Sarcophagus and lid with husband and wife
350–300 B.C.
FindspotVulci, Lazio, Italy
Medium/TechniqueTravertine
DimensionsHeight x width x length: 93.3 x 117.4 x 213.8 cm (36 3/4 x 46 1/4 x 84 3/16 in.)
Credit LineMuseum purchase with funds donated by Mrs. Gardner Brewer and by contribution and the Benjamin Pierce Cheney Donation
Accession number86.145a-b
On View
Not on viewClassificationsTomb equipment
Collections
Provenance1845/1846, excavated at Ponte Rotto necropolis, Vulci, Italy, and kept by Alexandrine de Bleschamp, Princess of Canino and Musignano (b. 1778 - d. 1855), Musignano [see note 1]; by descent to her daughter, Maria Bonaparte Valentini (b. 1818 - d. 1874), Musignano; by descent to her daughter, Luciana Valentini, Countess Faina (b. 1840 - d. 1925), Musignano; about 1883, sold by Luciana Valentini to James Jackson Jarves (b. 1818 - d. 1888), Florence [see note 2]; 1886, sold by Jarves to the MFA. (Accession Date: December 1, 1886)
NOTES:
[1] The sarcophagus was excavated along with another (MFA accession no. 1975.799), on the property of Lucien Bonaparte's widow at Vulci and they were reported to have been transported immediately to Musignano. The discovery was announced in February, 1846; see Bullettino dell'Instituto di Corrispondenza Archaeologica VI (June 1846), p. 86; and George Dennis, The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria, vol. 1 (London, 1848), p. 439.
[2] Jarves lent both sarcophagi to the American Exhibition of Foreign Products, Arts, and Manufacture and published an account of their history in the Handbook for Visitors to the Collections of Old Art of the Boston Foreign Art Exhibition (Boston, 1883), pp. 30-33, cat. nos. 464-465, where they are erroneously said to have been excavated in 1842/1843.
[3] The sarcophagi were sold jointly to the MFA and the Boston Athenaeum. This sarcophagus was assigned to the MFA.
NOTES:
[1] The sarcophagus was excavated along with another (MFA accession no. 1975.799), on the property of Lucien Bonaparte's widow at Vulci and they were reported to have been transported immediately to Musignano. The discovery was announced in February, 1846; see Bullettino dell'Instituto di Corrispondenza Archaeologica VI (June 1846), p. 86; and George Dennis, The Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria, vol. 1 (London, 1848), p. 439.
[2] Jarves lent both sarcophagi to the American Exhibition of Foreign Products, Arts, and Manufacture and published an account of their history in the Handbook for Visitors to the Collections of Old Art of the Boston Foreign Art Exhibition (Boston, 1883), pp. 30-33, cat. nos. 464-465, where they are erroneously said to have been excavated in 1842/1843.
[3] The sarcophagi were sold jointly to the MFA and the Boston Athenaeum. This sarcophagus was assigned to the MFA.
about mid-3rd century A.D.
Late Minoan III?
about A.D. 69–96
A.D. 260–270
first quarter of 3rd century A.D.
middle or latter part of the 3rd century A.D.
about A.D. 250
about A.D. 225–275
Late Roman, about A.D. 350