Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Creative Commons License
Fragmentary Funerary Altar
(Roman Empire )
Only half of this altar survives; the rest was deliberately destroyed in antiquity. On the complete side is a bird in a tree, and on another side is half of a wreath; these are common funerary decorations in the 1st century CE. A third side is entirely missing. The fourth side, partially preserved, is the most intriguing. It was once inscribed with at least one name, but that name has been deliberately removed from the marble. This practice, known in Latin as damnatio memoriae (condemnation of memory), was meant to eradicate an individual from history. Usually, targets of this type of erasure were important individuals who had powerful enemies.
Inscription
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.
Don Marcello Massarenti Collection, Rome, by 1894, [mode of acquisition unknown] [marble no. 54?]; Henry Walters, Baltimore, 1902, by purchase; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Geographies
Roman Empire (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 36 5/8 x W: 23 1/2 x D: 14 15/16 in. (93 x 59.7 x 38 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters with the Massarenti Collection, 1902
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
23.179