Eastern and Local Marbles in Western Cisalpine. The Example of Decorated Sarcophagi

Through new data obtained from petrographic analyses, the paper intends to re-consider the question of the presence in Piedmont (Regio XI) of sarcophagi produced in Ravenna or, instead, worked in situ on models from Ravenna or, even, completed for local clients on semi-finished products coming from the Adriatic. The group that will be analysed includes nine specimens, i.e. (1) an example with erotes and tabula ansata (Turin Museum); (2) a fragment of a shingled lid reused in the early Christian church of Santa Maria (under the present Cathedral of San Giovanni, Turin); (3) the sarcophagus of Didia Cratia (Vercelli, Museo Leone); (4) the sarcophagus of Lollia Procla (Vercelli, Museo Leone); (5) a fragment of an acroterium with lid (Vercelli, Museo Leone); (6) a fragment of a front, tabula ansata, with two erotes and inscription of the deceased, Metia Valeriana (now in the church of Santa Maria in Lucedio); (7) a fragment of a sarcophagus from Pollentia, with the inscription of the deceased Lollia (now in the Civic Museum of Bra); (8) the front of Acutia Sabina’s sarcophagus (now reused in the facade of San Pietro in Cherasco); and (9) a fragment of a sarcophagus from Centallo with inscriptions mentioning Salvia Verina and Sextius Catesius Verus (now in the Civic Museum of San Francesco in Cuneo). The petrographic analyses allow us to assess new elements in order to reconstruct the stages of the arrival of the Ravenna-type sarcophagi in Piedmont and to highlight imports and imitations in local stones. The result will be a better understanding of the connectivity of the cities and areas of Regio XI which imported products from Ravenna and the possible existence of local workshops.