Ancient Roman statuary at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York: IL SARCOFAGO DI TESEO (Purchase by subscription, 1890) -- Found in 1889, embedded into a masonry wall, near Capranica di Sutri, Roman Campagna. Acquired by R. Nevin, rettore della Chiesa di S. Pietro, Roma.

Speranza

Marble sarcophagus with garlands and the myth of Teseo and Arianna
Period: Hadrianic or early Antonine
Date: ca. A.D. 130–150
Culture: Roman
Medium: Marble, Luni and Pentelic
Dimensions: Overall: 78.7 x 217.8 x 2.3 cm
Classification: Stone Sculpture
Credit Line: Purchase by subscription, 1890
Accession Number: 1890.12a, b
This artwork is currently on display in Gallery 162

On the lid, shown in delicate low relief, winged erotes drive chariots drawn by animals associated with the four seasons: bears with spring, lions with summer, bulls with fall, and boars with winter.

On the front, four erotes bear seasonal garlands composed of flowers, wheat, grapes, pomegranates, and laurel. Between the swags are three episodes from the myth of the Greek hero Theseus. With the help of the Cretan princess Ariadne, Theseus slew the Minotaur, a part-bull and part-human monster who was caged in a labyrinth, where he consumed Athenian boys and girls sent as annual tribute. Depicted from left to right are: Ariadne giving a thread to Theseus at the entrance to the labyrinth, Theseus slaying the Minotaur, and the sleeping Ariadne abandoned on the island of Naxos, where she will be awakened by the god Dionysos to become his immortal bride.

Provenance

1889, found embedded into a masonry wall near Capranica, Roman Campagna (Frothingham 1890, p. 220)

1889, found near Capranica, Roman Campagna, in the vicinity of Rome.

Acquired by R. J. J. Nevin, rector of the church of St. Paul, Rome.

Acquired in 1890, purchased from R. J. J. Nevin.

References:

Annual Report of the Trustees of the Metropolitan Museum of Art 21,
1890: p. 474.

Frothingham, A. L., Jr. 1890.
“Archaeological News: Italy.
Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities.”
American Journal of Archaeology VI: p. 220.

Bazzichelly, G. 1889.
“Capranica di Sutri.”
Notizie degli Scavi di antichità (gennaio): pp. 358-360.

Altmann, Walter. 1902.
Architectur und Ornamentik der antiken Sarkophage.
Berlin: Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, fig. 29. (NB: it is labeled there as “Kinder Sarkophag.’)

Robert, Carl. 1897-1919.
Die Antiken Sarkophagreliefs.
Volume III: Einzelmythen. Berlin: G. Grote'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, no. 425, pp. 501-505, pl. 133.

Richter, G. M.A. 1917.
HANDBOOK of the Roman Collection.
New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 312.

Rodenwaldt, Gerhart. 1925.
Der Sarkophag Caffarelli. Winckelmannsprogramm der Archäologischen Gesellschaft zu Berlin, 83. Berlin, W. de Gruyter & Co., no. 83, p. 31, Anm. 41.

Toynbee, Jocelyn M.C. 1927.
“A Roman Sarcophagus at Pawlowsk and Its Fellows.”
Journal of Roman Studies 17: p. 25.

Rodenwaldt, Gerhart. 1930.
“Der Klinen Sarkophag von S. Lorenzo.”
Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 45: p. 143, figs. 22-23.

Toynbee, J. M.C. 1934.
The Hadrianic School, a Chapter in the History of Greek Art.
Cambridge: The University Press, pp. 220-201, 211, pl. 47, 2.

Horn, Rudolf. 1938.
“Archäoligische Funde in Italien, Tripolitanien, der Kyrenaika und Albanien vom Oktober 1937 bis Oktober 1938.”Archäologischer Anzeiger 53: col. 657.

Rodenwaldt, Gerhart. 1940.
“Römische Reliefs Vorstufen zur Spätantike.” Jahrbuch des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts 55: p. 22.

Hanfmann, G.M.A. 1951.
The Season Sarcophagus in Dumbarton Oaks.
Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, vol. I: pp. 133, 161, 180, 216; vol. II: pp. 160-161; fig. 140.

Bieber, Margarete. 1956.
“Review of: Une Mosaïque Romaine de Ulpia Oescus by Teofil Ivanov.” American Journal of Archaeology 60(1): p. 81.

Panofsky, Erwin. 1964.
Tomb Sculpture: four lectures on its changing aspects from ancient Egypt to Bernini.
New York: H. N. Abrams, p. 34, pl. 108a-c.

Turcan, Robert. 1966.
Les Sarcophages romains à représentations dionysiaques. Paris: E. de Boccard, pp. 86, 151, 600, 608.

Vermeule, Cornelius. 1967.
“Large and Small Sculpture in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.”
The Classical Journal 63(2): p. 58.

Honroth, Margret. 1971.
 Stadtrömische Girlanden: ein Versuch zur Entwicklungsgeschichte römischer Ornamentik. Wien : Österreichisches Archäologisches Institut, pp. 56, 89, no. 105.

Harrison, Evelyn B. 1976.
“The Portland Vase: Thinking it Over.” In Memoriam Otto J. Brendel: Essays in Archaeology and the Humanities, edited by Larissa Bonfante and Helga von Heintze. Mainz: von Zabern, pp. 133-135, notes 12 and 61, pl. 32.

McCann, Anna Marguerite. 1978.
Roman Sarcophagi in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 1, pp. 21, 24-29, 102, 135, figs. 11, 15-20.

Schauenburg, K. 1980. “Review of Roman Sarcophagi in the Metropolitan Museum of Art by A.M. McCann.” Gymnasium 87: p. 227.

Moret, J.-M. 1984.
Œdipe, la Sphinx et les thébains: essai de mythologie iconographique. Rome: Institut suisse de Rome, p. 125, note 10.

Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC). 1986. Vol. 3,
“Eros/Amor, Cupido,” p. 1001, no. 389, pl. 705. Addenda: “Ariadne,” p. 1053, no. 11, pl. 727, p. 1058, no. 69. Zürich: Artemis.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1987.
Greece and Rome. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 101, pp. 132-33.

Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC). 1992. Vol. 6, “Minotauros,” p. 579, no. 60, pl. 324. Zürich: Artemis.

Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC). 1990. Vol. 5, “Kairoi/Tempora Anni,” p. 898, no. 68; p. 901, no. 112; p. 913, no. 233. Zürich: Artemis.

Picon, Carlos A., et al. 2007. Art of the Classical World in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 455, pp. 390, 494.