocka to c. AD 260.3 Thus an earlier date is suggested here: AD 220-50.
1. Wiegartz, 156-7 and pl. 19, b, c: Istanbul B. See also Waelkens, 93 and pls 28.4, 29.1.
2. Idem, pl. 19c.
3. Idem, 157 and pl. 7, c, f; V. M. Strocka, AA 1971, 76 no. 13, fig. 16; Waelkens, pl. 29.1.
- Location
- Not on display
- Condition
- Broken all around. Unrestored.
- Acquisition notes
- Previously unregistered; no acquisition details, but acquired before 1922.
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 1922,0504.29
