Sarcophagus of the Muses (Musee du Louvre, Ma 475)

A Roman Imperial sarcophagus in Pentelic marble, made around 150 to 160 CE, probably for a Roman patron wishing to display his attachment to Greek culture, held by the Musee du Louvre, inventory Ma 475. Its front panel carries the nine Muses in a row, each individually identified by her own attribute: Calliope with a scroll for epic poetry, Thalia with a comic mask and shepherd's staff for comedy, Terpsichore with a lyre for dance, Euterpe with an aulos for lyric poetry, Polyhymnia veiled for sacred song, Clio with a tablet or scroll for history, Erato with a lyre or kithara for love poetry, Urania with a celestial globe and staff for astronomy, and Melpomene with a tragic mask and cothurnus boots for tragedy. The lid carries a Dionysian banquet scene with satyrs and maenads, and the side panels show Socrates, Homer, Hesiod and Mnemosyne, the Muses' mother.