NIOBE A CIPRO. SCHEMI E MODELLI ICONOGRAFICI SU UN SARCOFAGO DIPINTO DI ETÀ CLASSICA

Abstract

Contacts between Greece and the eastern Mediterranean during the Classical period are entangled with the permeability of geographic, political, economic, and cultural boundaries. Within this framework, objects of art and iconographies are fundamental means of knowledge, which complement other kinds of sources. This paper uses a painted sarcophagus from Larnaca (late 5th-early 4th century BCE) as a case study to deepen our understanding of this topic. Inspired by the Greek myth of the Niobids, and reinterpreted according to local traditions, it sheds new light on the adoption and adaptation of imported artifacts and images in different cultural contexts. It also makes some suggestions for the reconstruction of the original pattern by comparing the sarcophagus with a Roman relief (1st-2nd century CE).