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White marble

End of the III cent. AD


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Fragment of sarcophagus with Hippolytus and his nurse

Fragment of a sarcophagus relief that depicts two figures: the first is of a draped female wearing a sleeved tunic which, slipping over the arm, leaves her right shoulder unveiled; on top she wears a palla that, originally covering also her head, hangs from the left shoulder and is then pulled across the front, creating a bunch of curvilinear folds around the waist and diagonal ridges over the legs. The other figure represents a male in frontal position, standing on his left leg, who bends his left arm clasping in his hand a dyptich. The chest is naked and crossed by a baldric holding the sword, the latter here poorly preserved just like the cloak wore over the left shoulder.

Although fragmentary, it is possible to identify the figures in the relief with Hippolytus and his wet-nurse, thanks to the comparison with several sarcophagi depicting on the front the intricate story of the boy and of his mother Phaedra (for other examples, see Zanker P., Ewald Björn C., Vivere con i miti. L'iconografia dei sarcofagi romani, Milano 2009). Famous examples are on display in Paris in the Museé du Louvre (found near the river Chiarone in Tuscany, already in the Campana Collection, 290 AD ca.), in the Museo Archeologico of Susa-Apollonia, in the Museo Archeologico of Split (from Solona, III - early IV cent. AD), in the Museo Archeologico of Agrigento, in the Museo Nazionale Romano (from Largo Preneste, Roma, 280-290 AD).

The front of these sarcophagi depict the myth of Hippolytus, son of Theseus, accused by Phaedra of having attempted on her honour and then proved innocent by his father. The relief is composed of three consecutive scenes, which in some cases are not separated, while in others an arch divides the space in two sequences housed in Theseus’ palace in Trezene. Due to its fragmentary state, it is not possible to establish whether our example belonged to one type or to the other. On the left there must have been Phaedra seated amongst her maids, in the middle Hippolytus about to depart for the hunt receiving from his nurse the message of Phaedra, as we see in our fragment, and on the right there must have been a messenger informing Theseus of his son’s death.

The elements that allowed the identification of the subject are the typical portrayal of Hippolytus, naked with the baldric crossing his chest, displaying the dyptich containing Phaedra’s message, as well as the nurse figure, who is always represented with the chiton’s sleeve slipped uncovering the right shoulder and sometimes, like on our relief, touches the arm of the young man as a sign of affection and intimacy. The horse and the dogs indicating the departure for the hunt are missing, while the two extant figures are here very close to each other and set against a draped background (parapetasma).

It is possible to date our fragment to the second half of the III century, around 270-290 AD, on the ground of comparison with other sarcophagi and of the stylistic characteristics, such as the post-Gallienic tendency towards pictorial compositions, where figures with mainly frontal postures are carved in overlapping planes, and, moreover, the illusionist use of the drill for the long grooves of the drapery’s folds.

 

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCE: Musso L., s.v. Sarcofago con raffigurazione del mito di Ippolito, in Museo Nazionale Romano, I/8, 1, Roma 1985, pp.12-17P. Linant de Bellefonds, s.v. Hippolytos, in LIMC, I, pp.445-464; II, pp.322-324, Zürich-München 1990; Zanker P., Ewald Björn C., Vivere con i miti. L'iconografia dei sarcofagi romani, Milano 2009. .