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Marble sarcophagus lid with reclining couple

ca. 220 CE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 169
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.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Marble sarcophagus lid with reclining couple
  • Period: Imperial, Severan
  • Date: ca. 220 CE
  • Culture: Roman
  • Medium: Marble
  • Dimensions: length 91in. (231.1cm)
  • Classification: Stone Sculpture
  • Credit Line: Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1993
  • Object Number: 1993.11.1
  • Curatorial Department: Greek and Roman Art

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1223. Marble sarcophagus lid with reclining couple

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