The Heracles Sarcophagus from Geneva

Workshop, Date, Provenance and Iconography

Abstract

(M. Waelkens) In the autumn of 2017, a sarcophagus representing the Twelve Labours of Heracles, confiscated in Geneva in 2009, was returned to the Antalya Museum. The article describes the sarcophagus in detail and demonstrates that the Docimian sarcophagus workshop not only produced so-called ›columnar‹ sarcophagi but also various other types belonging to the so-called ›Hauptgruppe‹ (main group) of Anatolian sarcophagi, such as ›Pamphylian‹ garland sarcophagi. The workshop’s five decades of activity and production, from approximately A.D. 120 to 170, are discussed in detail and new dates are proposed for several of the sarcophagi. This study clearly demonstrates that there is no evidence for ›Zweigwerkstätten‹ (regional branches) and that the workshop was not in the habit of sending its craftsmen to accompany the roughed-out sarcophagi in order to finish them at their final destination. The sarcophagus from Geneva belongs to a group of columnar and frieze sarcophagi representing the Dodekathlos of Heracles, produced from ca. A.D. 150 to 170 for export to Rome and various regions of Asia Minor, particularly Pamphylia. However, the Roman market only imported large columnar sarcophagi and small ash urns with corner columns / pilasters. Standard-sized coffins with corner pilasters / columns, like the Geneva sarcophagus, are found in Asia Minor only. Together with a similar sarcophagus from Perge, a frieze sarcophagus from Caesarea / Kayseri and four columnar sarcophagi from Athens, Perge and Rome, the sarcophagus from Geneva forms a closed group, in which the activity of the same sculptors can be identified. This has allowed us to date it to around A.D. 160. It must have originated from Perge, where most likely it was illegally excavated, together with a similar sarcophagus belonging to the same group.
(L. E. Baumer) Within the series of Docimian sarcophagi depicting the Twelve Labours of Heracles, the new sarcophagus provides one of the most consistent representations. Following the usual pattern, on one long side it presents five of the six Peloponnesian adventures, completed on one short side with the Augean stables. On the other long side, five of the international labours of the hero can be seen, terminating on the other short side with the stealing of the apples of the Hesperides. The two groups are complemented on the first short side by Omphale and Heracles playing a lyre, whereas in the right-hand half of the second short side the hero is shown with a multitude of attributes, suggesting the representation is that of Heracles as a deified hero. The female figure in the middle is therefore most likely to be Hebe. Detailed investigation of the iconography has established that a rather limited number of models was used by the sculptors, and this also applies to the other sarcophagi in the group. They give an interesting insight into the process of conception and collaborative execution within the same workshop. While scientific analysis of the sarcophagus indicates that it was probably fully painted in Antiquity, it has not been possible to reconstruct the polychromy in any detail.