Name/Title
Roman Sarcophagus with Man's Head within Strigulated DesignEntry/Object ID
OUT-29Tags
Pacifici purchaseDescription
Recut Roman Sarcophagus with Portrait, Cornucopiae, and Strigillation
Roman
Imperial Period
2nd to 4th century CE
Recut 1920s
Material
Marble, very fine grain, probably Carraran
Dimensions
Ca. 65.0 cm (height) x 214.6 cm (length, front top) x 71.8 cm (depth, right, top).
Condition
Extensive recarving (see below, “Description”) and numerous breaks with clamp channels along the top. Condition of the interior cannot be determined as the sarcophagus is currently used as a planter.
Description
A portrait of a man in a roundel is set in the middle of the strigillated façade of the sarcophagus. The clean-shaven young man looks to his right, his hair is short and curly, and he wears a cape, a paludamentum, with a brooch over his right shoulder. Below the rondel are two cornucopiae and a bowl of fruit above them. In the corners are columns with smooth shafts; on the narrow sides are crossed shields.
Discussion
The chest was originally plain or minimally decorated and recarved probably in the 1920s to increase its financial value. Two sarcophagi by the same forger, or group of forgers, are in the Milles Collection, Lidingö, Sweden, and a third was on the art market in the 1960s in Rome. The forger or forgers had a preference for Roman Imperial portraits: the portrait on the Hammond Castle Museum sarcophagus is based on a famous image of Octavian (the future emperor Augustus) in the Capitoline Museum, Rome; the portrait on one sarcophagus in the Milles Collection is based on Nero’s portrait; and the portrait’s hairstyle on the sarcophagus formerly on the Roman art market recalls that of Empress Faustina Minor.
Provenance
In a letter to Hammond dated 25 June, 1929 the Rome-based dealer Armando Pacifici records that “the old man Sig. Vincenzo” sold Hammond “the big Sarcofagus broken in several pieces…they are entirely restored...” The description fits this sarcophagus, but the dealer’s identity is unknown. Pacifici refers to Vincenzo as still being alive and so he cannot be the famous painter/dealer Vincenzo Capobianchi who died in his 90’s on 8 September 1928—unless Pacifici is confused.
Notes
Two sarcophagi in the Milles Collection (A67, A95): J. Flemberg, Carl Milles antiksamling (Stockholm: Atlantis, 2005), p. 14.
Sarcophagus on the Art Market in Rome: German Archaeological Institute, Rome (Deutsches Archäologishes Institut-Rom), Photo-archive, neg. nos. 69.717-720.
Portrait of Nero, Museo Nazionale Romano, Rome, inv. no. 618 (formerly Palatine): E. Talamo, “168. Ritratto di Nerone,” in A. Giuliano (ed.), Museo Nazionale Romano. Le sculture, I. 1 (Rome: De Luca, 1979), 272-73.
Capitoline portrait of Octavian: K. Fittschen – P. Zanker, Katalog der römischen porträts in den Capitolischen Museen und den anderen kommunalen Sammlungen der Stadt Rom. I. Kaiser- und Prinzenbildnisse, 2 vols. (Mainz am Rhein: Phillip von Zabern, 1985), I, pp. 1-2, cat. no. 1; II, pls. 1-3.
Capitoline portrait of Faustina Minor: K. Fittschen – P. Zanker, Katalog der römischen porträts in den Capitolischen Museen und den anderen kommunalen Sammlungen der Stadt Rom. III. Kaiserinnen und Prinzessinbildnisse Frauenporträts, 2 vols. (Mainz am Rhein: Phillip von Zabern, 1983), I, pp. 22-23, cat. no. 21; II, pls. 29-30.
For Pacifici’s letter: Hammond Castle Museum Archives, document 1929-06-25 from Pacifici (Bari window, Vincenzo sarcophagus…) p(2).Acquisition
Accession
OUT-29Source (if not Accessioned)
Amando PacificiLexicon
Nomenclature 4.0
Nomenclature Secondary Object Term
SarcophagusNomenclature Primary Object Term
Container, FuneraryNomenclature Sub-Class
Funerary ObjectsNomenclature Class
Ceremonial ObjectsNomenclature Category
Category 08: Communication ObjectsGeneral Notes
Note Type
2025-01-13 Cohon email - AIA Talk, Jan 4Note Type
1929-06-25 from Pacifici (Bari window, Vincensos sarcophagus, Jandolo) p(2)
