|
Tomb
of the Marci
The
title of the tomb denotes the name of the owners of
the one large sarcophagus found there; according to
the inscription, it was placed in the Vatican Necropolis
by the owners while they were still alive: "Q.
Marcius Hermes Sibi et Marciae Thrasonidi dignissimae
coniugi vivis posuit" (Marcius Hermes himself
and Marcia Thrasonidi, his most devoted wife, still
living, put this here") is engraved on the front
of the cover, where a bas-relief depicts two dead
persons surrounded by funerary genii.
From:
'Guide to the Vatican Necropolis' by Michele Basso,
Fabbrica di S. Pietro
|
The
sarcophagus, sculptured with excellent grace, is one of
the best discovered in the Vatican necropolis. It depicts
in full relief from left to right: a maenad, Dionysius with
a young satyr and a faun at his feet; a satyr with the god
Bacchus as a child.
On
the walls there are several subjects from Greek mythology;
on the west wall, to the left of the entrance, a painting
of a peacock is still visible. On the south wall are two
niches for cineraria. On the outside wall, to the left of
the entrance, are the remains of a small Roman mosaic.
Sources
Michele
Basso. Guide to the Vatican Necropolis, Fabbrica
di S. Pietro in Vaticano, 1986
Margherita Guarducci,
The Tomb of St Peter, Hawthorn Books, 1960
John Evangelist Walsh,
The Bones of St Peter, New York, 1982
Toynbee and Perkins. The Shrine of St Peter and the Vatican
Excavations, London 1956
P. Zander. The Vatican Necropolis, in "Roma
Sacra", 25, Roma 2003
