Hai vợ chồng từ Porta Sarno

Two spouses from Porta Sarno

This statue is a reconstruction of a relief  of a monumental discovery recently excavated from the Porta Sarno necropolis, a cemetery located just outside one of Pompeii's city gates. The nearly life-size figures, carved in high relief from tuff stone, were found adorning the facade of a large tomb above niches intended for cremation burials.

This piece is particularly rare because it dates back to Rome's Late Republican period, between the second and first century BCE, making it older than many of the finds strictly associated with the 79 CE eruption. In fact, the tomb was partially destroyed by earthquakes and buried in pumice stone even before Mount Vesuvius erupted. The pyroclastic ash flows from the eventual eruption are what caused the woman's head to separate from her neck.

• The Female Figure: She is positioned slightly in front of the man and wears a large cloak, known as a himation, layered over a tunic, or chiton. Her extensive carved jewelry includes amphora-shaped earrings, bracelets, rings, and a necklace featuring a lunula, which is a crescent moon pendant. In her right hand, she holds an aspergillum made of laurel leaves, and in her left, she holds what appears to be a papyrus scroll. These ritual items, combined with the lunula, strongly suggest to archaeologists that she was a highly respected priestess devoted to the cult of Ceres, the Roman goddess of agriculture and fertility.

• The Male Figure: He is depicted wearing an early Republican-era toga, signifying his status as a Roman citizen, with the fabric wrapped over his right arm to form a sling-like loop. He also wears calcei patricii, a specific type of footwear that identifies him as a member of the aristocratic upper class.

Because no inscription was found with the monument, the exact relationship between the two figures remains a mystery. While they are widely presumed to be a married, well-to-do couple, experts note they could just as easily be a mother and son, or siblings.