A Roman man places a hand on his wife's shoulder. Sculpted reclining effigies, now headless, on the lid of a Roman marble tomb chest, outside the Greek and Roman city of Salona, at Solin near Split, Dalmatia, Croatia. The husband and wife were probably leading citizens of Roman Salona. The tomb chest lid, in the Necropolis of Manastirine, is finely carved and the artist was particularly skilful in sculpting folds in the couple's clothing.
Salona, Solin, Dalmatia, Croatia: headless marble effigies of a Roman couple reclining, propped up by their elbows, on the superbly sculpted lid of a sarcophagus or tomb chest plundered in the 7th century AD and left lying in the Necropolis of Manastirine, outside the walls of the ancient city of Salona, capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. The man and woman recline on the roof of the lid, above further finely detailed carvings such as a sleeping putto or cherub, winged horses and dolphins or porpoises. Judging by the quality of the sculpture, the pair must have been amongst Salona's leading citizens. The sculptor's skill is demonstrated by his rendering of the flowing folds and creases in the couple's clothing. Most tomb chests in Salona's cemeteries were holed or left in fragments after the city fell to Slav and Avar forces in 614 AD. Their artistic detail, drawn from Greek and Roman mythology, is in interesting contrast to tombs with early Christian symbols commemorating saints and other martyrs executed by the Roman Emperor Diocletian, as well as later generations of Christians who chose to be close to them. Salona, a former Adriatic port, was founded by Illyrians in the 3rd century BC. It was then a Greek city, but became a Roman colony in about 40 BC and was made the Dalmatian provincial capital during the reign of Augustus Caesar. Its cosmopolitan citizens, safe behind strong walls and towers, had the use of public baths, an aqueduct, a forum, a theatre and an 18,000-capacity amphitheatre. The Roman Empire began to collapse in the 5th century and Salona fell to the Ostrogoths in 493 AD. Although it was later returned to Rome, its citizens fled in 614, leaving their city in ruins. The excavated site is now an archaeological park.
Size: 4256px × 2832px
Location: Salona, Solin, Dalmatia, Croatia.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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