3-039-444 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Front Panel of a Garland Sarcophagus, about A.D. 140-170. Additional Info: On a broken section from the front panel of a Roman sarcophagus, Cupids hold up garlands of oak leaves while standing on hybrid sea monsters. Nikai, just visible at the broken edges, hold the far ends of the garlands. A Medusa head and two tragic masks fill the spaces above the garlands. Elaborate, detailed decoration including flying ribbons, acorns on the garlands, and birds eating clusters of grapes covers the surface of the sarcophagus. Sarcophagi decorated with garlands were very popular in the Roman world; the majority of surviving Roman sarcophagi are carved in this style. With the shift from cremation to interment that took place in the 100s A.D., the garland motif that had decorated funerary altars was adopted for the decoration of sarcophagi.