page_title: Santa Costanza
section_title: Sarcophagi
hierarchical_section_title: Santa Costanza / Architecture / Sarcophagi
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Sarcophage de Constance (fille de l'empereur Constantin Ier, dit Saint Constantin), réalisé vers l’an 340 de notre ère. Anciennement érigé dans le Mausolée de Sainte Constance à Rome et exposé maintenant dans le Museo Pio-Clementino au Vatican. English: Sarcophagus of Constantina (daughter of emperor Constaninus I, also known as Saint Constance), sculpted around 340 AD. Formerly in the Mausoleo di Santa Costanza in Rome it is now on display at the Museo Pio-Clementino in the Vatican City. Italiano: it:Sarcofago di Costantina l (figlia dell'imperatore Costantino I, nota anche come Santa Costanza), eseguito nel 340 d.C. circa. Già nel Mausoleo di Santa Costanza a Roma, si trova oggi nel Museo Pio-Clementino della it:Città del VaticanolCittà del Vaticano.
context_page_description: Santa Costanza is a 4th-century church in Rome, Italy, on the Via Nomentana, which runs north-east out of the city. It is a round building with well preserved original layout and mosaics. It has been built adjacent to a horseshoe-shaped church, now in ruins, which has been identified as the initial 4th-century cemeterial basilica of Saint Agnes. Santa Costanza and the old Saint Agnes were both constructed over the earlier catacombs in which Saint Agnes is believed to be buried.
  According to the traditional view, Santa Costanza was built around the reign of Constantine I as a mausoleum for his daughter Constantina, later also known as Constantia or Costanza, who died in AD 354. However, more recent excavations have called this date into question. Ultimately, Constantina's sarcophagus was housed here, but it may have been moved from an earlier location.
  The mausoleum is of circular form with an ambulatory surrounding a central dome. The fabric of Santa Costanza survives in essentially its original form.
context_section_description: Two large porphyry sarcophagi from the church are now in the Vatican; the larger and more famous (illustrated) in the Vatican Museums, where it was moved during the late 18th century and is on display. The smaller was moved in St Peter's itself (left transept) in 1606. It is now thought that the larger sarcophagus traditionally related to Constantina may in fact have housed her sister Helena, and the less spectacular one, also removed to the Vatican, was actually Constantina's.
  Constantina's sarcophagus has complex symbolic designs in relief: "the surface is dominated by an intricate pattern of stylized vine-stems into which are fitted cherubs...with this scene of Dionysiac exuberance, and the hope of future blessedness which it implies, two peacocks, birds of immortality, are completely in accord". The scene presents an image of nature and plenty complete with grape vines, sheep and birds. The putti are framed in acanthus scrolls, above which there are several images of masks. Aside from the natural scene, there are also four portraits including Constantia herself, "on the lid, four graceful portrait heads, one apparently that of Constantina, look calmly out over this assurance that the best is yet to be". The imagery presented of wine and nature are not inherently Christian but could be perceived as such considering the use of wine in the Eucharist. Or they could be perceived as a connection to Bacchus, the God of Wine. This style of sarcophagus would cease to be used in Rome by the end of the fourth century, and this sarcophagus of Constantia is a prime example of the style.
  The sarcophagus is massive with the chest measuring 128 cm or 4 ft 2​³⁄₈ in high, 233 cm or 7 ft 7​¹⁄₂ in long, and 157 cm or 5 ft 1​³⁄₄ in wide. It is made of porphyry, a hard purple stone, reserved by the Romans for use only by the imperial family, whose colour purple was. It was quarried from only one place, Mons Porphyriticus (Coptos, Egypt), making it even more exclusive. It appears, but can not be certain, that the sarcophagus of Constantina is a copy of that of Constantine I, her father, which is now lost. A piece of what is believed to be his sarcophagus is similar in style and of the same material. A cast replica has been placed in the church, though in the ambulatory; presumably its original position was in the centre of the church, now occupied by the altar.  There is another in the Museum of Roman Civilization in the city.
caption: Sarcophagus of Constantina, Vatican Museums, originally stood in the mausoleum
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 400D DIGITAL", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2012:02:29 17:45:07", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "188", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5890", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "7409", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/25", "EXIF FNumber": "7/2", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Unidentified", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "400", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2011:09:29 17:15:36", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2011:09:29 17:15:36", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "76085/16384", "EXIF ApertureValue": "118447/32768", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "18", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "3885", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "2578", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "5766", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "3888000/877", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "432000/97", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}