Cremated Ivory Cupids from a Funeral Couch, Rome

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Francesca Santoro L'hoir
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published on 25 October 2014
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After cremation, the incinerated bones were picked out and sorted from the charred wood of the fire and the couch on which the body had been laid. While the bones would be collected and placed into an urn, the remains of the wood and couch were gathered and placed in a special jar to be buried under the floor of the columbarium. These ivory cupids, from the Capitoline Museum, on display in 1997 at the Centrale Montemartini, were cremated along with the remains of someone who could afford an expensive funeral (The wooden couch is merely a modern frame to display how they would have appeared.).

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About the Author

Francesca Santoro L'hoir
I am a former college professor and Fellow of the American Academy in Rome, 1997.

Cite This Work

APA Style

L'hoir, F. S. (2014, October 25). Cremated Ivory Cupids from a Funeral Couch, Rome. World History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/image/3178/cremated-ivory-cupids-from-a-funeral-couch-rome/

Chicago Style

L'hoir, Francesca Santoro. "Cremated Ivory Cupids from a Funeral Couch, Rome." World History Encyclopedia. Last modified October 25, 2014. https://www.worldhistory.org/image/3178/cremated-ivory-cupids-from-a-funeral-couch-rome/.

MLA Style

L'hoir, Francesca Santoro. "Cremated Ivory Cupids from a Funeral Couch, Rome." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 25 Oct 2014. Web. 12 Oct 2024.

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