Fragment of Sarcophagus with Eros holding a Medallion

myminifactory

This relief is an integral part of Sarcophagus.\r\nThis sarcophagus centers on the figure of Cupid holding a Medallion, showcasing his impressive physique. It stands out as an exceptional piece due to its advanced sculptural technique, which highlights Roman carvers' increasing reliance on the drill.\r\nThe drill had been used for working marble since ancient Greece's Archaic period and was widely employed during the Early Classical period in Greece, but nothing compares to its immense popularity among Romans. They exploited it to create a wide range of surface effects. This shift depended on a fundamental change in attitude towards tool marks: Romans were willing to advertise them, rather than hide them, which stood in stark contrast to earlier practice. Greek sculptors had already employed the drill extensively for carving, but the Archaic and Classical ideal was a flawless surface devoid of any tooling traces. Hence sculptors of these periods took meticulous care to erase all such marks, whether from chisels or drills. Hellenistic carvers showed greater tolerance for tool marks, extending this even to the drill, whose traces they often left visible. But it's Roman sculptors who deliberately showcase the tool, actively emphasizing its distinct visual bite. This flashy use of the drill for visual effects on sarcophagi seems to have started around the middle of the second century, in the mid-Antonine period. Used sparingly at first, it was gradually put to greater and greater use. By the end of the third century, its grooves, channels, and isolated bore holes had taken over the carved surface, becoming the primary means of rendering optical effects. This was especially evident in the face and hair of figures. Consider this sarcophagus as an illustration of this artistic mode, a piece likely carved during the reign of Constantine. Look closely at the tiny cupid perched on the shoulder of the third figure from the left. A detail shot makes things clear: his small face has been given 'features' not through any plastic modeling with the chisel, but by drilling six holes into his amorphous blob of a head to define the eyes, nostrils, and the corners of the mouth. You can't help but think that this shouldn't work, because the style produces an utterly unrealistic surface. The real human form is not, after all, pockmarked and beehived with numerous cavernous holes. Yet this seldom strikes the viewer. This is because the drillwork serves as highly effective visual accenting: since the holes are used to emphasize areas where the eye is normally arrested anyway (the genitals, for example, or the eye itself), or features that the eye is normally accustomed to differentiating (such as the point near the knuckles where the fingers separate), its optical effects are often perceived as 'naturalistic' — especially at a distance — even though the impossible surface form that it produces is profoundly artificial.