Paris Summary

One thing I noticed right away was the state of these five sarcophagi. They are all in excellent condition. Although they date to the same time period as the Sarcophagi in Campo-Santo, they are for the most part bigger, with more detail, and better preserved. Perhaps they belonged to people of a higher class, because they are much more detailed, or perhaps they have just been taken care of much more over the years. Sarcophagi 1, 3, and 4 each have the Dionysian theatre masks on the top. 2 and 5 are missing there tops but perhaps they also contained the theatre masks. These masks were not as common but still present in Campo Santo. Griffons were present on the first sarcophagus. Sarcophagi 2, 3, and 5 contain many centaurs. Although there is a strong difference in how they are portrayed. In Sarcophagus #2 Dionysus is not present, however the figures associated with him are. In this sarcophagus the centaurs take on a wild nature to demonstrate the wild beings associated with Dionysus. The idea of what they stand for seems the most important. However, Sarcophagus 3 has a mother centaur with her babies. This scene is in the middle of the sarcophagus. Although the sarcophagus is titled, Sarcophagus with the myth of Dionysus and Ariadne, the depiction of the couple is on the far right side of the frieze and the family of centaurs is in the middle. In contrast to Sarcophagus #2, the centaur has a more fertile appearance and does not appear to be known solely as a wild associate to Dionysus. In the 5th sarcophagus, the Centaurs are shown as subservient to Dionysus. They do a the work, in the sense that they pull the cart with Ariadne, the cart with Dionysus, and they hold the image in the middle, of a woman with her son, most likely the patrons of this sarcophagus. Unless there is an image of the deceased in the middle of the sarcophagus (numbers 2 and 5) it is hard to concentrate on one solid image. The sarcophagi are filled with two dimensional images, usually relating to a myth but hard to understand because there are so many images surrounding that story. For example, in numbers 3, and 5, there are three stories going on, one at the right, one at the left, and one in the middle, however these scenes are surrounded by figures, such as women, animals, or centaurs, making it hard to distinguish what story was the most important to the patron. In contrast to the Sarcophagi at Campo Santo, the main idea was fairly obvious.

Sarcophagi in the Louvre, Paris

Sarcophagus #1-Paris Sarcophagus of the Muses. 2nd century AD The main frieze of this sarcophagus depicts the 9 muses each with an iconographic instrument that indicates their specialty. The muse of theatre is holding a theatrical mask, similar to the masks on the corners of the sarcophagus. She is pointing the mask towards Dionysus who is sitting at the far right of the frieze. The top frieze shows male and female figures reclining with wine, they could be gods. On the sides are theatrical masks, as indicated before. On the right side of the sarcophagus a woman is sitting with a man holding a book, grape vines are over his head, an indication that this figure could be, or allude to Bacchus. He is making a gesture with his hand, pointing two fingers at her. On the left side a man is sitting with another woman in front of him. There is a griffin on the top frieze. This Sarcophagus is filled with bacchic sumbolism, mostly through the depictions of wine and theatre, although there are 9 muses present the on that stands out is the muse of theatre, and the continuation of this theme through the theatre masks above show that theatre was the strongest talent the patron wanted to convey in his sarcophagus. The muses are said to depict the journey to death, and interesting thought seeing as how they are all turned toward Dionysus, except for the one in the middle. Sarcophagus #2-Paris 220-230 AD Dionysus is not present in the sarcophagus but many things associated with him are. There is a strong presence of centaurs, wild animals(bulls and goats), and women. The centaurs are holding a portrait in the middle of the sarcophagus, most likely this is the patron. The bacchic iconography is more important than the story. Sarcophagus #3-Paris Sarcophagus with the myth of Dionysus and Ariadne. 3rd Centurty AD Front frieze: Ariadne is shown abandoned in Naxos waiting for Dionysus. The figures of Dionysus and Ariadne first seem hard to depict, there are two women reclining, one on the left of the sarcophagus and one of the right, in each a man is approaching her. However, the woman on the right seems more distressed and the man approaching her has grape vines in her hair, thus concluding they are probably Bacchus and Ariadne. Perhaps the figures on the left are the patrons, trying to relate themselves to the myth. Centaurs with there babies are shown in the center, this is the first sarcophagus I have seen with a family of centaurs. The creatures usually seem to have wild connotations associated with their reputations but here they are depicted as fertile creatures. Figures are surrounding each couple, women and centaurs are towards the couple on the left, while women and godlike figures are towards the couple on the right. Once again there are theatrical masks of Bacchus on the top sides of the sarcophagus. On the left side of the sarcophagus a centaur is playing a flute while on the right side a man is with a child and a goat under a tree. The top frieze is of the Dionysian triumph, perhaps Hercules is there because there is a lion in the triumph, but this could just be a wild animal present in the cult. Sarcophagus #4-Paris Selene and Endymion 3rd century AD I chose this sarcophagus because it is the same subject as the one in Campo Santo, Pisa. Stylistically it is very similar to the Sarcophagus with the myth of Dionysus and Ariadne. There are many figures who fill up a complicated looking frieze, although it is the story of Selene and Endymion, not of Dionysus and Ariadne. That does not mean that there is not Baccic iconography. There are once again theatre masks on the sides of the sarcophagus, and wild animals, such as horses,and goats surround the two figures, just as the Sarcophagus with Bacchus and Ariadne did. So do half naked figures, and small winged children, like man Dionysian sarcophagi, there is a main subject, surrounded by many bizarre figures who represent fertility. Sarcophagus #5-Paris Dionysus and Ariadne drug by the Centaurs 230 AD This sarcophagus depicts a procession with Ariadne, Dionysus, and a center couple. Ariadne is being drug on a cart by the centaurs on the right of the main freize, while Dionysus is being drug by centaurs on the left of the frieze. This could be a demonstration of the Indian triumph. In the center of the sarcophagus there is a couple, a woman with a younger looking man, possible her child, being held by centaurs as well. This theme was common in the sarcophagi at Campo Santo, Pisa, which dated back to around this time period as well. By doing this the patrons are associating themselves with Dionysus and Ariadne,, it is a funeral procession above all else. There are babies and young children present, perhaps this is a tribute to the young boy in the center, if he died early. Once again, this marble sarcophagus is filled with figures surrounding three different scenes. l

Paris

Over Christmas break I visited Paris in order to study 5 different sarcophagi each containing Dionysian themes in one way or another. I am not one to complain when I travel to other countries and find I cannot understand the language, in fact I am a very strong believer in trying to speak as much of the mother language as I can while in a certain country, and by doing this I have become quite talented with hand signals. However, when I have traveled to a specific sight for a specific reason to find that one of the largest, most respectable art museums in the world refuses to put the description of the art they hold in any language but French I am a bit thrown off…especially when the pieces were not found in France, but were obtained in some other way…but that is another story. I was not too put off by this, with Italian I was able to understand what I needed and reminded mysef that I was mostly there to observe the sarcophagi and come up with my own conclusions. One thing I noticed right away was that this trip was going to be a bit different from my trip to Pisa. At Campo Santo it was November and I was one of the only visitors in the museum, and the only one taking pictures. I was now at the Louvre, in Paris, during Christmas break, the story was a bit different. As I got my camera out to start taking pictures of selected sarcophagi it did not take me long to notice an annoying trend among my fellow tourists…that being, the minute I started to take pictures about 10 different tourists would look at me, take there camera out, and start to take pictures as well. For one, they couldn’t have known anything about the sarcophagi because as stated before the explanation was only in French, and for the most part these people were from Japan, for another, of all the things to see as a tourist in the Louvre I wondered why they chose my very selected topic, of if I must put it bluntly…ancient coffins to take dozens of pictures of. In the end, they eventually found there way to the Mona Lisa, but it still took me the same amount of time to take notes on 5 sarcophagi in the Louvre, as it took me to research 20 in Pisa. In conclusion, if you plan to undertake this same task in the future, go to a well-known museum during the workday, or early in the morning, or perhaps, when the rest of the world is not on holiday.