Collection record · Objects & craft
Sarcophagus
The collection record classifies this work as sculpture. It is dated c. 100–125 CE. Recorded culture or place: Italy, Rome, Roman Empire.
Explore the object recordOBJECT RECORD
A closer look at the details.
- Museum title
- Sarcophagus
- Date
- c. 100–125 CE
- Culture / origin
- Italy, Rome, Roman Empire
- Materials and technique
- Greek marble
- Dimensions
- Overall: 210 cm (82 11/16 in.)
- Artist / maker
- Not specified by the museum
- Museum
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Accession number
- 1928.856
FROM THE MUSEUM
In the museum’s words
The following description is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art’s original English record.
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.
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Text and image sources
The Cleveland Museum of Art · Gift of the John Huntington Art and Polytechnic Trust · CC0
The summary is based on public collection data. Refer to the museum’s latest record for the title, date and attribution.
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