- Museum number
- 1928,1015.1
- Description
-
Child's sarcophagus: cupids race chariots in the Circus at Rome, with a horse on each short side. Made of coarse-grained marble with blue-grey bands, probably from Proconnesos. The sculptor has deliberately left the surface finished only with a claw-chisel.
The back of the sarcophagus is undecorated. On the front, four naked winged cupids race bigae in the circus, encouraging their horses with whips. The second pair of horses has fallen and the leading cupid points to them derisively with his whip. The architectural features in the background evoke the setting and the stage of the race. From the left are two Corinthian columns supporting a pair of dolphins facing each other; a Corinthian order bearing six dolphins shown almost frontally; the bases and part of the shafts of two columns (the tops are missing); the base of a meta (the top is missing); a building with a pediment supported on two Corinthian columns; and an epistyle bearing seven ovae. One of the frontal dolphins but none of the ovae has been removed, showing that the race has just begun.
- Production date
- 300 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 38.50 centimetres
-
Length: 139 centimetres
-
Width: 97.50 centimetres
- Curator's comments
- Walker, Susan, 1990, Catalogue of Roman Sarcophagi in the British Museum:
The back of the sarcophagus is undecorated. On the front, four naked winged cupids race bigae in the circus, encouraging their horses with whips. The second pair of horses has fallen and the leading cupid points to them derisively with his whip. The architectural features in the background evoke the setting and the stage of the race.(1) From the left are two Corinthian columns supporting a pair of dolphins facing each other; a Corinthian order bearing six dolphins shown almost frontally; the bases and part of the shafts of two columns (the tops are missing); the base of a meta (the top is missing); a building with a pediment supported on two Corinthian columns; and an epistyle bearing seven ovae. One of the frontal dolphins but none of the ovae has been removed, showing that the race has just begun.
This is one of more than thirty children's sarcophagi showing cupids racing chariots at the circus.(2) Made in Rome, they usually show four bigae, of which the second has crashed. The interpretation of these scenes is disputed.(3)
The relief on this sarcophagus is carved to a depth of only 1 cm. The entire surface of the sarcophagus, both figures and background, has only been taken to the claw-chisel stage, though all the details of the scene are carved. The claw-chisel carefully follows the contours of the figures, suggesting that this is original work. It is possible that the sarcophagus was urgently needed before it could be finished (a likely event in the case of the unexpected death of a child). Alternatively the sculptor or client may have deliberately chosen this effect, as the marble is not of high quality and may have proved difficult to polish. The running and vertically-held drill is used to emphasise detail (e.g. in the hair and column capitals) and to suggest speed (e.g. in the horses' manes).
The form of the cupids is remarkably similar to that of the cupids in the vegetal frieze found near San Silvestro, Rome, and associated with the Temple of the Sun of the Emperor Aurelian, dedicated in AD 274.(4) The design may have been copied from an earlier type.(5)
1. See now Humphrey, 176-254.
2. C. Belting-Ihm, JbZMusMainz 8 (1961), 195-208.
3. Cumont, Recherches 349, 457, 487; Belting-Ihm, op. cit. (n. 2); M. Turcan-Deleani, AffiFR.4 76 (1964), 43-9.
4. H. Kahler, RAf 52 (1937), 94-105, figs 6, 11.
5. Compare a child's sarcophagus now in the Musei Vaticani: M. Lawrence, Atti del 2. Convegno di Studi Umbri (1965), 128, pl. XIV fig. 9.
- Location
- Not on display
- Condition
- The lid and the upper central area of the front are missing; the surviving part of the front is joined from five fragments. The sarcophagus was re-used as a water-basin, for which a
drain-hole was cut in the oval interior.
- Acquisition date
- 1928
- Department
- Greek and Roman
- Registration number
- 1928,1015.1
