Wellcome Collection
Three marble vases and a sarcophagus. Etching by G.B. Piranesi. The central vase is carved with a priest and worshippers sacrificing the suovetaurilia (a boar, a ram and a bull), and is placed on a sarcophagus guarded by winged sphinxes. The left vase is carved with two birds eating grapes or berries, and the right one with acanthus decoration. In another state of the print, the left vase is said to be the property of the landscape painter Hugh Dean ("Vaso antico di marmo esistente in Inghilterra presso Mr. Hugh Dean pittore di paesi"), and the right one in Piranesi's collection ("Vaso antico di marmo che si vede presso l'autore").
Giovanni Battista Piranesi
