Sarcophagus for an Infant with Two Cupids Holding a Shield

This small sarcophagus, likely for an infant or toddler, depicts two flying cupids or erotes holding a round shield. Two panthers crouch below the outstretched arms of the cupids. On one end is the carved representation of overlapping shields and spears. The top is missing. Sarcophagi for children are rare but not unknown; this is a poignant reminder that even very small children were valued in antiquity. The Walters collection has three sarcophagi from the Licinian tomb group that were most likely for children (see, e.g., the Sarcophagus with Griffins, 23.35). The size of this sarcophagus, when compared with sarcophagi of children whose ages are known, indicates that this would have been for a child younger than two years old. This sarcophagus was identified as part of the Licinian tomb in the late 19th century and was published in 1894 and 1897 as the eighth sarcophagus from the Licinian tomb group in the Massarenti collection.

Provenance

Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.

Clemente Maraini, Rome, by 1885, by excavation [said to have been excavated from the so-called Licinian tomb, Rome, 1884]; sale, Pio Marinangeli and Massimiliano Pirani, Rome, by 1892. Don Marcello Massarenti, Rome, by 1894, by purchase [marble no. 8]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; The Walters Art Gallery, Baltimore, 1931, by bequest; Museum deaccession, 1991; Sale, Sotheby’s, New York, European Works of Art, Arms and Armour, Furniture and Tapestries, 13–15 January 1992, lot 381; Private collection, Maryland, 1992, by purchase; Sale, Christie’s, New York, Antiquities, 11 April 2022, lot 110; Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, 2022, by purchase.