Marble sarcophagus with the Triumph of Dionysus and the Seasons
When I first entered the Greek Roman gallery at the Metropolitan Museum of art is highly preserved Roman marble sarcophagus immediately caught my attention from the artistic skill and precision needed to create this divine piece of art left me in awe. Every detail was only carved out of one giant piece of marble. At first glance this looks like a bathing or washing tub however I eventually learned it was a sarcophagus missing its original lid. Creating around 220 A.D. Dionysus was the god of wine divine intoxication and revelry in this piece he is depicted Anna panther with a glass of wine surrounding him are the four seasons encyclical order from left to right. Winter is holding dead ducks, Spring is holding a basket of flowers, Summer is holding wheat and grass representing harvest, and Autumn is clutching a cornucopia representing abundance. What really stands out to me is that hair the detailing in the hair and the overall perfection within the proportions. I went all the way around the sculpture and noticed the back of the sarcophagus was not finished I just assumed that it was pushed against the wall. Then looked it up and found out that sculptors only carved on three sides which made my hypothesis correct. Then read that the back of the sculpture has a slab which is evidence that the sarcophagus was formally discarded.
