id:			110232
accession number:	1928.856
share license status:	CC0
url:			https://clevelandart.org/art/1928.856
updated:		2019-07-31 08:01:12.973000

Sarcophagus, c. AD 100-125. Italy, Rome, Roman Empire. Greek marble; overall: 210 cm (82 11/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust 1928.856

title:				Sarcophagus
title in original language:	
series:				
series in original language:	
creation date:			c. AD 100-125
creation date earliest:		100
creation date latest:		125
current location:		103 Roman
creditline:			Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust
copyright:			

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culture:	Italy, Rome, Roman Empire
technique:	Greek marble
department:	Greek and Roman Art
collection:	GR - Roman
type:		Sculpture
find spot:	
catalogue raisonne: 

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CREATORS

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measurements: Overall: 210 cm (82 11/16 in.)
state of the work:	
edition of the work: 	

support materials:


inscriptions:

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CURRENT EXHIBITIONS

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LEGACY EXHIBITIONS

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PROVENANCE

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fun fact: 


digital description: 


wall description: 
The front of this sarcophagus, or coffin, is decorated with a series of scenes about the mythical Greek hero Orestes, shown three times wielding a short sword. In the center he stands over the body of his mother Clytemnestra, and at the left over the body of her lover Aegisthus. Orestes has murdered both of them to avenge the death of his father Agamemnon, king of the Greeks, who had left home many years earlier to fight in the Trojan War. Upon returning to his kingdom, he found his unfaithful wife with her lover Aegisthus. These two then killed Agamemnon and Orestes vowed that when he became a man he would seek revenge. At the far left is Agamemnon's tomb with Greek Furies (avenging spirits) resting upon it. At the far right, Orestes visits the shrine of Apollo at Delphi (marked by the tripod and rock) to atone for the murders. The front of the lid is decorated with four reclining women who symbolize the seasons. From left to right they are: Autumn, Summer, Spring, and Winter. On the short sides are winged, bearded griffins (half-lion and half-eagle). The sarcophagus was probably made for an upper-class tomb outside Rome.
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RELATED WORKS

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CITATIONS

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
	page number: 	Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 43
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n22

	The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991.
	page number: 	Reproduced: p. 14
	url:		https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1991/page/n29

	Gardner, Helen, Richard G. Tansey and Fred S. Kleiner. <em>Gardner's Art Through the Ages.</em> Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1996
	page number: 	Mentioned: p. 240-241; Reproduced: p. 241, fig. 7-68
	url:		

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IMAGES

web:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1928.856/1928.856_web.jpg
print:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1928.856/1928.856_print.jpg
full:	https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1928.856/1928.856_full.tif