Project Details
Projekt
Corpus of Antique Sarcophagi Reliefs: Battle Sarcophagi and Mythological Sarcophagi
Subject Area
Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology
Term
from 2014 to 2017
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 261285112
The project aims at closing last remaining gaps in the Corpus of Antique Sarcophagi Reliefs (ASR), a long-term enterprise by the German Archaeological Institute (DAI ) dedicated to fundamental research. On the one hand, within the group of sarcophagi with scenes from human life, this concerns the battle sarcophagi, on the other hand the mythological sarcophagi with Heracles and Hippolytus. According to the restructuring of the ASR, both groups shall be edited with the support of a database; their data shall be processed to be included into the sarcophagi browser of DAI's image database Arachne, allowing further analysis. Smaller studies still remaining upon completion of these key projects, as well as the completion of projects already ongoing within ASR, can be funded from own resources of the DAI and the respective partner institutions and will not require any additional external funding. The group of battle sarcophagi from workshops of urban Rome is to be analysed and presented in its entirety. A catalog with extensive photographic documentation will be complemented by the historical contextualisation and the art historical analysis of the images and their visual culture, resulting in a cultural and historical interpretation of the battle sarcophagi. The battle sarcophagi, more than any other group of sarcophagi, are appropriate to shed light on the relationship between art and society, and to examine the interaction of external influences and design forms. As a result, the development of imagery and style in a time of political upheaval (150-220 AD) will be clarified, and safe basics of dating will be established. The assignment to the military elite of Rome completes the tableau of the Vita Humana sarcophagi. The representation of social roles and ethical standards as well as the portrayal of current values in normative images can be demonstrated. Furthermore, the modes of pictorial communication and their development within the second and third Century AD will become transparent. The publication of the battle sarcophagi (ASR I, 1) will complete the first section of the corpus of sarcophagi (ASR I, 1-4), i.e. the sarcophagi with representations of human life (vita humana). A central topic of urban Roman sepulchral imagery will be available in its entirety. This will provide an indispensable basis for further research. The sarcophagi with Heracles and Hippolytus are to be analysed and presented in a corresponding manner, by which the section of mythological sarcophagi is supplemented by widespread image themes which have particular relevance to the semantic questions concerning the choice of mythical themes in sepulchral representations. The digital documentation and the building of a structured data base within the sarcophagi browser of the image database Arachne are integral components of the project. This will allow to complement further research on sarcophagi by empirical components through statistical combination analysis.
DFG Programme
Research Grants
