Funerary Monument of Cartinia

The parapet of this semicircular balcony-like structure in the Miletus Room has been assembled from the marble of a Roman funerary monument erected in the first century CE for Cartinia, priestess of Juno at the ancient Falerii, north of Rome, where the ruin of this once 11-metre-high monument still stands today. The ashlar façade of the cylindrical tomb structure was surmounted by a tendril frieze and a richly decorated cornice. Above these a battlement-like parapet of funerary altars and marble slabs served as a frame for the concluding earth cone, the reliefs of ritual objects and garlands emphasizing the construction's sepulchral character. On the altars are candelabra with ribbons and on the rectangular marble slabs are garlands with jugs or bowls.