id: 110232
accession number: 1928.856
share license status: CC0
url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1928.856
updated: 2022-06-07 09:00:14.406000
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:
From the Greek word for “flesh-eating,” sarcophagus is now used generically for “coffin.”
digital description:
The tragic figure Orestes appears three times on the front of this sarcophagus, always wielding a short sword. In the center he stands over the body of his mother Clytemnestra, and at center left over the body of her lover Aegisthus. Orestes has killed them both to avenge their murder of his father Agamemnon, upon his return from years of fighting at Troy. At the far left, three Furies (avenging spirits) rest upon Agamemnon's tomb, while at the far right, Orestes atones for the murders at the Delphian shrine of Apollo, marked by a tripod and rock. On the lid, four reclining women symbolize the seasons, arranged in right-to-left order: Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn, as indicated by their dress and the contents of their baskets.
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 on 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
R. H. "Orestes Sarcophagus and Greek Accessions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 15, no. 4 (1928): 90-87.
page number:
url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25137120
The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 43
url: https://archive.org/details/CMAHandbook1958/page/n22
Carter, Martha L. Classical Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1961.
page number: Mentioned and reproduced; p. 13-14
url: https://archive.org/details/ClassicalArt/page/n17/
Hollendonner, Frederick L. "A Technical Note on the Orestes Sarcophagus." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 71, no. 4 (1984): 114-15.
page number:
url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25159857
Neils, Jenifer. "The Orestes Sarcophagus and Other Classical Marbles." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 71, no. 4 (1984): 102-13.
page number:
url: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25159856
The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. 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. Gardner's Art Through the Ages. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1996
page number: Mentioned: p. 240-241; Reproduced: p. 241, fig. 7-68
url:
Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page number: Mentioned and reproduced: P. 86; Reproduced: P. 64-65
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