SARCOPHAGUS FRONT WITH SCENES FROM THE MYTH OF PERSEPHONE, 200-230 CE. PALAZZO MATTEI DI GIOVE A confusion of figures fills this sarcophagus front, with parallel scenes of movement in chariots at both sides and a scene of static flower-picking at centre left. Starting at centre is the small kneeling figure of Persephone, with an Eros pulling up her velificatio while another is steadying her vase. She's oriented toward the left but is looking anxiously to the right. The most dramatic scene is at right, where she is being abducted by Hades in a chariot heading rightward, preceded by Hermes, a clear reference to the soul's passage to the Underworld. Three goddesses, Athena, Artemis, and Hera, seem to be trying to rescue her, but she can't escape the clutches of Hades, who is ominously facing outward at the viewer. At left is the poignant scene of her mother Demeter searching for her. The winged figure preceding Demeter's chariot is Trepidatio, Fear.

#SarcophagusSaturday at #palazzoMattei di #Giove in #Rome offers us a chaotic scene of the abduction of #Persephone in three moments, starting at centre with the maiden innocently picking flowers, then at right where she's abducted by #Hades, and at left where #Demeter seeks her. #AncientBluesky 🏺

SARCOPHAGUS FRONT, 210-220 CE, AND FAKE SARCOPHAGUS FRONT, 1607. PALAZZO MATTEI DI GIOVE This is fun. At top we have a relief with Erotes holding not one but three separate clipei. The two central Erotes are actually holding a heavy garland of fruit which has the clipeus wedged between its ends. The two side Erotes are aided by two tritons with double tails who support the clipei from below. The sarcophagus would be far too small to contain three bodies, and the three-clipeus design is totally aberrant. This is a fake from when the courtyard was built in around 1607. The lower, more crowded sarcophagus front shows Mars striding toward the sexy sleeping Vestal Rhea Silvia, an altogether superior work in design and execution. A bevy of other gods are all watching intently. They are in attendance because the sex act about to take place will result in the birth of Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.

At #palazzoMattei di #Giove in #Rome, we have *two* #sarcophagus fronts but only *one* is real. The other is a C17 fake. Our #SarcophagusSaturday challenge is to decide which is which. Before I tell you the answer in the ALT text, try and guess. #AncientBluesky 🏺

CHILD'S SARCOPHAGUS WITH EROTES, 175-200 CE. PALAZZO MATTEI DI GIOVE This beautiful little sarcophagus was given pride of place in the disposition of Asdrubale Mattei's antiquities collection in the courtyard of his palace. It sits atop two little lion-headed trapezophoroi (carved supports) and has a lid much too small for it, with a reclining child on it. The front is framed on both ends with spiral-fluted columns, and four internal pilasters create five square panels in which five delightful Erotes with wings and chlamys dance. The first at left is holding up a string from which hangs a drum and the second brandishes a baton tied with a ribbon. The central Eros is a sort of Orpheus, holding a lyre in one hand and a plectrum in the other. The fourth bears a thyrsus and the last Eros, or the first if they are in procession, is carrying a reversed torch, symbolising death.

A child's #sarcophagus is always sad, even when it's part of a gigantic #spolia centrepiece at the back of the courtyard of #palazzoMattei di #Giove in #Rome. This one, from 175-200 CE, has #Erotes dancing between pilasters, evoking the innocent joys of a childhood cut short. #AncientBluesky 🏺

SARCOPHAGUS FRONT, C. 250 CE. PALAZZO MATTEI DI GIOVE This small sarcophagus front is set into the wall above a doorway in the androne or entrance passage of the early C17 palazzo Mattei. Of the five heads of the larger figures here, only two are original. The relief consists of a central group of three figures, Hylas and the two nymphs who are youth-napping him, flanked by two other groups of three figures. Hylas was the lover of Hercules, who is probably the adult male figure at left carrying a large tub. Two Erotes are leading him to the site of Hylas' disappearance. At far right another Argonaut, probably Polyphemus (not the Cyclops) is also being brought to the site by Erotes. Hylas, nude but for a cloak, is holding a jug, but is being grabbed by two nymphs who will drag him underwater and know him biblically. The nymph at left has the face of an old woman, which seems to have come from another sarcophagus, but the nymph at right has an original head, which is of a boy. If Hylas' face is carved to look like the adult version of the occupant of this child's sarcophagus, or possibly to look like the dead boy's father, the nymph has the boy's actual face. This may be because the boy had not yet reached the age of donning the toga virilis and thus his sexual identity was not socially confirmed, or perhaps it was the only way to fit father and son into a scene on a pre-carved sarcophagus.

#SarcophagusSaturday takes us to #palazzoMattei di #Giove in #Rome, where an unusual #relief shows the rape of #Hylas, an episode from the myth of the #Argonauts, from c. 250 CE. There's something odd about the nymphs: one has the face of a little boy, another of an old woman. #AncientBluesky 🏺+ALT!

Milano-Cortina: emozione a palazzo Mattei a Roma per passaggio Fiamma olimpica (Adnkronos) - Forte emozione ieri a Palazzo Mattei, sede storica di Eni, per il passaggio della Fiamma Olimpica di Milano Cortina 2026. Marco Petracchini, presidente di Enilive, sottolinea di aver vissuto “un’emozione indescrivibile...

TI POTREBBE INTERESSARE: Milano-Cortina: emozione a palazzo Mattei a Roma per passaggio Fiamma olimpica ... LEGGI TUTTO #MilanoCortina2026 #FiammaOlimpica #Emozione #PalazzoMattei #Sport

Milano-Cortina: emozione a palazzo Mattei a Roma per passaggio Fiamma olimpica (Adnkronos) - Forte emozione ieri a Palazzo Mattei, sede storica di Eni, per il passaggio della Fiamma Olimpica di Milano Cortina 2026. Marco Petracchini, presidente di Enilive, sottolinea di aver vissuto “un’emozione indescrivibile...

È ACCADUTO IERI: Milano-Cortina: emozione a palazzo Mattei a Roma per passaggio Fiamma olimpica ... LEGGI TUTTO #MilanoCortina2026 #FiammaOlimpica #PalazzoMattei #Sport #Olimpiadi

Milano-Cortina: emozione a palazzo Mattei a Roma per passaggio Fiamma olimpica (Adnkronos) - Forte emozione ieri a Palazzo Mattei, sede storica di Eni, per il passaggio della Fiamma Olimpica di Milano Cortina 2026. Marco Petracchini, presidente di Enilive, sottolinea di aver vissuto “un’emozione indescrivibile...

Milano-Cortina: emozione a palazzo Mattei a Roma per passaggio Fiamma olimpica ... LEGGI TUTTO #MilanoCortina2026 #FiammaOlimpica #PalazzoMattei #Emozione #Olimpiadi

SARCOPHAGUS FRONT WITH SCENES OF MARS AND CUPID, C. 200 CE. PALAZZO MATTEI DI GIOVE This Severan-era sarcophagus front, enclosed within a rich C17 stucco frame including the eagle of the dukes of Giove at bottom centre, has five scenes on it, each in its own pilastered arch. At far left a pair of Erotes on a pedestal are holding the helmet of Mars, and the next scene at right shows Cupid (Eros) and Psyche embracing. At centre, Mars, nude except for his helmet and shield, is chatting with the Vestal Rhea Silvia, who's explaining that she's taken an oath of virginity and can't do nuthin' with no one. Mars looks peeved. In the next scene, he's striding toward her naked sleeping form, being led by Cupid. He's clearly about to fall upon her with lustful intent, and generate Romulus and Remus thereby. The rightmost scene shows a pair of figures on a pedestal. The man, in a very short tunic, seems to be telling the events to an extremely cross Venus.

For #SarcophagusSaturday we're back at #PalazzoMattei di #Giove in #Rome, where a #sarcophagus front from 200 CE shows five arches with scenes related to #Mars and #Cupid, a strange duo. The man buried in this box wanted us to know he was a lover *and* a fighter. #AncientBluesky 🏺

GARLAND SARCOPHAGUS WITH EROTES, 125-140 CE. PALAZZO MATTEI DI GIOVE From the vast Mattei collection of sarcophagus fronts comes this finely-carved specimen with three Erotes holding up two garlands laden with autumn fruit. But there's something strange about it: the two scenes above the curves of the garlands seem to have nothing to do with each other. At left is a very delicate relief of Œdipus and the sphinx, the former attended by a servant. At right, the scene is of the lovestruck Cyclops Polyphemus trying to win over the uninterested Nereid Galatea by offering her a sheep, which, dude, come on.

For #SarcophagusSaturday, what does the story of #Oedipus and the #Sphinx have to do with the story of #Polyphemus and #Galatea? As far as I can tell, nothing! But both stories appear on this #sarcophagus front in the #androne of #PalazzoMattei di #Giove in #Rome. #AncientBluesky 🏺

SARCOPHAGUS WITH MUSES, C. 250 CE. PALAZZO MATTEI DI GIOVE This sarcophagus is one of a type depicting the deceased as a philosopher, poet, or Muse surrounded by the Muses. Sarcophagi with such representations, common between the mid C3 and the early C4 CE, were not intended for professional scholars but for a social class that aspired to immortality through culture. On this version in the entrance hall of palazzo Mattei di Giove, the portrait of the deceased is only sketched in, which deprives us of the details which serve as the primary basis for dating the piece. However, the use of a drill is evident on the heads of the muses and in the folds of the garments. This use, and an examination of the composition, suggest that this dates from about 250 CE. At centre is the deceased, sitting with the muses standing on either side of him, some bearing theatrical masks, one with a lyre, and others with staffs or scrolls. There are actually 10 muses here, for symmetry.

#SarcophagusSaturday brings us back to #PalazzoMattei di #Giove in #Rome, where a wonderful collection of #sarcophagus fronts decorates the two androni or entrance corridor. Here we have the deceased as a sort of #Apollo with the #Muses. But who's the extra one? #AncientBluesky 🏺

Palazzo Mattei is actually five palaces. Although most of the buildings aren't open to the public, no one seems to mind if you wander around the courtyard, which is filled with statues and busts, or even go up the stairs to the first-floor loggia.
(Via Caeteni)
#Roma #Rome #PalazzoMattei