Marble Cinery Urn - Term Paper Example

? Marble Cinery Urn. This piece of art was created in the first half of the first century A.D. It is currently on display on the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York at gallery 166. It is classified as a stone sculpture made in the imperial period with the following dimensions: 14 1/4 x 21 1/4 x 16 1/8 in. (36.2 x 54 x 41 cm). The essay describes the Urn in details giving its cultural orientation and background. The major theme of the art on the cinery urn is spoils of a war. It is a striking rectilinear box covered with aspects of war like weapon armor, piles of trophies, carriages, and clubs. The fragmentary nature of the marble cinery urn makes it more captivating. The panels making the piece are of high quality, identifying the urn as a unique commission. Other available urns are baskets and vases which make this type of earn unique. The name of the deceased was inscribed on the front but the writing is missing. The marble cinery urn was excavated in south East Rome in a tomb in Anagni in the year 1899. The craftsmanship and the iconography of the art identify it as sarcophagi of the mid imperial period. (metmuseum.org, n.p) A commemorative urn shows the existence of loyalty, love and the beauty of ancient culture. Social messages to the deceased were easily put across using the urns and other portraits. There are other types of urns each with different purposes and cultural meaning. Ancient Romans could choose between burying their dead or cremating them, the choice was left for the family to decide. Cremation was more prevalent in this time since the burying was more foreign before the second century AD. This practice of cremation is evident in their art. Images and the themes of the dead and those mourning were common in the poetry. The urns were used to store the ashes of the dead after cremation. The marble cinery urn described above was probably used to store a victim of war that is why the urn has the weaponry engraved on the outer surface of the urn. The urns containing the ashes were placed in underground chambers or tombs with each individual urn having its own space. The chambers were personal properties or collective burial grounds. There was mass production of the urns but each urn was personalized that is why each urn is different from the other. Traditionally a final sigh signaled the death of a person. The relatives of the deceased would surround the death bed chanting his or her name. Calling of the name would be done continuously to ensure that the deceased had really died and for the burial process to officially start. People believed that this practice was equating breathe and the soul. A close relative would give a deceased a last kiss to catch the soul. The deceased eyes were also closed. Much weight was given to last words of a dying person (Hope, 168). Bodies were removed from the death beds placed on their knees for some time and then placed on the ground for the female relatives to clean it. Wrapping corpses with a black cloth or a white toga signaled the start of the wake. All honors the deceased had achieved in life were placed on the deceased and two cypress branches were planted on the entrance of the home. This was to show that there was a corpse in that specific house. Bodies were placed on a funeral beds in the residence, where people gave their last respects. To indicate a peaceful death the deceased feet were placed facing the door (Hope and Marshall ,34) . Funerary practices had long standing traditions referred to as mos maiorum drawn from Roman traditions and religion. It was one of the means through which cultural and family heritage was preserved and celebrated. Funeral processions (pompa) were made public with professional mourners being part of it. Wealthy families acquired actors who would dance in a satirical way to scare away evil spirits. Mimicking the lifestyle and speech of the deceased was done by the actors. Wax masks were worn by those representing the family’s ancestors who were prominent. Songs, hymns and other chants were used during the procession. The body was carried by ten members of the family followed by professional paid musicians who had specialized in music that was used in these funerals. This was the case for wealthy families. Ordinary citizen’s funerals were different. According to Hope, 164 “Both the scope and the destination of the pompa depended on the status of the deceased…” The procession headed straight to cremation sites. Bodies were carried by slaves or 4 paid bearers and corpses were transported at night. A torch was lit to provide light and traditionally it was used to keep the evil spirits away from the body. After procession the deceased body was cremated then put in an urn. The urns were placed in tombs belonging to the families. Duties to the deceased did not end with the cremation but they continued even after the mourning was over. Tombs were mostly situated at sacred boundary which was often visited with offerings such as wine and food to honor those who had died. Libation was carried out by a certain Romanian cult as described by Toynbee, 63 “commemorative meals at the gravesite were common, with some rooms having built-in kitchens where family could stay overnight…” and some tombs had passages to facilitate libation. This was especially done in specific days such as the birth day of the deceased or last day of annual festival of the dead. It was the people’s duty to take care of their ancestors and thus these rites were very important to the ancient culture Those who did not have family support as required by the traditions they had to join societies called collegia which helped them conduct the funerals. These societies were joined by those who were poor in the society such as slaves, tradesmen and small business groups. The societies provided honorable, affordable burials by making small regular contributions. Example when joining one was required to register with a flask of wine (Hope, 155). Death was regarded as pollution to the environment, which gave a conflicting side considering they respected their elders.” Apart from these religious considerations, the cultural view of the pollution of death , strongly influenced the treatment of the dead…” (Hope and Marshall, 157). For this reason the tombs were situated outside city walls. Only those prominent citizens would be buried within the city confines. Children who were under 4 days old could be buried at home. Laws were put in place to ensure that the tombs were situated in specific parts outside the city. This ruling was based on Roman’s understanding that a child was not yet part of the society. Such corpses were handled by undertakers regarded as unclean. Purification rituals were actually introduced by the law at the end of the 2nd century to counteract negative effects of death pollution. Priests were the most susceptible to the pollution. They were not allowed to come into contact with dead bodies or even see them. Mourners who attended the funeral had to performing a purification ritual on the evening of the burial. It involved using a laurel branch to sprinkle water on your body and later passing under a fire. Public citizens on the other hand were allowed to watch offenders being executed. Law officers would sentence people to death and remain clean whereas the executioner was demonized. These are conflicting aspects of this culture (Hope and Marshall, 160). Customs that surrounded the funerals included placing a coin in the mouth of the deceased. This coin acted as payment to a certain ferryman named Charon who took the souls of the dead from the world of the living to the underworld. According to this myth the underworld was the water bodies. This practice was in the western part of Rome. It was not consistently practiced; it was the choice of the family to conduct the rite or not (Hope, 78). A eulogy praising the dead had to be narrated by a man or first bon son of the deceased. It was a celebration of life and was common for the rich and wealthy. For those who had given exemplary service to the people the procession would stop in a public place and the oration was made. It was a platform for those who wanted to be politicians to present themselves before the people. The wake also depended on the deceased social status, if one was royalty they were displayed for long to ensure that everyone gave their last respects while the poor would be viewed for two days before the procession and final cremation (Toynbee, 98). The final sacrifice was made at the tomb before cremation of the body. An animal was sacrificed and divided into portions which were given to the family and a part was placed on deceased coffin before cremation. This practice symbolized the sharing of the last meal with the deceased and a transformation to become an ancestor. After this sacrifice the deceased would no longer partake in his family’s life, they joined the spirits and thus should take what was meant for the spirits (Toynbee, 46). Monuments of funerals are still present in Rome. An engraving on this monument gives the culture of the people or the history behind the monuments. The marble cinery urn as mentioned above is a Roman sarcophagus which is elaborately crafted with a scene of war, common in Roman art. Their art work was normally decorated with mythological details, everyday life scenes or images of public figures. The marble urn gives a story that is quite important to the ancient Roman culture. Death is a common feature in all societies. It is a stage of life that cannot be avoided; something the roman culture recognized and even gave guidelines on how to go about burying the deceased. Work Cited "Cinerary urn [Roman; said to have been excavated from a tomb near Anagni]" (2002.297,2002.568) In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History . New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/2002.297,2002.568. (February 2009) Hope, Valerie M. Roman Death: The Dying and the Dead in Ancient Rome. London: Continuum, 2009. Print. Hope, Valerie M, and Eireann Marshall . Death and Disease in the Ancient City. London: Rout-ledge, 2000. Internet Resource. Toynbee, Jocelyn M.C, Death and Burial in the Roman World. Baltimore; John Hopkins Univ. Press, 1996. Print. Read More