Marble sarcophagus with flying erotes holding a clipeus portrait

Roman

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 169

The young beardless soldier commemorated in the portrait wears a military cloak, pinned at his right shoulder. The portrait borne aloft implied the ascent of the deceased to the heavens, while Tellus and Oceanus, the Earth and Ocean, reclined below, symbolizing the regenerative cycles of life. The central scene is framed at either end by the embracing figures of winged Eros and of Psyche, personification of the human soul.

Marble sarcophagus with flying erotes holding a clipeus portrait, Marble, Proconnesian, Roman

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Marble sarcophagus with flying erotes holding a clipeus portrait, Marble, Proconnesian, Roman
Marble sarcophagus with flying erotes holding a clipeus portrait, Marble, Proconnesian, Roman

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