The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 23, 2024

Sarcophagus

Sarcophagus

c. 100–125 CE
Location: 103 Roman

Did You Know?

From the Greek word for “flesh-eating,” sarcophagus is now used generically for “coffin.”

Description

The tragic figure Orestes appears three times on the front of this sarcophagus, always wielding a short sword. In the center he stands over the body of his mother Clytemnestra, and at center left over the body of her lover Aegisthus. Orestes has killed them both to avenge their murder of his father Agamemnon, upon his return from years of fighting at Troy. At the far left, three Furies (avenging spirits) rest upon Agamemnon's tomb, while at the far right, Orestes atones for the murders at the Delphian shrine of Apollo, marked by a tripod and rock. On the lid, four reclining women symbolize the seasons, arranged in right-to-left order: Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn, as indicated by their dress and the contents of their baskets.
  • R. H. "Orestes Sarcophagus and Greek Accessions." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 15, no. 4 (1928): 90-87. www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 43 archive.org
    Carter, Martha L. Classical Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1961. Mentioned: p. 13-14; Reproduced: Plate 21 archive.org
    Hollendonner, Frederick L. "A Technical Note on the Orestes Sarcophagus." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 71, no. 4 (1984): 114-15. www.jstor.org
    Neils, Jenifer. "The Orestes Sarcophagus and Other Classical Marbles." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 71, no. 4 (1984): 102-13. www.jstor.org
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1991. Reproduced: p. 14 archive.org
    Gardner, Helen, Richard G. Tansey and Fred S. Kleiner. Gardner's Art Through the Ages. Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1996 Mentioned: p. 240-241; Reproduced: p. 241, fig. 7-68
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 86; Reproduced: P. 64-65
  • {{cite web|title=Sarcophagus|url=false|author=|year=c. 100–125 CE|access-date=23 March 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1928.856