Highlights of the collection
Third quarter of the 3rd century AD
71 x 216 x 67 cm
Carved white Proconessian marble
MNAT P-60
A strigillated sarcophagus from the Early Christian Necropolis of Tarragona.
The front is divided into five panels, three with figurative themes and two with strigils. In the middle there is reading scene with a seated philosopher or poet (identified by his copious beard, long hair and crest on his forehead) dressed in a tunic and a pallium. He is reading a book in front of a herm with two youths listening to him.
On the ends are depictions of the persons whose remains would have been in the sarcophagus. On the right, the man, represented as a philosopher dressed in a pallium and carrying a book. On the left, the wife, depicted as a Muse wearing a tunic and cloak and carrying a book in her hands.
