Roman Relief of a Herdsman in the Walters Art Museum, September 2009

Relief of a Herdsman

This relief decorated the short end of a sarcophagus (stone coffin). It shows a herdsman accompanied by his dog, a sheep, and a goat. The long side of the sarcophagus, now lost, would have depicted the Greek myth of Endymion, a handsome shepherd with whom the moon-goddess Selene fell in love. She granted him eternal sleep and youth and visited him at night. The herdsman depicted here mourns his friend's seeming death.


Creator: Roman (Sculptor)

Period: 2nd-3rd century

Medium: marble (Sculpture)

Accession Number: 23.19

Text from: art.thewalters.org/detail/10592/relief-of-a-herdsman/