Fragment of a Garland Sarcophagus with Medea

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Fragment of a Garland Sarcophagus with Medea

Place of OriginItaly, documented in Florence in 1734

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

DescriptionMarble fragment carved in high relief from a Roman garland sarcophagus. The preserved lunette shows Medea ascending in a winged, dragon-drawn chariot, holding the corpse of her child over her left shoulder and the remains of a sword in her right hand. The child’s arms are extended backward, and his face is shown frontally. The chariot is already airborne, drawn by two serpentine dragons with reins around their necks. Below, a beribboned garland—composed of pomegranates, figs, pears, grapes, pinecones, acorns, and wheat—hangs in deep relief, supported by the hand of a mostly-missing Cupid at right.

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. This object is considered the earliest of the known sarcophagus representations of the myth. 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, Antonio Francesco, Inscriptiones antiquae in Etruriae urbibus exstantes vol. III, Florence, 1743, p. 88, pl. 13.

Carli, Giovan Girolamo, Dissertazioni due dell’Abate Gio, Mantua, Giuseppe Braglia, 1785, p. 303.

Labus, Giovanni, Museo della Reale Accademia di Mantova, vol. III, Mantua, A spese degli editori d’Arco e fratelli Negretti, 1837, p. 363.

Raoul-Rochette, Désiré, Journal des savants, Paris, 1834, p. 76.

Müller, Karl Otfried, Handbuch der Archäologie der Kunst, 2nd ed., Breslau, Josef Max, 1835, p. 646.

Welcker, Friedrich Gottlieb, Handbuch der Archäologie der Kunst, 3rd ed., Breslau, J. Max, 1848, p. 695.

Pyl, Carl Theodor, De Medeae fabula. Particula II, Berlin, Typis G. Schade, 1850, p. 75.

Jahn, Otto, “Jason und Medea auf Sarkophagreliefs,” Archäologische Zeitung, vol. 24, 1866, pp. 235, no. N.

Dilthey, Karl, “Sarcofaghi di Medea: Memoria,” Annali dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica, vol. 41, 1869, p. 12, n., and p. 65.

Schmidt, Richard, De Hymenaeo et Talasio dis veterum nuptialibus, inaugural dissertation, Kiel, H. Fiencke, 1886, p. 61, no. 6.

Sources von Urlichs, Ludwig, Ein Medea-Sarkophag, 21. Programm des von Wagnerschen Kunstinstituts, Würzburg, Stahel'sche Universitäts-Buch- und Kunsthandlung, 1888, p. 6, no. 6 N.

Robert, Carl, Die antiken Sarkophagreliefs, vol. II: Mythologische Cyklen, Berlin, 1890, p. 205, no. 193, pl. 62.

Rumpf, Andreas, Die Meerwesen auf den antiken Sarkophagreliefs, in the series Die antiken Sarkophagreliefs, vol. 5, pt. 1, Berlin, 1939, p. 31, fig. 47.

Sichtermann, Hellmut, “Beiträge zu den Meerwesensarkophagen,” Archäologischer Anzeiger, vol. 85, 1970, pp. 217.

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Schmidt, Margot, “Medeia,” in Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (LIMC), vol. VI, pt. 1, Zurich and Munich, Artemis Verlag, 1992, p. 392, no. 46, pl. 200.

Gaggadis-Robin, Vassiliki, Jason et Médée sur les sarcophages d'époque impériale, Rome, École française de Rome, 1994, pp. 9, 22–24, no. 1, fig. 1.

Herdejürgen, Helga, Stadtrömische und italische Girlandensarkophage (Die antiken Sarkophagreliefs, vol. 6, pt. 2,1), Berlin, Mann, 1996, pp. 35, 41ff., 48, no. 40, pl. 36.

Oakley, John H., “Roman Sarcophagi in the Toledo Museum of Art,” in Approaching the Ancient Artifact: Representation, Narrative, and Function, edited by Amalia Avramidou and Denise Demetriou, Berlin and Boston, De Gruyter, 2014, pp. 201-205, .

Jäger, Johanna, Die mythologischen Lünettenreliefs stadtrömischer Girlandensarkophage: Eine motivgeschichtliche Untersuchung, Würzburg, Ergon Verlag, 2017, repr. cover, p. 228, abb. 179 (col.), and p. 220, abb. 183 (col. and det.).