Totenmahl Scenes in Roman Provincial Sculpture: A Case Study in Imperial Art

Roman provincial art has received too little attention in the past. The overwhelming majority of studies on Roman art focus on the products of Rome, Italy, and the Mediterranean area. There is a tendency to marginalize the many thousands of works of Roman art that survive from the former provinces of the Empire. This is particulat1y true of art in the European provinces, including Roman Britain and Germany, where much provincial art appears to be a poor reflection of the classical tradition, though this should not affect its value as a document of ancient culture and society.

When provincial art has been studied, it has often been used rather crudely as an index of relative 'Romanization', while most studies have avoided looking beyond individual provinces, regions, or sites. More progressive and theoretical archaeological studies, which react against traditional methods, also have their disadvantages. They may deal with art only as one kind of material culture among others and they are generally no more successful in relating provincial works to the extraordinary, empire-wide phenomenon of classical art to which they belong.

The proposed project is intended to contribute to a broader understanding of provincial sculpture as part of the artistic culture of the empire. It will use the close study of particular works (and existing scholarship on these works) to help construct a wider and more systematic account of how provincials participated in this 'classical' culture. More precisely, it will employ a case study of one especially popular and widespread motif to examine how and why it was disseminated and adapted in different parts of provincial society, particulat1y in the European frontier provinces, and to demonstrate what it might teach us about the workings of provincial art in general.

The motif under examination is a funerary image: the so called Totenmahl or 'banquet of the dead'. Totenmahl scenes portray the deceased (usually a man) reclining on a couch, probably in the afterlife. He is generally drinking wine and food is laid on a three legged table before him, while he is typically attended by a servant and often by a seated female relative. These scenes, which have their origin in Greek funerary art, are comparatively rare in Rome and Italy, but exceptionally well attested in Roman provincial sculpture throughout the empire.

From the first century AD, many gravestones bearing Totenmahl scenes were produced in areas of military activity from the Balkans to the north of Britain, with r -1iculariy striking examples in the Rhineland. The conventional elements of the scene generally remain the same, but there are numerous variations in format.
Detail, and they represent a wide range of artistic styles and an aspect that is seldom rigorously considered- different levels of artistic ability. They therefore offer an excellent means to explore the diffusion and reception of classical imagery in the provinces, as well as connections and comparisons between the cultures of different parts of the empire.

The proposed project will lead to a substantial article in an academic journal and will ultimately contribute to a book on the sculpture of the Roman Empire. The article will draw selectively from the material studied in the period of the award and will seek to highlight particular principles undet1ying the diffusion of the Totenmahl beyond individual provinces. The intention here is to build upon some of the very good but rather narrow existing research on such sculptures, as well as contributing new insights on particular pieces. The broader (and more important) aim is to demonstrate what can be achieved by adopting a different perspective on provincial art and transcending conventional academic limitations: barriers between disciplines, between provinces, and between intellectual models. The article is intended to set an agenda for further research in this and related areas.