This table base displays the story of Jonah (Jonah 1:12–2:10), who is shown being swallowed by a ketos, a legendary sea monster of the classical world, and then being rescued. According to Matthew (12:40), the story of Jonah was a foretelling of the Resurrection of Christ. The ship is a rare detailed depiction of a Roman merchant ship. Tarsos, where the base was found, was the birthplace of Saint Paul and an important Christian city.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Table Base with Jonah Swallowed and Cast Up by the Big Fish
Date:early 300s
Geography:Made in Asia Minor
Culture:Roman
Medium:Marble, white
Dimensions:Overall: 19 1/2 x 24 x 13 1/4 in. (49.5 x 61 x 33.7 cm) Base: 9 5/8 x 10 1/4 in. (24.4 x 26 cm) weight: 181lb. (82.1kg)
Classification:Sculpture-Stone
Credit Line:Gift of John Todd Edgar, 1877
Accession Number:77.7
Found in 1876, at Tarsos (now Tarsus, southern Turkey); John Todd Edgar, US Consul at Beirut, Nashville (until 1877)
Los Angeles County Museum of Art. "The Middle Ages: Treasures from The Cloisters and The Metropolitan Museum of Art," January 18, 1970–March 29, 1970.
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New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century," November 19, 1977–February 12, 1978.
Forth Worth, TX. Kimbell Art Museum. "Picturing the Bible: The Earliest Christian Art," November 18, 2007–March 30, 2008.
Lowrie, Walter. "A Jonah Monument in the New York Metropolitan Museum." American Journal of Archaeology: The Journal of the Archaeological Institute of America 5, no. 1 (January-March 1901). pp. 51–57.
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Cabrol, Fernand, Henri Leclercq, and Henri Irénée Marrou. Dictionnaire d'Archéologie Chrétienne et de Liturgie. Vol. 1-15. Paris, 1907-1953. pp. 2572–2631.
Dalton, O. M. Byzantine Art and Archeology. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911.
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Karl, Ludwig. "Notice sur un Légende Historique Conservé á Rome." Revue Archéologique 21, ser. 5 (1925). p. 296.
The International Studio 85 (1926). p. 84.
Lowrie, Walter. Art in the Early Church. Revised ed. New York: Pantheon Books, 1947. pp. 3, 84, fig. 22b.
Bonner, Campbell, and Cambridge University Press. "The Story of Jonah on a Magical Amulet." Harvard Theological Review 41, no. 1 (1948). pp. 31–37.
Grabar, André. Sculptures Byzantines de Constantinople: IVe-Xe siècle. Bibliothèque archéologique et historique de l'Institut français d'archéologie d'Istanbul, Vol. 17. Paris: Librairie A. Maisonneuve, 1963. p. 46, fig. XI.
Ostoia, Vera K. The Middle Ages: Treasures from the Cloisters and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1969. no. 5, pp. 22–3, 251.
Beeson, Nora B., ed. Guide to The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1972. no. 4, p. 211.
Narkiss, Bezalel. "The Sign of Jonah." Gesta 18, no. 1 (1979). p. 65, fig. 1.
Weitzmann, Kurt, ed. Age of Spirituality: Late Antique and Early Christian Art, Third to Seventh Century. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1979. no. 369, pp. 411–12.
Shepard, Mary B. Europe in the Middle Ages, edited by Charles T. Little, and Timothy B. Husband. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1987. pp. 6, 23, pl. 9.
Durand, Jannic, ed. Byzance: L'Art Byzantin dans les Collections Publiques Françaises. Paris: Musée du Louvre, 1992. p. 31.
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