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Marble sarcophagus fragment

mid-2nd century CE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 171
The relief, which originally formed the front panel of a large sarcophagus, depicts the death of the Greek hero Meleager, famous for killing the Calydonian boar. On other Roman sarcophagi this scene accompanies that of the hunt itself, showing Meleager spearing the ferocious boar. However, here the focus is on the dying hero who is being carried home surrounded by his grieving father and companions. During the Renaissance the scene became the prototype for artistic representations of the Deposition of Christ. The panel, as it now survives, includes 16th-century restorations.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Marble sarcophagus fragment
  • Period: Mid-Imperial, Antonine
  • Date: mid-2nd century CE
  • Culture: Roman
  • Medium: Marble, Luni and Pentelic
  • Dimensions: Other (reconstructed): 38 1/8 in. × 8 3/4 in. × 46 7/8 in. (96.8 × 22.2 × 119.1 cm)
  • Classification: Stone Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1920
  • Object Number: 20.187
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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