Roman Funerary Art (Rome Production)

 

Roman Sarcophagi, 110–120 A.D. Artist Unknown, Manufactured in the city of Rome (Roman Empire)

The Romans took death very seriously, they treated all of their death with respect and honor, each getting buried in their own sarcophagi when they left this plane of existence. A sarcophagus was used for inhumation burials, which simply means to bury the dead. Before the rise of the Roman Empire, the common death ritual was to cremate bodies and keep them in urns, until the second-century C.E., when Romans began to adopt more Greek and Etruscan cultures into their daily lives, thus creating the ideal of inhumation burial. This sarcophagus specifically was a production of the city of Rome, important to note because of the fact that each production center had a different viewpoint on how the sarcophagi should be decorated, where it should be placed, and how it should be made. Rome specifically made their sarcophagi with flat, rectangular lids, decorated only on the front and the sides, while Athens on the other hand produced sarcophagi with decoration on all four sides and the appearance of a gabled roof. Because the Romans occupying the city of Rome kept their dead in mausolea, only the front and the two sides were visible to visitors, making the decoration hold a purely aesthetic purpose in contrast to cultures that bury their dead with symbology to help protect them and things of that nature. The status of the person was carved into their sarcophagus, the more wealthy and high ranking class they were, the more it was elaborately carved and designed. Elitists in Rome preferred to appear high class and well knowledged, carving Greek mythical imagery on their sarcophagi instead of depicting typical art of leaves and fruit which were designed to further the aesthetic appeal of a mausoleum for visitors, having the sarcophagi practically blend into the wall so you did not know you were coming to visit the dead. This is important because it shows the cultural influence that death and the expectation of death upon individuals. It provides an insight into how they did not view death as an ending, but rather an extension of themselves, a way to further glorify their status and social ranking for the world to see. Instead of simply carving their name and date of birth and date of death, they carved elaborate stories, couples holding one another, victories of a battle, hunting, all providing a piece into their lives that were significant to them and their view on the world that would otherwise be forgotten if not carven into the marble they were buried in. 

Sources:

Awan, Heather T. “Roman Sarcophagi.” metmuseum.org, April 2007. https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/rsar/hd_rsar.htm.

Dr. Jessica Leay Ambler, "Introduction to ancient Roman art," in Smarthistory, August 8, 2015, accessed September 16, 2020, https://smarthistory.org/introduction-to-ancient-roman-art/.