Marble relief

This relief shows two large ships sailing from a harbor. The deck of the left ship is filled with tubs, and the right ship is loaded with amphorae. On the left ship we see three sailors who have climbed into the ropes. The ship on the right only has two crew members.  You may notice two decorative dolphins on the hull of the right ship. The little rowing boat is probably a pilot boat.

These merchant ships are equipped with the well-known square sail, which is often seen on depictions of these kinds of ships. The square sail is attached to a horizontal yard, which was suspended transverse to a mast on the midship. There are women sitting in a port tower; they are watching their husbands leaving the harbor.  

The relief has quite some old restorations. The marble slab might have been reused since classical antiquity. Originally, the relief was a part of a larger monument, which can be dated to the third century AD based on the style – the figures look a little rustic, slightly provincial. It is not clear what this larger monument entailed. Was it a funerary monument for a sailor? The relief most certainly shows the importance of trade in Roman society.

It is strange that there are no oars, which makes it more difficult to determine where the ship is sailing. Was its surface painted? It probably was, which would explain why some of the details in the relief have not been fully developed. It seems to have been made by multiple sculptors. The cargo and dolphins are shown in shallow relief, this in contrast to the deep relief in which the ships, the architecture and the men are sculpted. 

Written by: René van Beek, Curator at Allard Pierson Museum