Sarcophagus

A battle scene and numerous animals decorate the broad, flat, trapezoidal frame of this Clazomenian sarcophagus. Two hoplites fight between their waiting chariots on the wide top panel. Two panthers attack a goat on the bottom panel. Figures of goats and griffins and a braided cable pattern decorate the sides. Burial in fired clay coffins was popular in East Greece in the 500s B.C. Most of these coffins were plain or very simply decorated, but around 550 B.C. the city of Clazomenae, on the coast of modern Turkey, began producing examples with elaborately decorated frames. The Getty Museum's example is special because the plain body of the sarcophagus is preserved, as well as the decorated frame. On the frame, a fine white clay covers the coarse gritty clay of the sarcophagus; the decoration uses methods used on vases, including the black-figure technique as seen here. The decorative themes and motifs also probably derive from vase-painting. The heroic duel was a popular theme in Archaic art, and warfare and chariot racing were favorite themes on Clazomenian sarcophagi.