Marble sarcophagus lid with reclining couple

Unknown

ca. 220 CE · Marble · Greek and Roman Art

The couple are shown as semidivine personifications of water and earth. Like Hellenistic and Roman images of river gods, the bare-chested man holds a long reed, and a lizard-like creature crouches beside him. The woman holds a garland and two sheaves of wheat, attributes of Tellus, goddess of the earth. At her feet is a furry-tailed mammal with a small Eros on its back. While the man’s head is carefully portrayed, his wife’s head has been left unfinished, suggesting that he predeceased her, and no one added her portrait after she died.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 220 CE

Medium

Marble

Culture

Roman

Department

Greek and Roman Art

Credit line

Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1993