Klazomenian Sarcophagi
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Klazomenian Sarcophagi (also Clazomenian Sarcophagi or Klazomenai Sarcophagi) are a type of
ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...
sarcophagus named after the
Ionian Greek Ionic Greek ( grc, Ἑλληνικὴ Ἰωνική, Hellēnikē Iōnikē) was a subdialect of the Attic–Ionic or Eastern dialect group of Ancient Greek. History The Ionic dialect appears to have originally spread from the Greek mainland acr ...
city of Klazomenai, where most examples were found. They are made of coarse clay in shades of brown to pink. Added to the basin-like main sarcophagus is a rectangular broad frame, often covered with a white
slip Slip or SLIP may refer to: Science and technology Biology * Slip (fish), also known as Black Sole * Slip (horticulture), a small cutting of a plant as a specimen or for grafting * Muscle slip, a branching of a muscle, in anatomy Computing and ...
and then painted. The second major site for these sarcophagi is
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; grc, Σμύρνη, Smýrnē, or , ) was a Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to promi ...
. A few others have been found in
Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...
,
Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greece, Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a se ...
,
Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( el, Λέσβος, Lésvos ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece. It is separated from Asia Minor by the nar ...
and
Ephesos Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in ...
. They were probably produced in Klazomenai, between 550 BC (Late Archaic) and 470 BC (Early Classical).Ellen Schraudolph, EOS 4/1998, p. 8 dates them 550-470;
Thomas Mannack Thomas Mannack (born in 1958) is a German classical archaeologist. Mannack obtained his Doctorate in 1992 with at the University of Kiel. The thema of his dissertation was ''Beazleys spätere und späteste Manieristen''. He is a specialist in ...
, ''Griechische Vasenmalerei'', p. 135, 530 to 470/460 BC. Boardman teilt, ''Early Greek Vase Painting'', p. 149, has similar dates (''begins around 530 and lasts to the 470s'')


Manufacture and use

The large clay sarcophagi were manufactured and fired as a single piece. The workshops were probably near the cemeteries. It is assumed that the firing kilns were built over the unfired sarcophagi. Due to the relatively complex and time-consuming method of manufacture, it is unlikely that the sarcophagi were only ordered after the death of their intended occupants. Instead, they were either acquired already during their lifetimes, or simply produced in such amounts as to have stocks available when needed. The sarcophagi, with their weight of about 350 kg, then had to be transported only a short distance to the grave. The deceased was carried to the cemetery in a procession and then placed in his or her sarcophagus, which had already been inserted into the ground up to the height of its rim. For this reason, only the top parts of the sarcophagi bear decoration (if any). It was then closed with a stone slab. After the funerary rites, a mound of sand was placed on top. The workshops that produced such objects were probably mainly specialised in making clay decorative elements for architecture.Schraudolph, p. 8.


Decoration

During the first two decades, sarcophagi were only decorated with ornamentation. Then, figural depictions were added to the head and foot ends. The headpieces, which were higher, often received scenes of combat, hunting and athletic contests, executed in the black-figure technique. Details were not incised but added in white paint. Usually only shade-like traces of such internal detail survive. The images are mostly concerned with aspects of life that would be relevant to the local aristocracy. Only a small proportion was executed in the red-figure technique. The head end often bore scenes of animal fights in silhouette technique. They were influenced by the late animal frieze style. The sides often bear ornaments such as
palmette The palmette is a motif in decorative art which, in its most characteristic expression, resembles the fan-shaped leaves of a palm tree. It has a far-reaching history, originating in ancient Egypt with a subsequent development through the art o ...
s and rope patterns. One of the earliest recognised painters is the Borelli Painter, others include the Albertinum Painter and the (late) Hopkinson Painter. Today, museum exhibits normally display only the frames of the sarcophagi. The basins were often smashed after discovery, as only the painted parts were considered of interest, and transport would be facilitated by reducing the object's weight.


See also

* Klazomenian vase painting


Bibliography

* John Boardman: ''Early Greek Vase Painting. 11th -6th Centuries BC. A Handbook'', Thames and Hudson, London 1998 p. 149 * Robert Manuel Cook: ''Clazomenian sarcophagi'', van Zabern, Mainz 1981 (Forschungen zur antiken Keramik Reihe II: Kerameus. Vol 3) *
Thomas Mannack Thomas Mannack (born in 1958) is a German classical archaeologist. Mannack obtained his Doctorate in 1992 with at the University of Kiel. The thema of his dissertation was ''Beazleys spätere und späteste Manieristen''. He is a specialist in ...
in ''Griechische Vasenmalerei. Eine Einführung'', Theiss, Stuttgart 2002, * Ellen Schraudolph: ''Der Klazomenische Sarkophag des Kestner-Museums'', in ''EOS'' 4/1998,


References

{{commons category, Klazomenian sarcophagi Ancient Greek vase-painting styles Sarcophagi