Detail of a Marble Cinerary Chest and Lid in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2010

Marble cinerary chest with lid
Roman, ca. AD 90-110

Accession Number: 27.122.2a,b

The Latin inscription reads: "To the spirits of the dead. M. Domitius Primigenius made [this] for himself, his freedmen and freedwomen, and their descendants." Above is a scene in which the deceased, standing on a pedestal, making an offering to a female figure, perhaps Tellus (mother earth), who reclines on a couch bedecked with flowers. They are attended by two young servants, holding food and wine. The chest is in the form of a pedimental building, with flaming torches taking the place of columns at the corners.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.