A Marble Sarcophagus Relief Panel of the Muses, 2nd Third of the 3rd Century A.D.

carved in high relief with the deceased in the center flanked by Hermes and Athena, the nine muses arranged in two groups on either side, Polyhymnia, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, and Terpsichore on the left, and Clio, Erato, Urania, and Calliope on the right, each recognizable by their stance or attributes.

said to have been found along the Via Appia
Bartolomeo Cavaceppi (1716-1799), Rome, as of 1768
Thomas Jenkins (1722-1798), Rome, acquired from the above circa 1771
Sir William Petty Fitzmaurice (1737-1805), 2nd Earl of Shelburne and later 1st Marquess of Lansdowne, Lansdowne House, acquired from the above in 1771
by descent to Henry Petty Fitzmaurice (1872-1936), 6th Marquess of Lansdowne (Christie, Manson & Woods, London, Catalogue of the Celebrated Collection of Ancient Marbles the Property of the Most Honourable The Marquess of Lansdowne, March 5 th, 1930, no. 65)
The Property of the Most Hon. The Marquess of Lansdowne, P.C., Bowood, Wiltshire (Sotheby's, London, December 4th, 1972, no. 121, illus.)
Fallani, Rome, 1974
private collection, São Paulo, Brazil
Christie's, New York, December 18th, 1998, no. 278, illus.

Bartolomeo Cavaceppi, Raccolta d'antiche statue ed oltre sculture antiche restaurate dal Cav. B.C., vol. II, Rome, 1768, pl. 58,1 ("presso di me di vendersi")
"Lord Shelburne's Bill for 55 Antiquities Purchased through Thomas Jenkins in 1771" (Lansdowne MSS: Christie, Manson & Woods, 1930 sale catalogue, p. 106)
G.F. Waagen, Art Treasures in Great Britain, vol. II, London, 1854, p. 150
K.O. Müller, Amalthea oder Museum der Kunstmythologie und bildenden Altertumskunde, vol. III, Leipzig, 1820-5, p. 248
E. Gerhard, Archäologische Zeitung, vol. 1, 1843, p. 116
Adolf Michaelis, Ancient Marbles in Great Britain, Cambridge, 1882, p. 58, no. 75
A.H. Smith, Ancient Marbles at Lansdowne House, p. 458
Cornelius C. Vermeule, "Notes on a New Edition of Michaelis: Ancient Marbles in Great Britain," American Journal of Archaeology, vol. 59, 1955, p. 131, no. 75 (65)
Max Wegner, Die Musensarkophage (ASR V 3), Berlin, 1966, p. 20, no. 36, pl. 31b
Art at Auction. The Year at Sotheby Parke Bernet, 1972/1973, 1973, p. 233
Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Rome, neg. nos. 1974.276-278
Walter Nikolaus Schumacher, Hirt und 'Guter Hirt,' 1977, p. 138
Marburger Winckwelmann-Programm, 1981, pp. 58-59
L. Paduano Faedo,  "Sarcofagi romani con Muse," in Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römischen Welt, vol. XII, 2, Berlin, 1981, pp. 65-155, passim
Guntram Koch and Hellmut Sichtermann, Römische Sarkophage, Munich, 1982, p. 199
Jonathan Scott, The Pleasures of Antiquity: British Collectors of Greece and Rome, New Haven, 2003, p. 166, fig. 129
Arachne. Datenbank und Kulturelle Archive des Forschungsarchiv für Antike Plastik Köln, no. 51143

There are relatively few repairs, which were done in Cavaceppi's workshop. Panel was repaired from at least three pieces. A horizontal crack runs along bottom of figures at left, and there are other, minor fissures. All of figures' noses were restored (two are now missing). Some of head feathers show damage along upper rim. Marble restorations comprise, from right to left: Thalia: upper part of staff; face of mask (now fragmentary, compare with engraving). Melpomene: parts of pedum; nose of mask; right foot (a pin appears in place of missing repair); section of lower edge. Terpsichore: right wrist. Hermes: index finger of right hand. Athena: upper part of spear. Erato: edge of right section of cithara (plaster restoration). Urania: section of pointer. Calliope: right hand (now missing, compare engraving). Surface of marble has been thoroughly cleaned. Panel reinforced by a one and a half inch-thick concrete slab in the back.
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.

The Lansdowne example is the only sarcophagus panel featuring the god Hermes accompanying the Muses. According to Koch and Sichtermann (op. cit. p. 199) both the present panel and a Muse sarcophagus in the Palazzo Rospigliosi in Rome(Wegner, op. cit., pl. 37a) are likely to belong to the same group as three other Muse sarcophagi which Klaus Fittschen attributed to a single workshop (Gnomon, vol. 44, 1972, pp. 497 and 502): one is in the Villa Medici, Rome, another at San Simeon, California (Wegner, op. cit., pls. 27a and 31, respectively), and another was once in the collection of Giuseppe Scalambrini (Catalogo della Collezione Scalambrini di Roma, Vendite, Rome, 1888, p. 137, no. 1399, pl. 9).

Photo two from Bartalomeo Cavaceppi, Raccolta d'antiche statue..., vol. II, Rome, 1768, pl. 58.1.

Photo three shows the Ballroom at Landsdowne House, London, 1921, showing lots 45 and 46. The garland sarcophagus panel on the left, as well as the statue of Leda directly below it, are now in the Getty Museum in Malibu. The group of Eros and Psyche on the right is in the San Antonio Museum of Art. The Egyptian head above the fireplace is in the Brooklyn Museum of Art. (Reproduced by permission of English Heritage NMR).