Sarcophagus

This large stone sarcophagus, probably dating back to
the early 4th century, was found in 1905 in Lambrate, a town on the outskirts
of Milan and now part of the urban fabric. It belongs to the category
of tabernacle sarcophagi produced in Ravenna and widely distributed in the
3rd-4th centuries. The decoration is
crudely drawn and unfinished in character - as is evident in the rough-hewn
faces of the figures and in the landscape - suggesting a type of mass
production, where the reliefs would be sculpted at the time of use. Only then would likenesses
of the deceased be completed, here recognisable, in the side tabernacles of the
front, as a man with toga and a woman praying.