Image Details

Scala/Art Resource, NY

Twisting her torso unnaturally, a woman gazes at her husband on the lid of a 2-foot-long terracotta cinerary urn from Volterra, probably dating to the first century B.C.E. Although their sharp features, wrinkled faces and simple attire suggest a plain workmanlike earthiness, their relaxed embrace is poignant and charming. Seemingly caught during a moment of silence in mid-conversation, this man and wife convey a strong sense of joyous marital fidelity.