sarcophagi

Examples of sarcophagi in the following topics:

• Etruscan Art under the Influence of the Romans

  • Funerary art, both in tomb paintings and on carved sarcophagi, underwent a noticeable change in subject matter during the Roman period.
  • Charun and Vanth also appear on stone and terra cotta sarcophagi.
  • Smaller cinerary urns assumed the shapes of sarcophagi during this period.

• Ivory Carving

  • During the persecution of Christians, such reliefs were typically kept small in scale; those on sarcophagi being the largest.

• Tempera

  • Tempera and encaustic painting techniques were discovered on many Egyptian sarcophagi decorations, including the Fayum mummy portraits .

• Funerary Art

  • The catacombs of Rome-- the early Christian tombs-- contain most of the surviving Christian funerary art of the Early Christian period, mainly in the form of frescoes and sculpted sarcophagi.
  • Initially, Christians avoided iconic images of religious figures, and sarcophagi were decorated with ornaments, Christian symbols, and narrative religious scenes.

• Etruscan Artifacts

  • Additionally, the depiction of married couples on many sarcophagi provide insight into the respect and freedoms granted to women within Etruscan society, as well as the emphasis placed on romantic love as a basis for marriage pairings.

• Ivory Carving in the Early Byzantine Empire

  • During the persecution of Christians, such reliefs were typically kept small in scale, no larger than the reliefs on sarcophagi.

• Sculpture during the Decline of the Roman Empire

  • It differs from earlier battle scenes on sarcophagi in which more shallowly carved figures are less convoluted and intertwined.

• Renaissance Sculpture in Florence

  • Donatello's other important projects in and near Florence include the marble pulpit of the facade of the Prato cathedral, the carved Cantoria or choir at the Florence Duomo, which was influenced by ancient sarcophagi and Byzantine ivory chests, the Annunciation scene for the Cavalcanti altar in the church of Santa Croce, and a bust of Young Man with a Cameo, the first example of a lay bust portrait since the classical era.

• Raphael

  • In his Deposition of Christ, Raphael draws on classical sarcophagi to spread the figures across the front of the picture space in a complex and not wholly successful arrangement.

• Etruscan Tombs

  • Burial urns and sarcophagi, both large and small, were used to hold the cremated remains of the dead.