A Roman Marble Season Sarcophagus, Tetrarchic/Constantinian period, circa A.D. 293-337

carved in relief with a himation-clad young woman standing next to a scroll box against a curtain or parapetasma held up by two erotes each wearing a chlamys, four other erotes carrying Season attributes flanking the scene, the secondary figures comprising  a sheep, a small child holding a dog, an erote leaning on an inverted torch, and a collared dog, one short side carved with two erotes each carrying an animal on either side of a seated sheep, the other short side with two erotes both grasping at a hare and flanking a seated dog; the heads of all figures recarved in the Renaissance.

sketched in Rome prior to 1612 (drawing Dal-Pozzo Windsor, vol. X, fol. 43)
the theater producer and director David Belasco (1853-1831), New York
estate of David Belasco (American Art Association, Anderson Art Galleries Inc., New York, The Collection of the Late David Belasco, December 8th to 12th, 1931, no. 965)
Joseph Brummer, New York (inv. no. H 177), and French & Co., New York, acquired jointly from the above sale
A.J.(?) Kobler, acquired from Joseph Brummer in 1935
Manhattan Galleries, New York
acquired by the present owner from the above in the 1970s

Cornelius Vermeule, "The Dal Pozzo-Albani Drawings of Classical Antiquities in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle," Transactions of the American  Philosophical Society, new series, vol. 56, pt. 2, 1966, p. 64, no. 8036
Peter Kranz, Jahreszeiten-sarkophage. Entwicklung und Ikonographie des Motivs der Vier Jahreszeiten auf kaiserzeitlichen Sarkophagen und Sarkophagdeckeln, Berlin, 1984, p. 210, no. 94, pp. 58, and notes 518 and 813, pl. 52,1
Arachne. Central Object database of the German Archaeological Institute and the Archaeological Institute of the University of Cologne, no. 3302322 (link to early drawing: http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/item/reproduktion/3302322)

Top flat edge restored in front using two pieces of marble, end of one slab chipped and restored with cement, part of top flat edge on right short side also restored in marble (p. 42, right image in catalogue), base of entire sarcophagus extensively chipped and abraded, lower perimeter of left short side mostly missing (see p. 42, left image in catalogue), entire sarcophagus pierced with at least 5 holes, most of them plugged with either lead or with marble as in front panel (rectangular wedge visible along lower edge immediately to right of scroll box), entire carved surface weathered, many details missing, heads re-carved in the renaissance; see description and footnote for additional comments on the condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

For other examples of Season sarcophagi with the deceased represented centrally against a parapetasma see Kranz, op. cit., nos. 75-93, pls. 50-52).

The early drawing of this sarcophagus is part of the Museo Cartaceo ("Paper Museum)," an ambitious encyclopedic project led by Cassiano dal Pozzo (1588-1657), antiquarian and private secretary to Cardinal Francesco Barberini. Upon his death Dal Pozzo's heirs sold his large collection of drawings to Cardinal Albani, who then sold it to various institutions, mostly in England, including the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. According to Cornelius Vermeule the entire volume X of the Dal Pozzo Albums at Windsor, which includes the drawing of the present sarcophagus, was executed between 1590 and 1605. More recent research suggest that it could not postdate 1612 (see I. Herklotz, Cassiano dal Pozzo und die Archäologie des 17. Jahrhunderts [Römische Forschungen der Bibliotheca Hertziana; 28], Munich, 1999, p. 129).

The drawing constitutes an important piece of evidence, not only as a general indication of the sarcophagus' early collection history in Late Renaissance Rome, but also for the information it may contain concerning the object's physical appearance 400 years ago. Several details, now eroded or broken away, appear to be still visible on the sketch, such as the erotes' hands holding up the curtain, and the basket of fruits held by the second erote from the right.

Admittedly, all these details, should be taken with a grain of salt, since it is clear that the draftsman also took some liberties with his subject. This is particularly visible in his treatment of the diminutive figures alternating with the larger erotes on the left half of the sarcophagus: one of them is missing entirely, even though the symmetry of the composition as a whole clearly called for it, and another, the animal held by a small erote, looks more like a monkey than a dog, and the position of its head is slightly different than in the original.

But the artist seems to have faithfully captured at least one crucial element in the condition of the sarcophagus in his own days. His highly unclassical rendering of the heads is in fact very close to the style of the re-carved heads as they appear now on the sarcophagus itself. The drawing, therefore, provides an important terminus ante quem: the reworking of the heads can only date back to the end of the Late Renaissance at the latest.