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@anthonymajanlahti.bsky.social Oct 10, 2026, 7:21 PM

The *other* holy trinity is our focus for today's #SarcophagusSaturday. This late C2 CE #sarcophagus in the #VaticanMuseums shows three distinct Dionysi in one relief: the mythological lover, the ecstatic sponsor of #theatre, and the solemn object of worship. #AncientBluesky 🏺

MARBLE SARCOPHAGUS WITH DIONYSUS AND ARIADNE, C. 180-190 CE. VATICAN MUSEUMS

A Roman marble sarcophagus resting on two carved lion-footed pedestals. The front relief features a continuous narrative dividing his worship into three scenes. On the far left, a young, drunken, nude Dionysus leans on his lover, the boy-satyr Ampelos, as he discovers the sleeping Ariadne, portraying both his homosexual and heterosexual loves. In the bustling centre, a second Dionysus commands the mystery cult; he holds a theatrical mask aloft and cradles a tragic mask in his left arm, symbolising his role as patron of drama, while a panther rears at his feet. Finally, on the far right edge, a third iteration of the god receives offerings. Depicted as a bearded, luxuriously-dressed Dionysus-Sardanapalus type, he represents the sacred cult statues worshipped in temples. This solemn idol provides a sharp theological contrast with the active figures on the left.

@observethedate.bsky.social Oct 10, 2026, 7:55 AM

Saturday

#BookwormSat
#CastleSaturday
#Caturday
#ChessSaturday
#NonFictionSaturday
#PostboxSaturday
#RomanSiteSaturday
#SarcophagusSaturday
#SaturdayMono
#SaturdayStatue
#SaturdayStripes
#SaturdaySwans
#SculptureSaturday
#SixOnSaturday
#SpireSaturday
#StaircaseSaturday
#SaturdayStairs

@anthonymajanlahti.bsky.social Oct 3, 2026, 8:12 PM

The law of the jungle. For #SarcophagusSaturday, a C3 #sarcophagus a lenòs at #palazzoVenezia. Unlike variants where a trainer restrains the beast to show #virtus, this #lion devours its prey. It reflects the cruelty of nature, matching the anxieties of a fractured Roman empire. #AncientBluesky 🏺

$STRIGILATED SARCOPHAGUS A LENOS, C3. PALAZZO VENEZIA In the sunlit garden loggia of the C15 palazzo Venezia, this unlabelled and uncatalogued sarcophagus a lenòs waits unobtrusively for our attention. A simple version of a widespread C3 style, it shows no personalisation. The main front features S-curved strigilation, with flutes meeting at the centre to form a blank mandorla. The curved right end displays a stylised lion with a mane elaborately coiffed like a C18 wig, grasping a small hoofed animal in its paws and jaws. Its pupils focus directly on us, menacingly indicating its preference for dining alone. Enough of the partially obscured left end is visible to confirm a matching relief. While some variants show a human trainer holding back the lion to represent virtus, this version focuses on the cruelty of nature. The weak are brutally devoured by the stronger, an understandable attitude toward death in the fractured and violent C3.$

@observethedate.bsky.social Oct 3, 2026, 7:44 AM

Saturday

@anthonymajanlahti.bsky.social Sep 26, 2026, 12:09 PM

You're no Adonis / Having you gone is the best. For #SarcophagusSaturday, a look at this stunning late-C3 BCE #Etruscan terracotta cinerary urn from #Tuscania. It depicts a high-relief sculpture of the dying #Adonis. But was the deceased really such a catch? #AncientBluesky 🏺

TERRACOTTA CINERARY URN FROM TUSCANIA, LATE C3 BCE. VATICAN MUSEUMS

This spectacular polychrome terracotta cinerary urn depicts Adonis dying on a draped couch, a mortal wound visible on his left thigh, while a hunting dog licks its own wound at the base. It reflects a Hellenistic trend in Tuscania where workshops used moulds to produce these urns in series. Portraying the deceased as a dying hero was highly fashionable. The ashes inside might have belonged to a youth who died tragically young, but Etruscan funerary art frequently heroicised the dead, so it could equally hold the remains of an older man projecting an idealised divinised image for eternity. Despite its theatrical beauty and striking pigments, this urn was never meant for public display. It was destined for a tomb, only to be seen by the gods, the ancestors and living relatives during subsequent burials.

@observethedate.bsky.social Sep 26, 2026, 7:51 AM

Saturday

@anthonymajanlahti.bsky.social Sep 19, 2026, 9:00 PM

Into the West. For a late #SarcophagusSaturday, this Roman marine thiasos in the #VaticanMuseums depicts a horizontal journey to the afterlife. Stretching from #Hesiod to #Tolkien, it is a vision of eternal #ataraxia, mastering the turbulent sea of life. #AncientBluesky 🏺

MARINE THIASOS SARCOPHAGUS, C. 140-150 CE. VATICAN MUSEUMS

A rectangular marble sarcophagus on carved supports. The front features a high relief marine thiasos, with nude Nereids riding ichthyocentaurs and coiled sea monsters. Early modern scholars viewed these creatures literally as psychopomps carrying the dead across the river Oceanus to the western Isles of the Blessed. However, modern readings prefer a philosophical allegory, noting the conspicuous absence of any central figure representing a soul. Instead, the ocean represents the turbulent sea of life. The nymphs gracefully taming wild beasts symbolise the achievement of ataraxia, a state of profound inner peace and freedom from anxiety. This horizontal, westward journey to a maritime afterlife, entirely distinct from a skyward ascent or underworld descent, reflects a poetic continuity stretching from Hesiod in c. 700 BCE to Tolkien in the C20.

@observethedate.bsky.social Sep 19, 2026, 7:37 AM

Saturday

@anthonymajanlahti.bsky.social Sep 12, 2026, 8:10 PM

For #SarcophagusSaturday, a massive terracotta sarcophagus from Archaic Klazomenai. These immense tubs were sunk into the earth with only their gabled lids showing. Why paint the sides if they were buried? To dazzle the community during the funeral procession. #AncientBluesky 🏺

PAINTED TERRACOTTA SARCOPHAGUS FROM KLAZOMENAI, 520-480 BCE. BRITISH MUSEUM

A massive painted terracotta sarcophagus displayed with its gabled lid suspended on a white metal frame above the main rectangular body. A glass panel covers the opening of the tub. The heavy terracotta construction features painted decoration on its exterior and interior rims. While these immense objects were ultimately sunk deep into the earth of Archaic Ionia with only their heavy gabled roofs visible, the exterior walls were painted to be seen during the ekphora or grand funeral procession and the public viewing of the deceased before burial. The visible exterior shows geometric patterns and broad bands of reddish and dark brown slip against the light clay background.

@bwallower.bsky.social Sep 12, 2026, 7:04 PM

#SarcophagusSaturday
Orgiastic scenes w Dionysus in drunken state, in feminine guise + wearing oriental costume. Satyrs, satyresses, fauns + priest join in rural rituals.
Wonder what the 2nd C #Roman interred in this got up to in life, or what he hoped for afterwards...?
Detail
in MANN Naples 🏺

Left end of one side of a marble sarcophagus, with a detailed scene of a rural sanctuary with a host of activities and characters. Faun on the left in orgiastic pose with a herm of pan, as Ariadne lies back in a stupor. Drunken Dionysus supported by two young men to right with torch bearer behind. Symbolic torches and pinecones are dotted about, temple and trees form a backdrop

@observethedate.bsky.social Sep 12, 2026, 6:10 AM

Saturday

@anthonymajanlahti.bsky.social Sep 5, 2026, 2:52 PM

Hello, mother. #SarcophagusSaturday in the #VaticanMuseums brings us this #sarcophagus, famous from the #Renaissance onward, which shows the tragedy of #Orestes as a metaphor for suffering and redemption, with a structural surprise hidden in the #relief. #AncientBluesky 🏺