STRIGILATE SARCOPHAGUS, C. 230-250 CE. CAPITOLINE MUSEUMS At the end of the hallway leading to the offices of the director of the Capitoline Museums is this unlabelled sarcophagus with a partial lid whose upright has two rather crudely-carved Erotes holding up a knotted cloth or peripetasma behind a portrait of the deceased, who is shown holding a scroll. At right, before the break in the upright, a small blank tabula is being held up by two more Erotes and one imagines that a parallel image of the deceased's spouse would appear in the missing half. The sarcophagus front is entirely composed of two symmetrical strigilate panels but at the corners are two matching figures of kriophoroi or ram-carriers, originally figures of Hermes but more generally evoking pastoral peace. These figures would eventually be co-opted into Christian iconography to represent Christ the Good Shepherd, and might be secret references to Christ on this sarcophagus, but are more likely to be apotropaic images of protection.

#SarcophagusSaturday this week forces us to face the ambiguous figure of the #kriophoros. The what? The #GoodShepherd of #Christian imagery, which was appropriated directly from images of #Hermes επιμελιος, keeper of flocks. This example is in the #CapitolineMuseums in #Rome. #ClassicsBluesky 🏺