Fragment of a Sarcophagus with a Relief with the Trojan Horse in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, January 2018

Fragment of sarcophagus relief with the fall of Troy
Roman
Imperial Period
about A.D. 140

Medium/Technique: Marble, Dolomitic from the Greek island of Thasos

Dimensions: Overall: 28 x 19cm (11 x 7 1/2in.)

Weight: 35 lb. (15.88 kg)

Credit Line: Harriet Otis Cruft Fund

Accession Number: 69.2

Collections: Ancient Greece and Rome

Classifications: Sculpture


Catalogue Raisonné: Sculpture in Stone (MFA), no. 242; Sculpture in Stone and Bronze (MFA), p. 112 (additional published references).

Description: The fragment, the Trojan Horse within the walls, is part of the left front end, near the corner, of the lid of a large sarcophagus with scenes from the Trojan Wars, particularly the capture of the city.

The bottom surface is finely finished; the top rear is roughly chiseled. Other edges are broken irregularly. The remaining sculptured surfaces are incrusted but otherwise legible.

Scientific Analysis: Marble has been scientifically tested with X-Ray Diffraction and determined to be Dolomitic.
Harvard Lab No. HI117a: Isotope ratios - delta13C +3.39 / delta18O -3.32, Attribution - Thasos-Cape Vathy, Justification - Dolomitic by XRD.

Provenance: By 1960: with Ars Antiqua AG, Haldenstrasse 5, Lucerne, Switzerland (Ars Antiqua auction 2, Hotel Schweizerhof, Lucerne, May 14, 1960, lot 60); by 1969: with Spink & Son, Ltd., 5, 6 & 7 King Street, St. James's, London, SW 1; purchased by MFA from Spink & Son, Ltd., January 8, 1969

Text from: collections.mfa.org/objects/151240/fragment-of-sarcophagus-relief-with-the-fall-of-troy