Ancient Roman Marble Relief from a sarcophagus depicting a goddess

Relief from a sarcophagus Roman 2nd century AD Marble Height 26 cm; width 25 cm PROVENANCE: Private collection of M. T. , Zaragoza. Acquired in 1981 from the Manuel Barbié Antiquarian Gallery, Barcelona. CONDITION: Fragment in very good state of preservation. Without any restoration. DESCRIPTION: Fragment from a high relief in marble where a standing female figure can be seen. She is veiled and wearing a diadem in her hair. In her left hand she holds a sceptre. It should be observed that the sceptre is almost free standing: it has been carved with great skill from the same block but with only a few points of contact near the hand and the upper edge. The woman is wearing a long chiton close-fitting at the waist. Her beautiful round visage and hollowed eyes stand out. Another figure can be partly seen to her left. This is possibly a man, and he is also holding a sceptre in the left hand. The scene is framed by two straight bands which form a limit to the area of the composition. We are possibly looking at a fragment of a sarcophagus from the Roman Epoch in which the sovereign gods of the Underworld, Hades and Persephone, are represented. The iconographic prototype for Persephone was established in Greece in the 5th century BC, especially in vase painting, where she and her mother, Demeter, share attributes which identify them as goddesses of fertility and of the Eleusinian Mysteries (torches, diadems, cloaks, veiled faces and sceptres) . In the great relief at Eleusis, the front-facing depictions of Hades and Persephone, both carry the sceptres that indicate their chthonic power (Archaeology Museum of Eleusis) . This model, as has already been mentioned, would pass to Rome and be repeated almost without variation throughout the Imperial region. Examples of this are sarcophagi and funeral reliefs such as those conserved in the Museo de Gythion (inv. 1453) and the Vatican Museums (inv. 10018) . Notes: The seller guarantees that he acquired this piece according to all national and international laws related to the ownership of cultural property. Provenance statement seen by Catawiki. The piece includes authenticity certificate. The piece includes Spanish Export License (Passport for European Union) - If the piece is destined outside the European Union a substitution of the export permit should be requested. This process could take between 1 and 2 months.