Fragment of a Garland Sarcophagus with Medea

Expand

IIIFView PDF

Images(2)

Fragment of a Garland Sarcophagus with Medea

Place of OriginItaly, Rome

Dateabout 130 CE

Dimensions19 1/2 × 33 1/2 × 3 3/4 in. (49.5 × 85.1 × 9.5 cm)

MediumMarble

ClassificationSculpture

Credit LineOrion Fund

Object number

2005.320

On View

Toledo Museum of Art (2445 Monroe Street), Gallery, 02, Classic

DescriptionFragment of a Roman garland sarcophagus. Carved in high relief is a mythological subject from the final scene of Euripides' Medea: Medea departing in her winged-dragon-drawn chariot while holding the body of one of her two sons over her shoulder. The massive beribboned garland is composed of pomegranates, figs, pears, grapes, pine cones, acorns, and sheaves of wheat, and was supported by an erote at right, whose fragmentary head survives. This is probably the left- or right-most of three semicircles framed by garlands on the front of the sarcophagus. The middle garland may have framed a portrait of the deceased Fragment of a Roman garland sarcophagus. Carved in high relief is a mythological subject from the final scence of Euripide's Medea: Medea departing in her winged-dragon-drawn chariot while holding the body of one of her two sons over her shoulder. The massive beribboned garland is composed of pomegranates, figs, pears, grapes, pine cones, acorns, and sheaves of wheat, and was supported by an erote at right, whose fragmentary head survives. This is probably the left- or right-most of three semicircles framed by garlands on the front of the sarcophagus. The middle garland may have framed a portrait of the deceased.

Label TextThis marble fragment, once part of a grand Roman sarcophagus, vividly portrays a dramatic episode from the myth of Medea, a princess and sorceress renowned for her cunning and tragedy. After aiding Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece, Medea became his wife and bore him two children. When Jason abandoned her for another woman, Medea exacted a horrific revenge, killing their children and fleeing in a chariot drawn by winged dragons. The fragment captures this climactic moment in high relief: Medea, with her windblown chiton, ascends into the air. One lifeless child rests over her shoulder, and the remains of a sword—her instrument of vengeance—are still visible in her hand. The chariot, decorated with intricate floral motifs, is already airborne, its serpentine dragons depicted in dynamic motion. Surrounding the central scene is a garland of oak leaves, pomegranates, wheat, and other symbolic plants, likely framing this episode alongside other lunettes depicting scenes from Medea’s tragic tale. The fragment’s history mirrors the journey of many ancient artifacts. Documented in an 18th-century engraving, it was once set into the courtyard wall of the Palazzo Martelli in Florence. It resurfaced on the art market in Rome in 1965 and passed through several hands before its acquisition by TMA in 2005.Published ReferencesGori, A. F., Inscriptionum antiquarum Graec. & Rom, vol. III, Florence, 1743, p. 88, pl. 13.

Carli, G.G., Dissertazioni due, 1785, p. 303.

Labus, Giovanni, Museo della Reale Accademia di Mantova, vol. III, 1834 or 1837, p. 363.

Raoul-Rochette, D., Journal des Savants, Paris, 1834, p. 76.

Müller, K.O., Handbuch der Archäologie, 2nd ed., 1835, p. 646.

Welcker, F.G., Handbuch der Archäologie der Kunst, 3rd ed., Breslau, 1848, p. 695.

Pyl, T., "De Medeae Fabula," inaugural dissertation, Berlin, 1850, p. 75.

Jahn, O., Archäologische Zeitung, vol. 24, 1866, p. 235 N.

Dilthey, K., Annali dell Instituto, vol. 41, 1869, p. 12, n., and p. 65.

Schmidt, R. O., "De Hymenaeo et Talasio, dis veterum Nuptialibus," inaugural dissertation, Kiel, p. 61, no. 6.

von Ulrichs, L., and Ein Medea-Sarkophag, 21. Programm des von Wagnerschen Kunstinstituts, 1888, p. 6, no. 6 N.

Robert, C., Mythologische Cyklen (Die antiken Sarkophagreliefs, vol. II), Berlin, 1890, p. 205, no. 193, pl. 62.

Rumpf, A., Die Meerwesen auf den Antiken Sarkophagreliefs (Die antiken Sarkophagreliefs, vol.V, 1), Berlin, 1939, p. 31, fig. 47.

Koch, G., and H. Sichtermann, Römische Sarkophage, Munich, 1982, pp. 226, 230, 234, 265, no. 121.

Sichtermann, H., Archäologischer Anzeiger, vol. 85, 1970, p. 217 (identified as on the Roman art market).

Schmidt, Margot, "Medeia." In Lexicon Iconographicum Myuthologiae Classicae (LIMC), vol. VI, Zurich and Munich: Artemis Verlag, 1992, p. 392, no. 46, pl. 200.

Herdejürgen, Helga, Stadtrömische und italische Girlandesarkophage (Die antiken Sarkophagreliefs, vol. VI, 2), Berlin: Mann, 1996, pp. 35, 41ff., and 48, no. 40 and pl. 36.

Johanna Jager, Die mythologishchen Lünettenreliefs stadtrömischer Girlandensarkophage: Eine motivgeschichtliche Untersuchung, Germany, Egon Verlag Würzburg, 2016, repr. cover, p. 228, abb 179, (col). and p. 220, abb. 183, (col. and det.).