Daphne Choy
Prof. Kenfield
Marble Sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysos and the Seasons
The Roman Sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysos and the Seasons made from marble, is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and dates back to the Late Imperial, Gallienic period around 260-270 A.D. Its accession number is 55.11.5 and can be found in the museum’s Greek and Roman Art Gallery. This piece was brought to the Metropolitan Museum from a collection of the dukes of Beaufort, where it had been formerly displayed in the Badminton House in Gloucestershire. This highly intricate marble sarcophagus is an example of Roman funerary art; the sculptures on the sarcophagus itself depict a display of the god Dionysos and the four seasons in triumph, …show more content…
Given this, one might assume that the sarcophagus itself was made in eastern Mediterranean where its material came from. However, although the artist of this piece is unknown, this Sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysos and the Seasons was most likely made and worked on in Rome, due to the fact that it consists of the common Roman style where only three sides are decorated on (the one front side and the two short sides). The reason for it being decorated solely on three sides is because often times, Roman sarcophagi were placed against a wall or a niche inside a mausoleum. The specific family or person whom the sarcophagus was made for is unknown, but it is known that it was created for a family of wealth. Only a powerful and wealthy person would have had to means to commission and have such a sarcophagus made. Such funerary art sarcophagi were typically made for members of the Roman aristocracy. The subjects of the sculpture on the sarcophagus - Dionysos and the Seasons, are unlikely to have much of a relation to the deceased, as it is known that the design of sarcophagi of this type are based on drawings from the sculptor’s pattern …show more content…
The artist of this sculpture shows an emerging desire to incorporate more abstract ideas that stray away from the traditional spatial reality. In other words, the artist carved elongated lines to form many of the different figures that fill the composition space in order to give the figures a seemingly enlarged, more fleshy body. The smooth marble medium also helps to manifest this style. The typical organic proportions have been given up in favor less classical, more abstract form of beauty. The male figures, specifically Dionysos and the Four Seasons have sleek bodies that show less of a structural form. The overall elongated form of all the figures help to fill the entire compositional field.
The sarcophagus also portrays different pictorial devices of perspective such as diminution, vertical and some diagonal perspective. All the secondary figures are smaller while the primary figures Dionysos and the Four Seasons are larger and therefore more
Prof. Kenfield
Marble Sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysos and the Seasons
The Roman Sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysos and the Seasons made from marble, is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and dates back to the Late Imperial, Gallienic period around 260-270 A.D. Its accession number is 55.11.5 and can be found in the museum’s Greek and Roman Art Gallery. This piece was brought to the Metropolitan Museum from a collection of the dukes of Beaufort, where it had been formerly displayed in the Badminton House in Gloucestershire. This highly intricate marble sarcophagus is an example of Roman funerary art; the sculptures on the sarcophagus itself depict a display of the god Dionysos and the four seasons in triumph, …show more content…
Given this, one might assume that the sarcophagus itself was made in eastern Mediterranean where its material came from. However, although the artist of this piece is unknown, this Sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysos and the Seasons was most likely made and worked on in Rome, due to the fact that it consists of the common Roman style where only three sides are decorated on (the one front side and the two short sides). The reason for it being decorated solely on three sides is because often times, Roman sarcophagi were placed against a wall or a niche inside a mausoleum. The specific family or person whom the sarcophagus was made for is unknown, but it is known that it was created for a family of wealth. Only a powerful and wealthy person would have had to means to commission and have such a sarcophagus made. Such funerary art sarcophagi were typically made for members of the Roman aristocracy. The subjects of the sculpture on the sarcophagus - Dionysos and the Seasons, are unlikely to have much of a relation to the deceased, as it is known that the design of sarcophagi of this type are based on drawings from the sculptor’s pattern …show more content…
The artist of this sculpture shows an emerging desire to incorporate more abstract ideas that stray away from the traditional spatial reality. In other words, the artist carved elongated lines to form many of the different figures that fill the composition space in order to give the figures a seemingly enlarged, more fleshy body. The smooth marble medium also helps to manifest this style. The typical organic proportions have been given up in favor less classical, more abstract form of beauty. The male figures, specifically Dionysos and the Four Seasons have sleek bodies that show less of a structural form. The overall elongated form of all the figures help to fill the entire compositional field.
The sarcophagus also portrays different pictorial devices of perspective such as diminution, vertical and some diagonal perspective. All the secondary figures are smaller while the primary figures Dionysos and the Four Seasons are larger and therefore more