Roman Funerary Art

This article will be displayed here soon; please ask to the author for a free copy: elafli@yahoo.ca
On some Roman grave reliefs from Turkey, the dead persons are depicted only as busts rather than entire figures. The bust form of portraiture was an appreciated form of displaying a portrait in interiors, such as houses. The busts on these tombstones are always labelled as “Roman”, but by examining both the hair and bust styles, we can determine the dates for these tombstones more precisely. In this brief note, grave steles of this kind, which are known from published archaeological sources, will be presented in detail.

Bu eser Müze Müdürlüğü'nün 15/03/2018 tarih ve 62901608-155.01/E. 228521 numaralı izni ile yayımlanmıştır.
In a Turkish museum there is a disk-shaped bronze mirror decorated with a relief scene, whose protagonist is the goddess Aphrodite. The scene shows Aphrodite seated left of centre on a rock. She is accompanied by two figures, a female who stands on a pedestal in front of her and her young son, Eros, who is behind her. This formerly unpublished object was found in Bithynia and has been dated to the fourth century B.C. This brief paper gives a detailed presentation of the mirror relief scene, focus on its art historical contextualization and argue a first century B.C. date for this object.

En este artículo se catalogan dos estelas medievales en la localidad de Huertapelayo, en el Alto Tajo, y se sintetizan los datos que actualmente conocemos sobre estelas discoidales y tabulares de la provincia de Guadalajara. De esta manera las conclusiones generales ayudan a interpretar mejor las dos nuevas piezas catalogadas.

In this article two medieval stelae are cataloged in the Huertapelayo locality, in the Alto Tajo, and the data that we currently know about discoidal and tabular stelae from the province of Guadalajara are synthesized. In this way the general conclusions help to better interpret the two new cataloged pieces.

This article will be displayed here soon; please ask to the author for a free copy: elafli@yahoo.ca
In this brief paper in Turkish language six sarcophagi from southern Black Sea littoral are presented. Five of these sarcophagi carved in marble or limestone belong to the second and third century A.D.; no. 6 is from the early Byzantine period. Only one of them (no. 1) is a Proconnesian production; the rest should be locally made. Most of the examples have a very plain decoration.

This research focuses on the representation of the integration between Roman social groups in imagery descriptions within the narrative of the first century Latin work Satyricon, emphasizing the imagery descriptions concerning funereal motifs. The main focus consists on analyzing Cena Trimalchionis (Sat. 29-78), episode when a rich freedman, Trimalchio, offers a  banquet  in  his  luxurious  home. I argue  the  narrative  of  this  work  contains  in  its descriptions,  images and ecphrases, a purposefully indecorous  mixture  of artistic  elements. I will  explore  how  the  theme  of  death  has  relevance  in  Cena  Trimalchionis  and  how important  it  is  for  the  study  of  imagery  descriptions  observed  in  this  episode.  I will demonstrate in this analysis how the indecorous mixture of artistic elements – there being a preponderance of funereal motifs in these elements – is constructor of the work’s ironic and critical  tone.  Furthermore,  will be  indicated  how,  more  than  a  critique  of  the  group  of freedman,  or  the  nouveau  riche,  the  work  represents  a  covert  criticism  to  a  vicious  and demoralized Roman elite, in accordance with the aristocratic vision of Satyricon’s author, a courtier during Nero’s epoch. In this perspective, I argue that criticism of an imperial elite is disguised  through  the  representation  of  subaltern  groups  and  of  the  integration  between distinct social groups throughout the narrative. Moreover, will be examined the representation of  a  social  sharing,  tracing  parallels  between  Satyricon’s  imagery  and  Roman  funerary  art found in archaeologically attested tombs.

Настоящее исследование посвящено проблеме множественности художественных влияний в александрийском погребальном искусстве римского периода на примере иконографической программы так называемых "гробниц Персефоны" I и II (некрополь Ком-эль-Шокафа), датируемых концом I - началом II в. до н.э. Обе принадлежат к распространенному в Александрии архитектурному типу прямоугольной ниши с фронтоном. Вдоль задних стен расположены слитные с ними саркофаги, пространство над которыми занято двумя регистрами фигуративных изображений. Нижний регистр посвящен циклу Персефоны, выполненному в эллинизирующей манере, в верхнем размещены египтизирующие сцены. В исследовании сделана попытка обосновать предположение о том, что художественное "двуязычие" иконографической программы гробниц Персефоны не является простым "переводом" одного и того же "текста" с одного языка на другой. Эллинизирующие и египтизирующие композиции дополняют друг друга: первые выражают коннотации победы над смертью, воскрешения и счастливой загробной жизни, а вторые выполняют функцию визуальной поддержки погребального культа. Кроме того, в исследовании выявляются основные векторы влияния на развитие александрийского погребального искусства: греко-македонская, египетская и эллинизированная римская художественные традиции.

Wall painting in the Sardis hypogea expresses a regional visual language situated within the context of Late Antique approaches to decorative surfaces and multivalent motifs of indeterminate religious affiliation. Iconographic ambivalence and a typically Late Antique absence of illusionism creates a supranatural world that is grounded in the familiar imagery of home and gardens but does not quite reflect the natural world. Ubiquitous and mundane motifs were thus elevated and potentially charged with polysemic allusions to funerary practice and belief. Twelve fourth century C.E. hypogea form a distinctive corpus with a largely homogenous decorative program of scattered flowers, garlands, baskets, and birds. Related imagery is common throughout the larger Roman world, but compositional parallels from Western Anatolia suggest a particularly local visual vocabulary. The chronologically, geographically, and typologically discrete nature of the Sardis corpus set it apart from the standard of Rome while underscoring commonalities in late Roman funerary decoration and ritual. The painted imagery evoked funerary processes and ongoing social negotiation between the living and the deceased. Link:
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0752/8/3/103

Se expondrá una visión general de los argumentos que definirían al afamado monumento lucense de Santa Eulalia de Bóveda como un suntuoso sepulcro romano.
Para lo cual, se detallarán algunos de los aspectos de la arqueología funeraria que permitan establecer esta relación funcional, tanto desde un punto de vista arquitectónico como de las diferentes muestras decorativas conservadas en bajorrelieves y en la pintura mural.
Además, se incidirá en el programa simbólico e iconográfico de los diferentes motivos identificados que podrían estar vinculando al monumento con ritos funerarios dionisíacos.
Todo ello adentrándose en los principios artísticos e ideológicos de la Antigüedad clásica teniendo siempre presente sus fuentes históricas y literarias.

The aim of this brief article is to present a new archaeological find from the year of 2010, a small scaled, unexpectedly unearthed marble relief, showing three nymphs in a niche. The relief was found near a village called Fevziye in Kulu, in the district of Konya, in Roman Galatia. From the early 2nd century A.D. reliefs and statues of nymphs, holding a shell-shaped water basin in front of them became popular in Asia Minor as well as elsewhere in the Imperium Romanum. In this paper further examples of nymph reliefs are discussed and a date for the relief niche
from Kulu is suggested.

Seit der Mitte des 3. Jhs. nehmen Neudedikationen rundplastischer (Porträt‑)Statuen zunehmend ab. Es erscheint aber notwendig, diesen Rückgang an Neuaufstellungen nicht nur global als Gesamtphänomen zu untersuchen, sondern die medialen Besonderheiten der unterschiedlichen Ausprägungen des portrait bzw. statue habit in der Spätantike zu berücksichtigen. Das Problem entzündet sich bereits an dem Sachverhalt, dass die auf den Sarkophagen noch im 3. Jh. aufwendig ausgearbeiteten Porträtköpfe im 4. Jh. nunmehr mit wenigen Ausnahmen völlig bossiert blieben, oder nur schwache individualiserende Merkmale aufweisen. Obwohl dezidiert statuarische Monumente in sepulkralen Zusammenhängen fast völlig verschwinden, verbleibt das Porträt in Form eines Mosaiks oder eines Gemäldes, punktuell mit indvidualisierendem Anspruch, in verschiedenen Kontexten durchaus präsent, wie bei Stifter- und Klerikerdarstellungen in Kirchen. In der Analyse stellt sich heraus, dass die in der frühen und mittleren Kaiserzeit nachweisbaren statuarischen Darstellungsweisen aufgrund gewandelter Vorstellungen von der Angemessenheit einer solchen Ehrung weitgehend verschwanden, da das Porträtstandbild zunehmend als exklusiver Teil eines überkommenen magistratischen und kaiserlichen Ehrungsdiskurses aufgefasst wurde, der sich als inkompatibel für die neu geschaffenen Repräsentationsräume wie die neu entstehenden Kirchenbauten erwies. Am Grab erlangten andere Aspekte eine höhere Relevanz, wie die Nähe zu den Märtyrern oder die biblischen Themen der Sarkophagreliefs. Die Porträtstatue als Ausstattungsstück eines sepulkralen Repräsentationsraums konnte sich daher nur dort halten, wo man noch in seltenen Fällen dezidiert, und entgegen der sich vollziehenden Transformationsprozesse, Wert legte auf eine Betonung der magistratischen Ämterkarriere.

In 2016, a burial chamber hewn into limestone was discovered at Khirbet Aqabet Al Qadi on the northwestern slope of Mount Ebal, 2km north of the city center of Nablus. The floor of the chamber is 3.15 × 2.9 m and the height averages 1.8 m. A movable closure at the entrance consists of a limestone slab. The burial chamber houses four sarcophagi. The aim of this case study is to give information not only on the burial chamber but also, for the first time in the region, on human remains. Stable isotope analysis of a human bone sample enabled us to obtain dietary information on one individual. Due to low collagen content, the sample did not allow precise dating but it can be placed between 50 BC and 50 AD. Systematic illegal excavation and looting at funerary sites in the Nablus area has caused material for potential information to be missing at the site. Nonetheless, the dietary information obtained supports other material finds indicating Mediterranean agricultural use of the land. Our evidence demonstrates that the site dates to between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD.