Roman Funerary Monuments

Roman funerary monuments were used as a way to tell people about the lives or importance of those who passed away. The monument that I chose to analyze is called the Sextus Maelius Stabilio, Vesinia Iuncunda, and Sextus Maelius Faustus. I decided to analyze this because of the way that it stood out when compared to the other statues in the museum, because it shared a message of family and it also held a theme of pride. This particular piece is a 31 ½ by 58 ½ by 8 inch marble sculpture1 that was chiseled to help bring attention to its 3D effect and to also emphasis the realistic features of each of the people. It was placed in the North Carolina Museum of Art under object number 79.1.2., after its purchase with funds from the state off NC1. Since it is a funerary piece it can be assumed that the son had it made for either one or both of his parents. Many of the monuments like this were found on popular Roman streets leading into the city to allow passers to see their status in society. With a …show more content…
When looking towards the leftmost side, there are prominent indents from other forces that exposed a whiter colored marble. This is a nice contrast to the rest of the art piece since the majority of the piece is a browner shade, which was either caused by years of dirt or paint remnants. There are also darker black spots that are very prominent around the heads of the mother and son. That same color appears underneath the conjoined hands of the married couple which may be intentional to help provide shadowing effects. All of the noses have become flattened as well, but it is done in a way that makes the tips; that should be either pointed or round, appear ground down. Another prominent flaw is the overall color gradient which appears to move from dark brown to a light tan from the bottom left corner towards the top right side where the faces