Skip to main content
Advanced Search
, Italian
Title
Cinerary Urn
Date1st century
MediumWhite marble
Dimensions
43 × 37.3 × 27.3 cm
Credit LineMilltown Gift, 1902
Object numberNGI.8279
DescriptionDesigned in the shape of a house, according to a tradition of the ancient Italic people, this urn is elegantly decorated on the front only. A framed tablet at the centre carries a funerary inscription. Loaded festoons of fruits are suspended from palm trunks at the corners. Along the top a garland supports the head of a gorgon, flanked by two lively pelicans and two goat heads. The door at the bottom indicates the entrance to the house of the departed spirits, the kingdom of Pluto. Unfortunately, the lid is missing, which normally would have been shaped as a roof.

We do not know where the urn was found, but it is recorded that James Russell, an English painter who was active as an agent of art works for many Grand Tourists, exported it from Rome in 1751. In this case he was acting on behalf of Joseph Leeson, a wealthy Irish collector, who built Russborough House and later became the 1st Earl of Milltown.

(National Gallery of Ireland: Essential Guide, 2008)
Inscriptionon front: DIIS MANIBUS/PHILOCALA/CARUS SUIS/ULPIA ATTILIA/CONIUGIE MEMORAN FECIT: Inscribed on side: D M/PHILOCALO C...S/ULPIA.ATTICLIA/CONJUGIE MF
ProvenancePurchased by Joseph Leeson, later 1st Earl of Milltown, 1751; Milltown Gift, 1902