Funerary Monument of a Charioteer in the Princeton University Art Museum, August 2009

Funeral monument of a charioteer
ca. 130 – 140 A.D.

Roman

Hadrianic to Antonine

Fine grained marble

h. 57.6 cm., w. 63.0 cm., d. 51.2 cm. (22 11/16 x 24 13/16 x 20 3/16 in.) (preserved)

Museum purchase, gift of John B. Elliott, Class of 1951

Object Number: y1989-41

Text from: artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/collections/ancient/search/

This funerary monument is a late example of a type long popular in Italy but that virtually disappears by the middle of the second century AD, when cremation was largely supplanted by burial in sarcophagi. The bearded man wears a harness of leather straps to protect his ribs; this distinctive equipment, and the reliefs of horses on the sides of the monument, identify him as a professional charioteer. The palm tree symbolizes both his victories in the Circus Maximus, in Rome, and his hope for a victory over death. The monument probably was placed near a road on the outskirts of Rome. Family members would have journeyed to the spot on birthdays and other important occasions, leaving food and gifts for the deceased.

Text from the Princeton University Art Museum label.