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Sarcophagus and lid with husband and wife
Italic, Etruscan
Late Classical or Early Hellenistic Period
350–300 B.C.
Findspot: Italy, Lazio, Vulci
Medium/Technique
Travertine
Dimensions
Height x width x length: 93.3 x 117.4 x 213.8 cm (36 3/4 x 46 1/4 x 84 3/16 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase with funds donated by Mrs. Gardner Brewer and by contribution and the Benjamin Pierce Cheney Donation
Accession Number86.145a-b
NOT ON VIEW
CollectionsAncient Greece and Rome
ClassificationsTomb equipment – Coffins and sarcophagi
Catalogue Raisonné
Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 383; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 116 (additional published references).
DescriptionThe top of the cover takes the form of a bed with pillows, and a man and his wife embrace under a large sheet. She wears a complex earring and he a bracelet of twisted strands. There is no costume visible.
On the long side below the man is a frieze with four pairs of Greeks and Amazons in combat. A bead-and-reel molding appears above, and simple pilasters frame the scenes on the corners. The other side, the long panel below the woman, has only a plain fillet molding above, suggesting it was the back of the sarcophagus proper. The frieze features two pairs of horsemen and foot soldiers in combat, with a warrior in fighting pose on foot in the center.
On the left end (facing the frieze with Greeks and Amazons), two lions bring down a bull. The bead-and-reel molding is seen above. On the right end, two griffins are tearing into a fallen horse.
The condition is, generally speaking, excellent, with some traces of a dark brown deposit and an overall light brown to yellow patina.
The sarcophagus is inscribed for Thanchvil Tarnai and her husband Larth Tetnies, son of Arnth Tetnies and Ramtha Vishnai.
On the long side below the man is a frieze with four pairs of Greeks and Amazons in combat. A bead-and-reel molding appears above, and simple pilasters frame the scenes on the corners. The other side, the long panel below the woman, has only a plain fillet molding above, suggesting it was the back of the sarcophagus proper. The frieze features two pairs of horsemen and foot soldiers in combat, with a warrior in fighting pose on foot in the center.
On the left end (facing the frieze with Greeks and Amazons), two lions bring down a bull. The bead-and-reel molding is seen above. On the right end, two griffins are tearing into a fallen horse.
The condition is, generally speaking, excellent, with some traces of a dark brown deposit and an overall light brown to yellow patina.
The sarcophagus is inscribed for Thanchvil Tarnai and her husband Larth Tetnies, son of Arnth Tetnies and Ramtha Vishnai.
Provenance1845/1846, excavated at Ponte Rotto necropolis, Vulci, Italy, and kept by Alexandrine de Bleschamp, Princess of Canino and Musignano (b. 1778 - d. 1855), Musignano [see note 1]; by descent to her daughter, Maria Bonaparte Valentini (b. 1818 - d. 1874), Musignano; by descent to her daughter, Luciana Valentini, Countess Faina (b. 1840 - d. 1925), Musignano; about 1883, sold by Luciana Valentini to James Jackson Jarves (b. 1818 - d. 1888), Florence [see note 2]; 1886, sold by Jarves to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 1, 1886)
NOTES:
[1] The sarcophagus was excavated along with another (MFA accession no. 1975.799), on the property of Lucien Bonaparte's widow at Vulci and they were reported to have been transported immediately to Musignano. The discovery was announced in February, 1846; see Bullettino dell'Instituto di Corrispondenza Archaeologica VI (June 1846), p. 86; and George Dennis, The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria, vol. 1 (London, 1848), p. 439.
[2] Jarves lent both sarcophagi to the American Exhibition of Foreign Products, Arts, and Manufacture and published an account of their history in the Handbook for Visitors to the Collections of Old Art of the Boston Foreign Art Exhibition (Boston, 1883), pp. 30-33, cat. nos. 464-465, where they are erroneously said to have been excavated in 1842/1843.
[3] The sarcophagi were sold jointly to the MFA and the Boston Athenaeum. This sarcophagus was assigned to the MFA.
NOTES:
[1] The sarcophagus was excavated along with another (MFA accession no. 1975.799), on the property of Lucien Bonaparte's widow at Vulci and they were reported to have been transported immediately to Musignano. The discovery was announced in February, 1846; see Bullettino dell'Instituto di Corrispondenza Archaeologica VI (June 1846), p. 86; and George Dennis, The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria, vol. 1 (London, 1848), p. 439.
[2] Jarves lent both sarcophagi to the American Exhibition of Foreign Products, Arts, and Manufacture and published an account of their history in the Handbook for Visitors to the Collections of Old Art of the Boston Foreign Art Exhibition (Boston, 1883), pp. 30-33, cat. nos. 464-465, where they are erroneously said to have been excavated in 1842/1843.
[3] The sarcophagi were sold jointly to the MFA and the Boston Athenaeum. This sarcophagus was assigned to the MFA.