A Roman Marble Cinerary Urn inscribed for Lucius Calvinus Pubianus Sabinus
A Roman Marble Cinerary Urn inscribed for Lucius Calvinus Pubianus Sabinus, circa late 1st Century A.D., engraved and restored by Gianbattista Piranesi (1720-1778)
A Roman marble cinerary urn from the late 1st Century A.D., engraved and restored by Gianbattista Piranesi, featuring high relief carvings of festoons, ram's heads, an eagle, and birds. The gabled lid depicts a young boy with writing implements and a faithful dog, with a Latin inscription honoring Lucius Calvinus Pubianus Sabinus. The urn rests on an ornate stepped Carrara marble base.
- Medium
- carved in front in high relief with a festoon of leaves, fruit, and flowers hanging from two ram's heads and surmounted by an eagle with outspread wings, two birds picking at the fruit from below, the framed panel engraved with five lines of modern Latin inscription reading D(is) M(anibus)/L(ucio) Calvino Pu-/biano Sabino/L(ucius) Tucius Coc(ceius)/Nat(o) benemer(enti) ("To the Spirits of the Departed. Lucius Tucius Cocceius (made this) for Lucius Calvinus Pubianus Sabinus, his well-deserving son"), each side with a palmette in low relief, the gabled lid (probably from a funerary altar) with echeloned leaf-shaped tiles and arched front carved in high relief with the nude bust of a young boy, his writing implements to his left, his faithful dog resting its paw on his right shoulder, the urn resting on an ornate stepped Carrara marble base.
- Spotted At
- Auction House · Sotheby's
🔨 Auction Lot
Master Sculpture from Four Millennia
July 4, 2023
Estimate: $50,000 – $80,000
Lot 104
Start the Discussion
Request access to join the discussion