Dimentions of the sarcophagus: L 1.76 m, B 0.54 m, H 0.43 m. (according to G. Oliverio, 1910). Naples, Santa Chiara ChurchPhoto by Ilya Shurygin
Sarcophagus with scenes of the myth of Protesilaus and Laodamia.
Dimentions of the sarcophagus: L 1.76 m, B 0.54 m, H 0.43 m. (according to G. Oliverio, 1910).
Naples, Santa Chiara Church.
In 1910, during work led by archaeologist Gennaro Aspreno Galante, the sarcophagus was freed from massive plaster decorations and the reliefs on its ends became fully visible for survey.
On August 4, 1943, during the Allied bombing of Naples, the church was almost completely destroyed by explosions and fire. The Sanfelice chapel was severely damaged, and most of the tombs within it (except two) were destroyed. The sarcophagus was cracked, and some small parts of the reliefs were lost. Currently the restored sarcophagus resting on massive brackets can still be seen in the Sanfelice chapel (9th chapel of the left nave) of the Santa Chiara church.
"Initially, it served as the tomb of a certain woman who was buried in it during the times when the art of stone carving flourished. On the edges of the front wall are the emblems of the Sun and the Moon. In the background stands an altar with a fire burning on it for sacrifices to infernal deities. The meaning of other figures is unclear. The children standing between [the adult figures] on the side surfaces are most likely the children of the [deceased] woman." (The Antiquities of Italy. Being the Travels of the Learned and Reverend Bernard de Montfaucon from Paris through Italy, in the Years 1698. and 1699. London. P. 225-226).
The text suggests that the author failed to recognize the myth of Protesilaus and Laodamia in the reliefs.
In the 19th and early 20th centuries the sarcophagus was described by several Italian and German art historians who proposed different interpretations of the subject. Of particular interest are the works of F. T. Welker (1842), Giulio Minervini (1844), and Gasparo Oliverio (1911), who carefully studied the sarcophagus reliefs in situ and described some important details that were subsequently irrevocably lost as a result of the bombing of the church in WWII. In connection with the damage to the relief during the war the importance of its early, and unfortunately few, depictions increases – from the Montfaucon’s drawing to Oliverio’s three photographic shots, which show some now-missing parts.
THE MYTH OF PROTESILAUS AND LAODAMIA
In the ancient world the myth of Protesilaus, king of Phylace in Thessaly and a hero of the Trojan War, existed in several versions, differing from one another both in plot and in a lot of minor details. Italian archaeologist and epigraphist Gasparo Olivieri at the very beginning of his career in his 1910 publication defined two main traditions in the description of the tragic love between Protesilaus and Laodamia: the epic (A) and the heroic (B) one.
Protesilaus, according to Hesiod and Hyginus, was among the many grooms who came to Sparta to seek Helen’s hand in marriage. After being rejected he hereafter married Laodamia, daughter of King Acastus of Iolcus. On their wedding day Laodamia crossed the threshold of her husband’s home without performing the customary sacrifice (Catullus). Soon after (according to the scholia of Aristides and Lucian to Euripides – on the day after the wedding) Protesilaus led his 40 ships to Troy. An oracle predicted that the Achaean warrior who first set his foot on the Trojan land would be the first to die in the war. Protesilaus, believing this prophecy would discourage his warriors, was the first to step on the land (variant: he was cunningly lured to land by Odysseus), engaged in combat with Hector, and was immediately killed (variants: he was killed after defeating several / four / many Trojans). This episode, according to Hyginus, explains the hero’s name: Πρωτεσίλαος – "he who precedes the army."
In the Underworld Protesilaus asks Pluto for permission to return to earth to see his wife (Lucian). Or: Laodamia, upon learning of Protesilaus’s death, appeals to Zeus / the gods for a meeting with him (Hyginus).
Pluto / Zeus took pity on the couple and ordered Hermes to bring Protesilaus to earth for three hours / for a few hours / for one night / for one day.
When it was time for Protesilaus to return to the Underworld, Laodamia, unable to part with her beloved, stabbed herself with a dagger (Lucian – Euripides). Or: Laodamia made a wax / bronze statue of her husband, placed it in the bedroom, and began to offer sacrifices to it (Hyginus). Her father, Acastus, wishing to put an end to her sufferings, ordered the statue to be burned. Laodamia, unable to bear her grief, stabbed herself with a dagger / threw herself into the pyre and was burned / threw herself into a well and drowned, in order to be reunited with her husband in Hades.
There are two completely different versions in terms of plot and iconography of the depiction of the myth of Protesilaus and Laodamia on Roman sarcophagi: the first is represented on a sarcophagus in the Vatican Museums, and the second on the sarcophagus in question in the Napolitan church.
The reliefs on the sarcophagus of the Church of Santa Chiara correspond well to the myth of Protesilaus and Laodamia as narrated by Pseudo-Apollodorus (Epitome IV, 3. 30):
Protesilaus was the first of the Hellenes to disembark from his ship onto the shore. After killing a considerable number of enemies he himself perished at the hands of Hector. His wife, Laodamia, continued to love her husband even after his death: she fashioned a statue resembling Protesilaus and conversed with it. The gods took pity on her, and Hermes brought Protesilaus up from Hades to the earth. Seeing him, Laodamia rejoiced, believing he had returned from Troy; but when he was led back to Hades, she took her own life.
F. T. Welker. Protesilao e Laodamia. Annali dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica. Roma, anno 1842. Volume unico. P. 32-37.
Giulio Minervini. Sarcofago con Protesilao e Laodamia in Napoli. Bullettino Archeologico Napoletano. N. XXII, 1844. P. 39-40; N. XXIII, 1844. P. 45-48; N. XLIII, 1845.
Oliverio G., Il sarcofago di Protesilao e Laodamia della chiesa di S. Chiara in Napoli (Cappella Sanfelice Bagnoli), in A. V. Sumbolae Litterariae in honorem Iulii de Petra, Napoli 1911. P. 303-319.
James Reeson. Ovid Heroides 11, 13 and 14: A Commentary (Mnemosyne, Bibliotheca Classica Batava Supplementum) BRILL, 2001 P. 114-116.
Life, Death and Representation: Some New Work on Roman Sarcophagi. Jaś Elsner,Janet Huskinson (eds.) De Gruter, 2010. P. 197-199.
