The sarcophagus with hunting scenes, known as Mattei I, is an

ancient Roman sarcophagus In the burial practices of ancient Rome and Roman funerary art, marble and limestone sarcophagi elaborately carved in relief were characteristic of elite inhumation burials from the 2nd to the 4th centuries AD. At least 10,000 Roman sarcophagi ...

of the 3rd century, displayed at the palazzo Mattei in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. It is 1.31m high.

Description

From the age of

Caracalla Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (born Lucius Septimius Bassianus, 4 April 188 – 8 April 217), better known by his nickname "Caracalla" () was Roman emperor from 198 to 217. He was a member of the Severan dynasty, the elder son of Emperor ...

onwards, carved sarcophagus production shows a kind of reaction to the "pittoricism" of examples from the preceding era (late 2nd-early 3rd century), such as the

Portonaccio sarcophagus The Portonaccio sarcophagus is a 2nd-century ancient Roman sarcophagus found in the Portonaccio section of Rome and now held at the Museo Nazionale Romano ( Palazzo Massimo). Dating to around 180 AD, the sarcophagus was likely used to bury a Roma ...

), with a return to richer plasticity, as is also documented in

Roman portraiture Roman portraiture was one of the most significant periods in the development of portrait art. Originating from ancient Rome, it continued for almost five centuries. Roman portraiture is characterised by unusual realism and the desire to convey im ...

between 215 and 250. Hugely influenced by their use in the Eastern Empire and the Middle East, hunting scenes in Roman art had started to become popular in

Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...

ic art and the popularity of their use on sarcophagi spread thanks to Caracalla's predilection for

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...

and his hunts (the Mattei example is one of the earliest with such scenes). In the Roman world it acquired a new meaning as a signifier of military values, as shown by the ''

Virtus ''Virtus'' () was a specific virtue in Ancient Rome. It carries connotations of valor, manliness, excellence, courage, character, and worth, perceived as masculine strengths (from Latin ''vir'', "man"). It was thus a frequently stated virtue o ...

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

'' figure in Amazonian dress standing behind the mounted hunter in this scene. This mounted hunter has a physiognomic portrait (datable to between 220 and 230, by comparison with the style of the portrait of Caracalla) and hurls a spear towards a lion at the right. Beneath this lions paws is a fallen hunter with sword and shield, and under this lion is another, dead lion. To the left are two standing nude divinities, possibly the

Dioscuri Castor; grc, Κάστωρ, Kástōr, beaver. and Pollux. (or Polydeukes). are twin half-brothers in Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri.; grc, Διόσκουροι, Dióskouroi, sons of Zeus, links=no, from ''Dîos'' ( ...

. To the right, above the live lion, is a beardless mounted hunter in a tunic and another nude standing figure. The composition is very crowded, with overlapping figures in a scheme unknown in 2nd century classicism. The use of drilling and the abundant

chiaroscuro Chiaroscuro ( , ; ), in art, is the use of strong contrasts between light and dark, usually bold contrasts affecting a whole composition. It is also a technical term used by artists and art historians for the use of contrasts of light to achi ...

high relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term ''relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the ...

are typical of the expressionism of the turn of the 2nd/3rd centuries, though the solid plasticity and consistency of the figures indicate a continuing classicism. This compositional pattern is repeated with little variation on later hunting sarcophagi.

Bibliography

Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli (19 February 1900 – 17 January 1975) was an Italian archaeologist and art historian. Biography Bianchi Bandinelli was born in Siena to Mario Bianchi Bandinelli (1859–1930) and Margherita Ottilie "Lily" von Korn ...

and Mario Torelli, ''L'arte dell'antichità classica, Etruria-Roma'', Utet, Turin 1976. {{DEFAULTSORT:Mattei Sarcophagus I 3rd-century Roman sculptures Ancient Roman sarcophagi Castor and Pollux

Description

See also

Bibliography